Page 49 - New Mexico Fall 2020

Balloon City Stakes
by Michael Cusortelli • photos by Coady Photography
First Moonflash
First To Flash
Nagano Moon
Cuz Shez Famous
One Famous Eagle
Cuz Shez Ready
DIAMOND AND A HALF
Antonio Gomez’s Diamond And A Half,
a registered New Mexico-bred 4-year-old daughter of champion First Moonflash, defeated open stakes company in the August 15, $50,000 Balloon City Stakes for fillies and mares at Albuquerque Downs.
Under jockey Tanner Thedford, Diamond And A Half covered 400 yards in :19.566, and her margin of victory was a short nose from Jess To Reel and Eyes On Mollie, who finished in a dead heat for second with a clocking of :19.569. Jorge Luis Hernandez prepped the mare, who earned a 92 speed index and the $30,000 win- ner’s share of the purse from her first career stakes win.
Diamond And A Half was bred by Mark and Annette McCloy. Her sire, the First
To Flash stallion First Moonflash, was the AQHA champion aged stallion in 2009. Racing from 2007-09, First Moonflash won 14 of 25 starts, including 10 graded stakes, and he banked $969,828.
First Moonflash was the sport’s leading freshman sire in ‘13. He has sired the earners
of more than $19.6 million from eight crops, including AQHA Champions Flash And Roll, Handsome Jack Flash, and Foxy Moonflash. First Moonflash was euthanized in May 2019 after a battle with laminitis.
Diamond And A Half is out of Cuz Shes Famous, a winning daughter of One Famous Eagle. She traces back to her fourth dam, the stakes-winning Ettabo mare Etta Chick.
Diamond And A Half was coming off of
a troubled ninth-place finish, four lengths behind winner Jess A Satin Flash, in the 400- yard, $50,000 Zia Handicap-RG2 at Ruidoso Downs on July 25. The mare has won five of 14 starts and has earned $115,408, and her sea- son record includes a second-place finish in the 400-yard, $85,000 Junos Request Stakes-G1 at Remington Park on May 30.
Mystic Blues, Taking The Stage,
Dashin Special Cuz, Black Shadow, and Apolliperfection completed the official order of finish.
Co-runner up Jess To Reel races for Benjamin Calderon. A 4-year-old gray Jesse James Jr mare
and a $15,000 claimer during the 2019 Ruidoso Downs meet, she has won five of 11 outs and has banked $84,342. Jess To Reel’s career record includes a third-place run in the June 14 Rita Danley Distaff Stakes-R at Ruidoso.
Eyes On Mollie is a 4-year-old daughter
of the Corona Cartel stallion Eye On Corona campaigned by Jose G. Orquiz. The mare
has won three of eight starts and has earned $50,660, of which $36,160 has been pocketed from four races this season.
won three of 23 outs, and the $15,000 run- ner-up share of the First Moonflash Maturity purse boosted his earnings to $85,163.
Marcus Medallion earned $7,500 for owner Jaime Aldavaz Sr. The winner of
last year’s First Moonflash Maturity, the 7-year-old Jesse James Jr gelding has banked $290,218 from 23 races, and his three stakes wins include last year’s Dona Ana County Handicap-R at Sunland Park and Zia Handicap-RG2 at Ruidoso Downs.
First Moonflash Maturity (R)
THE DOWNS AT ALBUQUERQUE
First Moonflash
First To Flash
Nagano Moon
Jess Satin
Mr Jess Perry
Send Me First
JESS A SATIN FLASH
A sharp break from post 5 helped Bertha S. Irigoyen’s Jess A Satin Flash score a wire-to- wire victory in the September 6, $75,000 First Moonflash Maturity-R for New Mexico-breds at Albuquerque Downs.
Saddled by Rene Saucedo and aided by a reported 7-mph tail wind, Jess A Satin Flash went 440 yards in :21.282 while defeating Daddys Wine by a neck.
Alejandro Medellin rode the 7-year-old First Moonflash gelding, who banked the $45,000 winner’s share of the purse from his second career stakes win.
Jess A Satin Flash was bred by Mike Abraham. His sire, the First To Flash stallion First Moonflash, was the sport’s champion aged stallion in 2009.
Racing from 2007-09, First Moonflash won 14 of 25 outs - including 10 graded stakes - and he banked $969,828. A half brother to graded stakes winners Moonifisant and Dash Ta Moon, he has sired the earners of more than $19.9 million from eight crops, including Champions Flash And Roll, Handsome Jack Flash and Foxy Moonflash.
Jess A Satin Flash is out of 2004 All American Futurity-G1 finalist Jess Satin, who is also a race winner. Jess A Satin Flash is a half brother to 2009 Zia Futurity-RG1 winner Jess A Chicks. His second dam, Send Me First, won the 1996 AQRA Turf Paradise Futurity-G3.
Jess A Satin Flash’s First Moonflash Maturity victory marked his first win in eight races at the 440-yard distance. All told, the gelding has won 10 of 39 starts and has earned $229,572. His resume includes a head victory on a muddy and sealed track in the July 25, 400-yard Zia Handicap-RG2 at Ruidoso Downs.
Marcus Medallion finished third, a half of a length behind Jess A Satin Flash, and was followed by 3-1 favorite CD Mamas Boy, Rime Chimes, Zendayas Cartel, Freedom Flash, HS Paul Walker, and Woodys Copy Cat.
Daddys Wine is a 4-year-old son of Big Daddy Cartel campaigned by El Paraiso Racing Stables LLC. The gray gelding has
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