Page 51 - NM Spring 2019

“A champion title is something important and permanent.”
2018 New Mexico Thoroughbred Champions
As noted at the beginning of this piece, a champion title is something important and permanent. Nothing can take it away; not even death. And, as noted, it doesn’t matter if the title is at the national, local or 4-H level. It’s still a champion and it’s still important.
With that said, there’s no denying that national recognition always has the tendency
to function as a status-booster, which is what happened recently when a national racing pub- lication put the spotlight on trainer/co-breeder Todd Fincher and his Kentucky Derby hopeful, Hustle Up, who is also the 2018 New Mexico TB Two-Year-Old Champion Colt/Gelding.
Hustle Up’s victory in the Mine That
Bird Derby on February 24, 2019, presented Fincher with his 1,000th career win. It also gave Hustle Up his eighth success from 10 tries. The trainer plans to put the determined, front- running gelding in the Sunland Derby, which Fincher won last year. It’s a tough task for a New Mexico-bred.
Fincher strongly touted the New Mexico breeding program in the article, saying there have been tremendous advancements in the last 15 to 20 years. The overall program, he stressed, “makes it all worthwhile financially, which should allow more people to play the game,” be- cause they have a chance to recoup their money.
“The overall program makes it all worthwhile financially, which should allow more people to play the game.”
NM Champion TB Older Mare
Explosive Spy
(Your Eminence-Explosive Dancing, Danzatore) Bred/Owned by: Michael Weatherly
Trained by: Dan H. Dennison and Simon Buechler
2018: 10-4-0-2 $143,940
Carlos Salazar Handicap, Lincoln Handicap, Russell and Helen Foutz Distaff Handicap
Explosive Spy is a 2013 chestnut mare, who’s completed in three tough seasons of racing and has already launched her fourth.
She started in 2016 with four starts and a 2-1-0 tally at the end. She earned $38,609. It wasn’t a lot but the mare’s connections felt it pointed to something better in the future. They were right. She was building momentum.
In 2017, she doubled her starts to eight, with one win and four seconds. She earned $43,201, with a first in the Fast Gator and a second in the Ti- juana, both at Sunland. True, it still wasn’t a fortune but she was like a slot machine getting ready to hit.
In 2018, Explosive Spy’s starts jumped to 10 and she ended with a 4-0-2 record and $143,940. She won the Susans Violette, the Carlos Salazar Stakes and was again second in the Tijuana. Now, at six years old, the mare has already begun her fourth season with her first out. She has a career to- tal of 23 starts, with a 7-5-2 record and $228,300.
Explosive Spy shows a 5Sx5D cross to Almahmoud, 4Dx5D to Nearctic, 5Dx5D to Native Dancer and 5Dx5D to Fleet Nasrullah.
Her sire, the 2001 Your Eminence, has 168 foals with 113 racing and 72 winners. Their cumulative total in earnings is $3,756,135. Dan- zatore, the 1980 broodmare sire, has 1,546 foals with 1,103 performers and an impressive 658 winners. Progeny earnings come to $25,969,203.
NM Champion TB Older Horse/Gelding
Thunder Dome
(Dome-Lauren Lynn, Hadif)
Bred by: Frank Richardson, W.L. Mooring Owned by: Leach Racing, LLC, Mike H. Carson, William D. Carson, Sr
Trained by: Dallas J. Barton
2018: 11-6-2-1 $308,580
Johnie L. Jamison Handicap, Rocky Gulch NM Classic Cup Championship Stakes,
O.D. McDonald Stakes
Thunder Dome is an older gentleman with a specific purpose. He has a career total of 27 starts, a 9-11-2 record and $531,813 in the bank.
He started in the big-time as a two year old in 2016. He failed to light the board only once in seven starts and rewarded his connections with a respectable $135,883. He traveled in distinguished company, besting his rivals in the Rio Grande Senor TB Futu- rity. He also tossed a couple of stakes seconds into the mix.
The gelding didn’t do quite as well as a three year old, but regained his stride last year. He saw the inside of 11 starting gates, finished the season with a 6-2-1 record and $308,580. He was on a hot streak throughout the year, equaling a track record for seven fur- longs at Albuquerque in the O.D. McDonald in June. His other two featured races were
the Rocky Gulch NM Classic Cup at Zia and the Johnie L. Jamison Stakes at Sunland. He’s tough and he’s already started 2019.
His dam is Lauren Lynn, the 2018 NM TB Broodmare of the Year.
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