Page 48 - 23 November 2012

new Mexico Classic Derby-RG2
FiRST Blazin lOVe
by Stacy Pigott
When Lisa Saumell saw First Blazin Love at the 2010 New Mexico-Bred Yearling Sale, she knew she had to have the colt. Her intuition paid off in a big way on Oct. 28 at Zia Park, when First Blazin Love won the $208,321 New Mexico Classic Derby-RG2.
“I really liked his looks, the way he’s put together, and his breeding. And he just had that look in his eye,” said Lisa Saumell, who runs trainer Paul Jones’ operations in New Mexico. “I’ll walk up to a horse and the first thing I look at is his eye. He just had that racehorse look in his eye.”
Saumell paid $15,000 for First Blazin Love, who had gathered enough interest at the sale that Saumell quickly found herself with a cou- ple of partners. Dwayne Johnson and Johnny Martinez both asked if they could partner on the horse, and Saumell readily agreed.
“I couldn’t’ have better partners than I do,” Saumell said. “The Martinez boys (Johnny and brother Sammie) and Dwayne—they don’t come any better than that.”
And when it comes to racehorses, on Oct. 28, they didn’t come any better than First Blazin Love. Ridden by Jesse Levario, First Blazin Love broke quickly from post position four and dueled with early leaders RCJ Major Storm and Fysta. As the field passed the gap First Blazin Love began to inch away, increas- ing his advantage to a half-length at the wire.
“Jesse put a really good ride on the horse,” Saumell said of jockey Levario. “He kept tell- ing me, ‘I’m going to win with this horse. I’m going to win with this horse.’”
It was the first stakes win for Levario, a 21-year-old rider from Odessa, Texas.
“He walked in the barn one day with Esgar Ramirez, and he was like, ‘Wow, I haven’t been in a barn like this!’ I said, ‘Well don’t just stand there, get on one!’
“He’s young and very polite. His personal- ity is so positive, and he’s got his whole family that stands behind him,” Saumell said. “I just saw that he was going to be something. I put him on a horse when Paul came into town and he won, and Paul said, ‘This kid can ride!’ So Jesse is the first call rider in our barn. He is going to be a really seasoned jockey early in his life, because he thinks a lot. He comes back and tells you every little thing about a horse. He’s a really good rider; He’s here to stay.”
Under Levario’s young but capable guid- ance, First Blazin Love covered the 440 yards in :21.728. The third-fastest qualifier after
finishing third in his trial behind dead-heat winners and co-
fastest qualifiers Cute N Famous and Fysta, First Blazin Love’s improved performance in the finals resulted from a better post, Saumell says.
“He was down in the two
hole (in the trials). The inside at
Hobbs is much deeper because
of the Thoroughbreds working
down there. In the finals he drew the four hole, which was better. It was a matter of a bet- ter racetrack in his post position that allowed him to finish as the horse he could be.”
It was the second stakes win for First Blazin Love, who also captured the Shue
Fly Stakes-G2 in January at Sunland Park. Since then, he has also finished second in the NMBHA Stakes-RG2, fourth in the New Mexico Breeders’ Stakes-RG2, and sixth in the Zia Derby-RG3. He had been the second-fast- est qualifier to the Zia Futurity-RG1 last year, but a slight shin fracture cut his season short.
“We knew he was a good horse, so we just turned him out,” said Saumell, who plans on taking First Blazin Love back to Sunland Park this winter, perhaps for the Jess Burner Memorial Handicap-RG2. “He’s perfectly sound, so we’re going to run him as a 4-year-old. We’re going to make every one of his races count because when he’s done, I want him to go to stud.”
First Blazin Love certainly has the pedigree,
as he is sired by the late Chicks A Blazin and is out of the placed First Down Dash mare Love At First Glance, who has also produced stakes win- ner Love To Finish First, stakes-placed winners Jess Braggin, and multiple graded stakes finalist My Soul Mate. First Blazin
Love is her leading earner at $289,355. Early leader RCJ Major Storm could not
match strides with First Blazin Love late, finishing second under Esgar Ramirez. Melvin Cordova trains the colt for owner Alagar Racing, LLC. RCJ Major Storm (Brookstone Bay-Major Kia) won the Hard Twist Stakes at The Downs at Albuquerque on Aug. 26.
Two Shine (Corona Caliente-Now You Know Merry) was bumped at the start and recovered
to run third for trainer Ramon Alvarez, who co-owns the gelding with Beda Prieto. Bonifacio Perez rode Two Shine, who was second in the Hard Twist Stakes two starts ago.
The top three were followed by Fysta (Gonna Ro Sham Bo-Decadent Darlin), Silver Spike (Brookstone Bay-Silver Impulse), Cute
N Famous (Dash Ta Fame-Cute N Rimen), Lion Again (Metallic Lion-Metered Express), Southern Pass Dash (Southern Corona-Pass The Form), and Cats Paw Bay (Brookstone Bay- Bidders Bluff). Caliente Colt was scratched.
Zia Park $208,321 • 440 yards :21.728 • si 88
Chicks Beduino
Chicks A Blazin
Forthe Loveofhoney
FIRST BLAZIN LOVE, ’09-c.
First Down Dash
Love At First Glance
Natovas Dasher
46 SPEEDHORSE, November 23, 2012
First Blazin Love and jockey Jesse Levario were a half-length in front in the New Mexico Classic Derby.
Racing news
Coady Photography