Page 118 - July 2015

Mountain Top Futurity-RG3
LILLY IS FIRST
by Michael Compton
Strongly backed at odds of 8-5, Lilly Is First ran true to her name in winning the 350- yard $337,185 Mountain Top Futurity-RG3 for New Mexico-breds at Ruidoso Downs on June 13.
Sent off as the second wagering choice based on a facile 2-length score in the trials for the fastest qualifying time, Lilly Is First led virtually wire to wire in the finals. She grabbed the lead soon after the start under Joe Badilla Jr., dueling with Teana Fay through the early stages and shrugging that one off and then turning back Flash Of Love down the lane.
In a game effort, Lilly Is First held to the finish, defeating Flash of Love by 3/4-length and stopping the timer in :17.566. The final clocking earned a speed index of 91.
“She broke and just went on from there,” said Badilla.
With the win, Lilly Is First gave co-owner R.D. Hubbard the ideal 80th birthday pres- ent. Hubbard owns the daughter of First Moonflash in partnership with Paul Blanchard and breeder Mike Abraham.
“I could not ask for a better 80th birthday and to have more than 300 friends here, it is fantastic,” Hubbard shared.
The precocious filly is now perfect in two career outings and boasts earnings of
$144,022. She is trained by Michael Joiner, who is loaded with top runners. A week earlier, Joiner won the $750,000 Ruidoso Futurity-G1 with First Valiant Sign.
“The crew has done a tremendous job,” Joiner said. “You can’t do it without the horses and we are very fortu- nate to have the horses.”
Plans call for Lilly Is
First to be pointed to the Zia Futurity for New Mexico-breds. “We’ll see how she does and then possibly the All American Futurity,” Hubbard said. The All American Futurity boasts a $3 million purse, the largest of any 2-year-old race in the world.
Lilly Is First is the initial stakes winner produced from the Corona Cartel mare Lilly Cartel, who is the dam of additional win-
ner Cartel Mountain. Lilly Is First is by First Moonflash, a multiple Grade 1 winner and a Champion at age four and the sire of multiple Champion Handsome Jack Flash.
First Moonflash stands at Double LL Farm in New Mexico and is also the sire of Mountain Top Futurity runner-up Flash of Love (First
Moonflash-Authorized Love). The brown gelding, piloted by L. Martinez, is still in search of his first win. He finished 3rd twice before securing the stakes-placing in his 3rd out- ing for trainer Paul Jones and owner Jose Luis Ozuna.
Marilyn Wins (Winners Version-Marilyn Merlot) dueled early but yielded late to finish 3rd under jockey Larry Payne. A winner in her first start in
March, Marilyn Wins races for Namgis Quarter Horses and is conditioned by Wesley Giles.
Jess Cruzin On By (Jesse James Jr-Woodbridge Duchess), Faster Version (Winners Version-Fast Copy Miss), Teana Fay (Winners Version-Thirty Fourth Street), Play Misty Foreme (Jesse James Jr-Arbor Mist), Blazin Blu (Chicks a Blazin-The Blues Girl) & Divetime Dude (Call Me Corona-Primetime Queen) com- pleted the order of finish. Beerun was scratched.
At press time and according to a
report published by New Mexico Racing Commission (NMRC) executive director Vince Mares, Lilly Is First tested positive for clenbuterol during the trials but a ruling has yet to be posted by the NMRC.
Ruidoso Downs $337,186 • 350 yards :17.566 • si 91
First to Flash
First Moonflash
Nagano Moon
LILLY IS FIRST, ‘13, f.
Corona Cartel
Lilly Cartel
Corona Kool
116 SPEEDHORSE, July 2015
Lilly Is First & Joe Baldillez Jr. run clear for a 3/4-length victory in the Mountain Top Futurity-RG3
RACING NEWS
Ruidoso Photography