Page 72 - NM Spring 2019

ZIA PARK
by Michael Cusortelli
Zia Park QH Championship (G1)
Jesse James Jr
Mr Jess Perry
Loose Lips
Dyna Mo Rime
Major Rime
Dynamic Ego
MAJOR BITES
Israel Bordier’s Major Bites, a 5-year-old son of Jesse James Jr, earned his first career open graded stakes victory in the Dec. 2, $200,000 Zia Park Quarter Horse Championship (G1) at Zia Park.
Ridden by Jose Amador Alvarez for trainer Jesus Carrete and sent to post as the 3-2 favorite in a field of 10, Major Bites went 440 yards in :21.783 while racing against a reported 21-mph head wind, and his winning margin was one length from 2-1 second choice Jess Bein The Hero. The bay gelding earned a 94 speed index and the $120,000 winner’s share of the purse.
Major Bites was bred in New Mexico by Carlos Paez. His sire, the stakes-winning Mr Jess Perry stallion Jesse James Jr, has sired the earners of more than $16.1 million from eight crops. Racing in New Mexico and California from 2003-06, Jesse James Jr earned $167,275 from 21 outs, and his resume included a second- place finish in the 2004 Golden State Derby (G1) at Los Alamitos, and a third-place run in that season’s Los Alamitos Super Derby (G1).
Jesse James Jr’s top runners include 2015 AQHA champion 3-year-old filly Astica and multiple graded stakes winners Osbaldo, Princess Jesse, Cinco Menudos, and Play Misty Foreme. The stallion died from laminitis at the age of 16 on Aug. 24, 2017, but he can be bred
to by frozen semen at Mac and Janis Murray’s MJ Farms at Veguita, New Mexico.
Major Bites is out of Dyna Mo Rime, a winning daughter of the Rime stallion Major Rime. The gelding’s third dam, the Kentucky- bred Master Hand (TB) stallion Western Hand (TB), won the 1979 Riley Allison Futurity at Sunland Park.
Major Bites traces back to his fourth dam, Penny Two (TB), an unraced daughter of Best Turn (TB) and a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Highland Blade.
Raced exclusively in New Mexico, Major
Bites has won 10 of 26 starts, including five of eight at the 440-yard distance, and he has earned $663,992, of which $426,000 has been pocketed from six outs this year. The gelding’s six stakes scores include the 2017 and ’18 Namehimastreaker New Mexico Cup Quarter Horse Championship (RG1) for state-breds at Zia Park.
Major Bites returned a $5 win mutual and teamed with runner-up Jess Bein The Hero for
a $13.40 ($2 exacta). Valiant Rogue, Apolltical Chad, Katella Deli, Tough To Bee, Believe Me Irene, A Passion For Flashn, Papaws Paint and Apollitical Brooke completed the order of finish.
Jess Bein The Hero is a 5-year-old Valiant Hero stallion campaigned by Juan F.
Martinez-Labastida, and he brought a five-race win streak into the Zia Park Championship that included a clear 2 1/2-length victory in the 440-yard, $68,000 Bank of America Sam Houston Championship Challenge (G2) at Sam Houston Race Park on April 21. Jess Bein The Hero has won 10 of 14 starts, and the $44,000 runner-up share of the purse pushed his bankroll to $196,870.
Valiant Rouge races for Wyok Ranch LLC. A 5-year-old son of Valiant Hero, the brown gelding has won nine of 26 starts, including the April 21, 300-yard Bob Moore Memorial Stakes (G2) at Remington Park, and he has earned $789,197.
70 New Mexico Horse Breeder