Page 79 - New Mexico Horse Breeder, Fall

RIO GRANDE SENOR FUTURITY (R)
Sunscreen, a homebred son of Southwestern Heat owned by R.D. Hubbard and Shaun Hubbard, unleashed a strong stretch rally
to win the September 3 Rio Grande Senor Futurity (R) for New Mexico-bred 2-year-old colts and geldings at Ruidoso Downs.
Ridden by Elvin Gonzalez for trainer Casey Lambert, Sunscreen covered 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.97, and his margin of victory was three- quarters of a length from Comic Hot Rod. The chestnut gelding earned his first stakes win and the $55,047 winner’s share of the $110,094 purse.
Sunscreen was coming off of a one-length victory in the second of two Senor Futurity trials on August 11. The gelding became the fifth official black-type stakes winner sired by Southwestern Heat, a Kentucky-bred son of the Mr. Prospector stallion Gone West and 2001 American champion 3-year-old filly Xtra Heat.
Racing from 2006-08, Southwestern Heat won four of 17 starts, including the 2007 Sonny Hine Stakes at Laurel Racecourse
in Maryland, and he earned $155,340. The stallion has sired 57 winners and the earners of more than $2.6 million from 87 starters, including stakes winner Bryn’s Fancy Pants.
Southwestern Heat was a half brother to stakes winner Elusive Heat. He died from colic in January 2017.
Sunscreen is also one of two winners from as many starters produced by Playoftheday, a winning homebred 8-year-old daughter of the
Forest Wildcat stallion Attila’s Storm. The gelding’s second dam, the homebred Gentlemen (ARG) mare Play The Favorite, is a full sister to Man Among Men, a two-time stakes winner at Santa Anita Park from 2002-03.
Sunscreen’s third dam, the Nikos (GB) mare La Favorita (FR), was a stakes winner and Group 2-placed in France in ’92. A 1989 foal, La Favorita was a half sister to Sudaka (FR), a Group 3 winner in France in ’89, and Clodion (IRE), a stakes winner in Dubai in 2002.
Sunscreen began his career with a come- from-behind 1 1/4-length win in a 4 1/2-fur- long, $21,000 maiden-special-weight race for New Mexico-breds at Sunland Park on April 17. The gelding has won three of five starts and has banked $95,325, and his resume includes a second-place finish, 1 1/4 lengths behind winner Hustle Up, in the 5-furlong, $123,000 Mountain Top Futurity (R) at Ruidoso Downs on June 23.
Sent to post as the 2-1 second choice in the nine-horse field, Sunscreen returned a
$6 win mutuel and teamed with Comic Hot Rod, a 13-1 longshot, for a $49.40 ($2) exacta payoff. Diabolical Ruler, the 7-1 third choice, ran third, 5 3/4 lengths behind Sunscreen, to complete a $1 trifecta dividend of $97.
The previously undefeated Hustle Up, the 7-10 favorite, finished fourth, a head behind Diabolical Ruler. Scotty Who, Off The Wagon, Showtime Express, Trace Of Gold, and
Beau Wizer Image completed the order of fin- ish. Senor Futurity qualifier Western Dancer was scratched.
Comic Hot Rod is a homebred son of the Pulpit stallion Abstraction and the mul-
tiple stakes winning Comic Genius mare Comicsperfectstorm. Campaigned by Helen Nave of Hobbs, New Mexico, the dark bay or brown gelding has earned $29,980 from four outs, and his race record includes a fourth-place finish, 6 3/4 lengths behind winner Hustle Up, in the Mountain Top Futurity.
Diabolical Ruler races for J. Kirk and Judy Robison of El Paso, Texas, who also bred the chestnut Diabolical gelding. Diabolical Ruler has banked $14,091 from three starts, and he was coming off of a second-place finish to Sunscreen in his Senor Futurity trial.
by Michael Cusortelli
RUIDOSO DOWNS
Southwestern Heat
Gone West
Xtra Heat
Playoftheday
Attila’s Storm
Play The Favorite
SUNScREEN
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