Page 132 - May 2016

Bank of America Sunland Championship Challenge-G2
RYLEES BUD
by John Moorehouse
Rylees Bud entered the Bank of
America Sunland Park Championship Challenge-G2 with only two prior starts. The
lack of experience, however, did nothing to slow down the underdog five-year-old gelding who outdueled the competition to win the $100,000 stakes on April 16.
Owned by Bella Valenzuela, Rylees Bud broke his maiden and
simultaneously earned a spot
in the Grade 1 $350,000
Bank of America Challenge Championship scheduled at Los Alamitos for Oct. 29.
Rylees Bud’s full brother, Rylees Boy, was a three-time AQHA Champion with a bankroll of over $1.5 million. The career of Rylees Bud, by contrast, had been undistin- guished and short with only two starts, two scratches and nothing on his competitive record since the end of 2014.
“When they brought him to us, they told us when he was younger he’d been having a lot of trouble with his knees,” trainer Juan Gonzalez’s son, Juan Gonzalez, Jr., said.
Rylees Bud got a couple of months of training in under Gonzalez before making his return in this stakes. He broke well from the outside gate in an 8-horse field, led by a head at the first call,
then pulled away under jockey Adrian Ramos for a 3/4-length margin as he hit the wire.
Rylees Bud finished the 440 yards in :21.189 for a 95 speed index. The win produced a $48,000 payday for Rylees Bud, who also paid off handsomely at the betting window, facing almost 12-1 odds at post time.
“His workouts looked great but when he won, we were all surprised,” Gonzalez, Jr. said. “We expected him to be on the board, but not win. He’s going to turn out to be a great horse.”
Gary Nesbitt bred both Rylees Bud and his dam, Pipistrelle, a 1993 mare who won three starts before becoming a broodmare. All eight of Pipistrelle’s offspring have made starts, but Rylees Bud joins his highly-decorated sibling Rylees Boy as the only other stakes winner in the brood.
Salvador Martinez rode Streakin Zoomer (Shazoom-A Streakin Mate) to a runner-up finish for owner Alejandro Arzabala, Jr., and trainer Martin Orona, Sr. Jess Kid Rock (Rock Solid Jess-A Classic Serenade) secured third place for owner Jesus Sosa. The Isidro Rodriguez trainee had Jose Ortiz in the irons.
The remaining order of finish was Mr
Eye Opener Too (Mr Eye Opener-A Special Episode), Southern Temptation (Tempting Dash-Passem Up Perry), Don Quixote (Stel Corona-Romanticist), Captain Cheve (Captain Courage-Nylas Special Girl) and Vodka Rocks (Ketel Won-Icy Hollywood TB).
New Mexico Racing Commission Announces Full Court Press for Out Of Competition Testing
NMRC News Release, April 26, 2016--The announcement of enhanced out of competition testing was made public by the New Mexico Racing Commission (NMRC) Chairman, Ray Willis, during the April 21, 2016 NMRC monthly meeting. Chairman Willis stated that, “This project will be an aggressive procedure to let the public know that New Mexico racing is going in the right direction, and we will start the testing immediately.”
The announcement came with resounding support from the management teams of all the New Mexico racetracks, the New Mexico Horsemens’ Association, as well as the New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association. Fred Hutton, the Director of Racing for Zia Park said, “I commend the aggressive approach taken by the NMRC.”
New Mexico Administrative code allows for the NMRC to conduct, without advanced notice, out of competition testing on horses that are on the grounds of a racetrack or training center under the jurisdiction of the commission; under the care or control of a trainer or owner licensed by the commission; or any horse whose papers are filed in the racing office; or has been nominated to a stakes race. Horses to be tested may be selected at random, with probable cause or as determined by the commission or an agent of the commission.
The NMRC investigators along with a licensed veterinarian will begin the out of competition testing at SunRay Park in Farmington,
New Mexico, immediately. They will appear unannounced at a trainer’s barn and draw samples from randomly selected horses. If a trainer fails to present the horse that is selected, that horse may be suspended from racing for a maximum of 120 days and the trainer may face a maximum suspension of 180 days. The penalty for a positive test originating from an out of competition testing sample may be a maximum of a 120 day suspension and the removal of the foal papers for the horse from the racing office. The trainer may be fined a maximum of $1,500 as well as a maximum suspension of 180 days for a positive test.
Executive Director of the NMRC, Ismael “Izzy” Trejo stated, “Based on the possible penalties, not only do we feel that this tactic will enable us to catch cheaters, we feel it will work as a deterrent for those teetering on the borderline of whether or not to use the illegal substances that are out there.”
Also announced at the April 21, 2016 NMRC meeting was the reminder to all horsemen participating at New Mexico racetracks that the suspension of the use of Clenbuterol is still in effect
and has been since August of 2015. All samples with any trace
of Clenbuterol, whether it is a post or pre-race detection will constitute a violation of NMRC rules and will be prosecuted as a medication violation.
130 SPEEDHORSE, May 2016
Sunland Park $100,000 • 440 yards :21.189 • si 95
Heza Fast Man
Heza Motor Scooter
Hot Tin Lizzie
RYLEES BUD, ‘11-g.
Rocky Jones
Pipistrelle
Josie Gun
RACING NEWS
Coady Photography