Page 52 - 16 March 2012

West Texas Maturity-G2
FirsT Corona Call
by Tracy Gantz
Before the March 3 West Texas Maturity-G2 at Sunland Park, First Corona Call had amassed $444,888 the hard way, without a
rich stakes victory to bolster his bankroll. Not that he didn’t belong in stakes company: At 2 in 2009, First Corona Call finished third in the All American Futurity-G1.
“In the All American, he threw a shoe off a hind leg right in the gate,” said owner-breeder Richard Shearer of Portales, New Mexico.
Coming close in several major stakes, First Corona Call finally got one to call his own in the West Texas Maturity, for which he was the fifth-fastest qualifier. In the final, when some of the other runners acted up in the gate, First Corona Call hit the side of his starting stall, but Shearer said he settled down immediately.
Under jockey Ricky Ramirez, First Corona Call zipped right to the front from post two after the gate opened, with Zulu Dragon on the rail going with him. The pair turned it into a match race, racing stride for stride to the wire, but First Corona Call put his nose on the line first. He stopped the clock in :19.030.
“It looked like the two was coming on, but we got there,” said Shearer. “He’s an old war- rior. He’ll give you everything he’s got every time you put him in the gate.”
Now a 5-year-old, First Corona Call fin- ished second in the 2009 Zia Futurity-RG1 and the Dash For Cash Futurity-G1. Shearer bred the gelding in New Mexico, which gave him options in rich New Mexico-bred races. But running him in open company allowed Shearer and his wife, Patricia, to help prove their stallion, Southern Corona, the sire of First Corona Call.
“We didn’t give him an easy schedule,” Shearer admitted. “I believe in the New Mexico program. I live in New Mexico, and the program gives you a chance to run more often. Some of these New Mexico-bred races are as tough as the open ones.”
First Corona Call owes most of his pedi- gree to the Shearers. Patricia and the couple’s son, Dustin, bought Might Be A First, the second dam, for Richard as a birthday pres- ent. Shearer owned Calligrapher, and he got six foals by Calligrapher out of Might Be
A First. The best is multiple stakes winner
A First Caller, but the cross also produced stakes-placed Call Me First; Mightys First Call, a stakes-placed filly who finished fourth in the 2006 All American Futurity-G1; and Be A First Call, the dam of First Corona Call.
Shearer is now breeding Might Be A First to Southern Corona.
“Be A First Call hurt her back, and she only started one time,” said Shearer. “I didn’t know what to do with her, so I decided to keep her for a broodmare.”
It was a good decision. First Corona Call is the mare’s second foal and first by Southern Corona. She has three full siblings to First Corona Call and is in foal to Southern Corona.
“We have a full brother that we’re breaking this year,” said Shearer. “He looks awfully good. I might embryo the mare this year to get two foals.”
Shearer has his horses with the father and son team of Blane and Trey Wood, with Trey listed as the trainer for the West Texas.
“They do such a wonderful job with their horses,” said Shearer. “This horse is a real nice horse. If he says he wants more, we’ll go to Ruidoso with him. Otherwise, we may lay him up and might go to Lone Star.”
Zulu Dragon (First Down Dash-Hidden Dragon), who finished second with Jaime
Leos in the irons, was the second-fastest qualifier. Owned by the 21 Partnership and trained by Joe Badilla Jr., he won the 2011 La Plata Stakes-G3 at SunRay Park.
Zoomin Express (Azoom-Sweet As Cash), owned and trained by Patrick Sanchez, finished
third, ridden by Macario Rodriguez, as the longest shot in the field.
First Down Master (First Down Dash- Dash Master Miss), the favorite at just
under 2-1 as the fastest qualifier, finished fourth, followed by The Steel Wave (Ocean Runaway-Fashionisanattitude), The Rebel Cartel (Southern Cartel-On A Beduino High), Feature Mr Alliance (Feature Mr Jess-Valentine Alliance), Rare Waves (Wave Carver-Rare Encore), Kuhl Little Man (Brimmerton-
West Coast Separator), and Source Of Speed (Separatist-Wagons Maiden).
Sunland Park $99,826 • 400 yards :19.030 • si 95
Corona Cartel
Southern Corona
Southern Policy
FIRST CORONA CALL, ‘07-g.
Calligrapher
Be A First Call
Might Be A First
50 SPEEDHORSE, March 16, 2012
First Corona Call, under jockey Ricky Ramirez, is never headed while winning the $99,826 Grade 1 West Texas Maturity at Sunland Park on March 3.
Racing news
Tommie Morelos/Coady Photography