Page 81 - New Mexico Summer 2022

New Mexico Breeders’ Stakes (RG3)
Sent to post at odds of 13-1 in a full field of 10 state-bred 3-year-old Quarter Horses, River Flash responded with a wire-to-wire victory in the April 24, $100,000 New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association Stakes (RG3) at SunRay Park.
River Flash covered 400 yards in :19.599 while aided by a reported 12-mph tail wind, and his winning margin was three-quarters of a length from HS Golden Eagle. Wes Giles trained the gray son of Chicks Regard for owners Robert M. Driggers and Ben Lee Ivey.
River Flash was coming off of a sixth-place finish, three lengths behind winner Wish Bigg, in the March 12, 400-yard New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association Stakes (RG2) for state- bred sophomores at Sunland Park. The gelding was bred by Ivey Cattle Co. His sire, Chicks Regard, is a 23-year-old son of the Beduino (TB) stallion Chicks Beduino.
Racing in New Mexico and California from 2001-03, Chicks Regard won six of 13 starts and banked $52,783, and he ended his racing career with a three-quarter length victory in the 350- yard Head Pin Handicap at the Sonoma County Fair meet in Santa Rosa, California. The stallion has sired the earners of more than $8.2 million from 15 crops, including graded stakes winners Regard With Respect, You N How Many More, and A Streak Regard.
Chicks Regard is owned by K. Humberto Lopez Gaxiola, and he stands for a $2,800 fee at
Robert and Del Rae Driggers’ Bar Y Equine in Berino, New Mexico.
River Flash is out of Riverside Flash, a homebred winning daughter of 2009 AQHA champion aged stallion First Moonflash and a finalist in the 2017 Zia (RG1) and New Mexico Cup (RG2) futurities. The gelding’s second dam, the homebred winning Mr Eye Opener mare Riverside Eye Opener, ran second in Regal Fly’s 2004 La Mariposa Handicap (G3) at Albuquerque Downs.
River Flash has won three of seven starts, and the $60,000 winner’s share of the purse from his second career stakes score pushed his earnings to $108,984, of which $74,264 has been pocketed from four races this season. His 2-year-old season included a three-quarter length victory in the 400-yard, $50,000 New Mexico State Fair Juvenile Stakes (R) at Albuquerque Downs. He also was a finalist in the January 29, $262,000 Shue Fly Stakes (RG2) at Sunland Park.
River Flash returned a $28 win mutuel, and he teamed with 5-1 second choice HS Golden Eagle for a $741 ($2) exacta. Wente finished third, a head behind HS Golden Eagle, to complete a $1 trifecta dividend of $324.40.
Daddys Mony ran fourth and was followed by Romeos Ransom, JC New Dawn, RZ Richy, Dashin Approach, 3-2 favorite Wish Bigg, and Long Pour.
HS Golden Eagle was making her first official start since December 5, when the
filly placed 10th in the 440-yard, $100,000 Southwest Juvenile Championship Stakes (G2) at Zia Park. A sorrel daughter of the Jesse James Jr stallion Osbaldo campaigned by Lucina Salas Lopez, HS Golden Eagle has banked $241,048 from 10 outs in New Mexico and Arizona, and her two wins include a 1 3/4-length victory in last year’s 400-yard, $396,000 New Mexico State Fair Futurity (RG3) at Albuquerque Downs.
Wente is a gray daughter of Big Daddy Cartel and 2015 AQHA champion sophomore filly Astica owned by Scott Branson and Jimmy Vasquez. A $36,000 yearling purchase at the 2020 New Mexico-Bred Sale, the filly has won two of 10 races, including the Shue Fly Stakes, and the $10,000 third-place share of the New Mexico Breeders’ Stakes purse pushed her earnings to $149,599.
River Flash’s winning connections include owners Robert M. Driggers & Ben Lee Ivey, trainer Wesley Giles, and jockey Adrian Ramos.
Photos by Coady Photography
SUNRAY PARK
Chicks Regard
Chicks Beduino
First Regard
Riverside Flash
First Moonflash
Riverside Eye Opener
RIVER FLASH
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