Page 147 - July 2019

Ruidoso Futurity-G1
FERNWEH
by Michael Cusortelli
A$20,000 purchase at last year’s Heritage Place Yearling Sale, Fernweh paid a
big dividend when she sprinted to her first stakes victory in the $1-million Ruidoso Futurity-G1 at Ruidoso Downs on June 9.
Fernweh broke well in second and had a head lead at the top of the stretch, maintain- ing that margin as she crossed the wire. The sorrel filly covered the 350 yard main event in :17.477 while aided by a reported 7-mph tail wind. Ricky Ramirez rode the sorrel daughter of the Favorite Trick TB stallion Favorite Cartel for owner Carry “Rusty” Allred and trainer Trey Wood.
“She did everything right,” said Ramirez. “She kind of hesitated to load. I don’t know why because she hadn’t done that before. But when she got in the gate, she stood good, and she couldn’t have left there any better. I just kept her busy to make sure she stayed in front.
“She’s been a nice filly from day one,”
the rider added. “I remember clearly the first time I got on her (on the Woods’ ranch) in Lubbock. She was just a standout. I think she can improve with distance. She’s kind of a
small filly, but she has a big heart, and I think that’ll make up for her size.”
There were two days of trials to get the qualifiers to the Ruidoso Futurity - May 24 and May 25. Fernweh made her career debut with an impressive 2 3/4-length victory in the second of 14 Ruidoso Futurity trials on May 25. She was the fastest overall qualifier with a time of :17.560.
Fernweh comes out of this race with a per- fect record. The $420,000 winner’s share of the Ruidoso Futurity purse from her second win in as many outs increased the filly’s earn- ings to $424,800.
The Ruidoso Futurity is the first leg
of Ruidoso Downs’ Triple Crown, which pays a multi-million dollar bonus to the connections of a two year old who can sweep all three of the tracks’ Grade 1 futurities. Beside the Ruidoso Futurity, the Triple Crown also includes the Rainbow Futurity-G1 in July and the All American Futurity-G1 in September.
Allred said that Fernweh will be pointed to the second and third legs of the Triple Crown.
“As long as she’s healthy and sound, the Triple Crown is our goal. We’re going to play it day by day, but so far so good,” the owner stated after the race. Since that time, however, Fernweh
had surgery for a chip in her knee and will not compete in the Rainbow Futurity trials.
Fernweh was bred in Oklahoma by Bobby D. Cox. The filly is one of 10 winners from 17 starters produced by Jess A Lil Bit More,
a 15-year-old daughter of 1994 Champion 2 Year Old Mr Jess Perry who won two graded stakes in Texas during her sophomore cam- paign, including the $214,500 Dash For Cash Derby-G1 at Lone Star Park.
Jess A Lil Bit More has foaled a total of two stakes winners, including Abundanz, a half-brother to Fernweh who won the 2014 Bank of America Prairie Meadows Championship Challenge-G2 in Iowa.
Fernweh’s second dam, the winning Takin On The Cash mare Sheza Lilbituino, was a finalist in the 2000 Sam Houston Futurity-G1 at Sam Houston Race Park. A 1998 foal, Sheza Lilbituino has produced 12 winners from
20 starters, including stakes winner Paloma
Fernweh & Ricky Ramirez take the $1,000,000 Ruidoso Futurity-G1
SPEEDHORSE, July 2019 145
RACING NEWS