Page 70 - NMHBA Summer 2017

By Michael Cusortelli
C.O. “KEN” KENDRICK MEMORIAL STAKES (R)
COMICS CAShwAY
Comic Genius
Unbridled
Squan Song
Swapping Lanes
The Way Home
Cats Bounty
Helen Nave’s Comics Cashway made her career debut with a four-length victory in the May 15, $45,000 C.O. “Ken” Kendrick Memorial Stakes (R) at SunRay Park.
Ridden by Tracy Hebert, Comics Cashway covered 4 1/2 furlongs in :53.78. Todd Fincher prepped the homebred filly, who earned the $27,000 winner’s share of the $45,000 purse.
Comics Cashway is one of 38 winners sired by Comic Genius, a winning 19-year-old son of Unbridled whose
68 starters have earned more than $1.8 million and include three official black- type stakes winners. Racing in five states between 2001-03, Comic Genius earned $108,320 from 14 outs, and his resume included a second-place finish in the 2001 Rockingham Park Derby in New Hampshire.
Comic Genius is a half brother to Quinpool, a daughter of Alydar who ran
third in the ’93 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs. The stallion is owned by Mark F. McCarthy and stands in Albuquerque.
Comics Cashway is also one of two winners from as many starters produced by Swapping Lanes, an unraced homebred 8-year-old daughter of The Way Home and a half sister to four- time New Mexicos-bred stakes winner Comicsperfectstorm. The filly’s third dam, the unraced Peninsula Prince mare Pinkie Blue, was a half sister to Diamond Ego, a son of Bold Ego who won three unofficial black-type stakes at Albuquerque Downs in 1991.
Comics Cashway was sent to post as the 2-1 second choice in the field of six and returned a $6.60 win mutuel. Ghost Of Creebear, the even-money choice and the only Kendrick Memorial entry with at least one previous out, ran second to complete a $2 exacta payoff of $16.80.
Orogrande, Oh So Attractive, Hot Trick and Avenue Of Fire completed the order
of finish.
Ghost Of Creebear is a dark bay or brown daughter of Dome racing for Mike G. Parker. The $9,900 runner-up share of the Kendrick Memorial purse pushed her bankroll to $11,128 from three starts.
A full sister to four-time New Mexico- bred stakes winner Lady Genius and a half to three multiple stakes winners, Orogrande races for W.D. Carson Sr., M.H. Carson, and Leach Racing LLC. The chestnut daughter of Quinton’s Gold was making her debut in the Kendrick Memorial and banked $4,500 for her third-place run.
JIMMY DRAKE STAKES (RG3)
SEIS MENuDOS
Southern Corona
Corona Cartel
Southern Policy
Uno Menudo
Dash Ta Fame
Shes A Hauler
A one-time $5,000 claimer, Seis Menudos was a prompt 6-5 favorite in the May 26 Jimmy Drake Stakes (RG3) for New Mexico- bred Quarter Horses at SunRay Park.
Seis Menudos covered 400 yards in :19.326 and earned a career-best 101 speed index while aided by a 12-mph tail wind. J. Martin Bourdieu rode the sorrel 6-year-old gelding for owner Eloy Humberto Pena and trainer Michael Megariz III.
Seis Menudos was bred by William G. McCarty. The gelding’s sire, the winning Southern Corona, ran second in the Woodlands Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park in 2004. Southern Corona has sired the earners of more than $6.2 million from 10 crops, including multiple graded stakes winners Little Bit Southern and Bp Shes Southern.
Seis Menudos is one of seven winners produced by Uno Menudo, a daughter of Dash Ta Fame and the winner of the ’04 Zia Futurity-RG1 at Ruidoso Downs. Uno Menudo has foaled two other stakes
winners, Quatro Menudos, who won the 2011 New Mexico Cup Derby-RG2 at Zia Park, and Cinco Menudos, who won the 2015 New Mexico Breeders’ Championship- RG3 at Albuquerque Downs.
Seis Menudos was stretching out in distance off of his head victory in the Mesilla Valley Speed Handicap-RG2 at Sunland Park. Campaigned exclusively in New Mexico, he has won 10 of 20 starts, and the winner’s share of the Jimmy Drake purse bumped his earnings to $184,811.
Seis Menudos was sent to post as the 6-5 favorite in the field of six and returned a $4.40 win mutuel. Major Bites finished second, 1 1/2 lengths behind the winner, to complete a $9.80 ($2) exacta.
Play Misty Foreme, Carson City Girl, Jess Rueben James, and Major Moonflash completed the order of finish.
Major Bites is a 4-year-old Jesse James Jr gelding campaigned by Israel Bordier. Major Bites has won four of 15 races, and
was a finalist in the 2016 Shue Fly Stakes- RG2. The runner-up share of the purse pushed Major Bites’ bankroll to $116,424.
Play Misty Foreme races for Robert D. Smith. A 4-year-old son of Jesse James Jr, the gelding has earned $156,054 from 16 starts, and his five wins include a nose victory in last year’s Zia Derby-RG2 at Ruidoso Downs. Contested annually at SunRay Park, the Jimmy Drake Stakes honors the memory of the late Jimmy Drake, a longtime resident of Farmington, New Mexico, who died in 2011. Drake served as president of the New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association, as well as on the New Mexico Racing Commission from 1980- 85, and he was instrumental in the opening of San Juan Downs Racetrack in ’85.
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