Page 74 - New Mexico Horse Breeder, Fall

RUIDOSO DOWNS
by Michael Cusortelli
LAND OF ENCHANTMENT H. (R)
Attila’s Storm
Forest Wildcat
Sweet Symmetry
Garter
Bernardini
Fire The Groom
GO FOR A STROLL
R.D. Hubbard’s Go For A Stroll rallied to win the July 29, $50,000 Land of Enchantment Handicap (R) at Ruidoso Downs.
Ridden by Tracy Hebert for trainer Todd Fincher, Go For A Stroll went 7 1/2 furlongs in 1:31.66, and his margin of victory was a neck from odds-on favorite Thunder Dome. The homebred 4-year-old son of Attila’s Storm earned $30,000 for his sixth win in 18 outs.
Go For A Stroll was stretching out in distance off of his third-place finish, three lengths behind Thunder Dome, in the 7-furlong, $70,000 O.D. McDonald Stakes (R) at Albuquerque Downs on June 30. The dark bay or brown gelding is one
of 116 winners from 159 starters sired by Attila’s Storm, a Kentucky-bred 16-year-old son of the Storm Cat stallion Forest Wildcat.
Racing in five states from 2004-07, Attila’s Storm earned $534,983 from 18 starts, and his five wins included the ’07 Toboggan Handicap (G3) at Aqueduct. The stallion has sired the earners of more than $8.8 million from eight crops, including mul- tiple stakes winners Thermal, Hush’s Storm, and Stormin The Jewels.
Go For A Stroll’s dam, the unraced 10-year- old Bernardini mare Garter, has foaled four win- ners from as many starters, including Shotgun Warning, a half brother to Go For A Stroll who won last year’s Land of Enchantment Handicap (R), and Stormy Day, a full sister to Go For A Stroll who won the 2016 Lincoln Handicap (R) and ran third in the ’15 New Mexico Cup Oaks Championship (R) at Zia Park.
Go For A Stroll’s second dam, the Blushing Groom (FR) mare Fire The Groom, won three graded stakes in the early 1990s, including
the ’91 Beverly D. Stakes (G1) on the turf at Arlington Park. A 1987 foal, Fire The Groom produced two stakes winners, both of whom were half brothers to Garter -- Stravinsky, a two-time Group 1 winner in England in ’99, and Moscow Ballet, a Grade 1-placed colt who was a stakes winner in England in 2004.
Go For A Stroll traces back to his fourth dam, Native Street, a daughter of Mr. Prospector who won the 1966 Kentucky Oaks and foaled 1973 Florida Derby (G1) winner Royal And Regal and Grade 3 winner Regal And Royal.
The winner’s share of the purse from his third
stakes score increased Go For A Stroll’s bankroll to $264,233, of which $181,333 was earned during a 3-year-old season in which he won two stakes, including the 1 1/16-mile, $100,000 New Mexico Breeders’ Derby (R) at Sunland Park.
Thunder Dome was second for owners W.D. Carson Sr., M.H. Carson, and Leach Racing LLC. Shining Source finished third for Barton Ranch Stables LLC and Blake Rust and was followed by Hush’s Storm, Streaks Bro, Can’t Stop Samoken, Workingonnitemoves, and Indian H Who.
ROAD RUNNER HANDICAP (R)
Right Rigger
Unbridled’s Song
Stormy Pick
Stardust Lady
Dry Gulch
Bellatrix
RIG TIME
Rig Time, a gray or roan son of Right Rigger owned by brothers Larry R. Teague and T. Harry Teague of Hobbs, New Mexico, rallied to win the July 29 Road Runner Handicap (R) for state- bred 3-year-olds at Ruidoso Downs.
Ridden by Frank Reyes for trainer Weston Martin, Rig Time covered 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.53 while defeating Golden Band by 1 3/4 lengths. The homebred gelding earned the $30,000 winner’s share of the $50,000 purse to bring his bankroll to $52,350.
Rig Time became the fourth black-type stakes winner from eight starters sired by Right Rigger, a 12-year-old Kentucky-bred son of 1995 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Stakes (G1) winner Unbridled’s Song. A half brother to stakes-placed runners Stormandaprayer and Dothraki, Right Rigger has sired the earners of more than $887,000.
Right Rigger entered stud in 2011. He stands for a $3,500 fee at Susan Hunter’s Hunter Creek Farms at Roswell, New Mexico.
Rig Time is also one of three winners from as many starters foaled by Stardust Lady, a homebred winning 12-year-old daughter of the
Gulch stallion Dry Gulch. The gelding is a full brother to 2015 Rio Grande Senorita Futurity (R) winner Dust Alert.
Rig Time’s third dam, the winning Seeking The Gold mare Seeking The Circle, ran second in the ’93 Tempted Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack. His fourth dam, the stakes-winning Run Dusty Run mare Dusty Gloves, foaled two stakes winners, both of whom were half broth- ers to Seeking The Circle -- Middleweight, a son of Grand Slam who won three stakes from 2005-07, including the $100,000 Maxxam Gold Cup Handicap at Sam Houston Race Park in 2006, and Fin Entertainment, a Meadowlake gelding who won the $105,900 Sunland Park Handicap at Sunland Park in ’05.
Rig Time was shortening in distance off of
his fifth-place finish in a 6-furlong first-level allowance for New Mexico-bred distaffers at Ruidoso Downs on June 9. Raced exclusively in New Mexico, the gelding has won two of five outs, including a 5 1/2-furlong, $23,000 maiden- special-weight dash for state-bred fillies and mares at Sunland Park in his career debut on March 10.
Hollywood Henry finished third, 4 1/4 lengths behind Rig Time, and was fol- lowed by 2-1 favorite Blazing Navarone, Wheredoesthecashgo, Dani’s Choice, Storm The Beach, and Kris Who.
Runner-up Golden Band is a homebred gelding owned by Dale F. Taylor Racing LLC.
Hollywood Henry races for Bennie A. Vanecek, who acquired the gelding as a year- ling for $17,500 at the 2016 New Mexico-Bred Sale at Ruidoso Downs.
72 New Mexico Horse Breeder