Page 52 - September 2018

RUIDOSO DOWNS, NEW MEXICO
QUALIFIERS TO THE 2018 GRADE 1, $3,000,000
All American
Futurity
A total of 32 trials were contested over two days at Ruidoso Downs to determine the 10 fastest qualifiers for the $3 Million All American Futurity-G1, to be held on Labor Day.
Horses that drew early and inside for Friday’s trials had the odds in their favor. The first five races all benefitted from a tail wind that ranged from 6 to 10 miles per hour, and the winners of those races all came from the inside five post positions. By the sixth race, the wind changed to a cross wind and the clouds started rolling in. It was raining by the ninth race, and the track was sealed by the 10th. While the clouds cleared for the last few races of the day, the mountain’s unpredictable weather had already taken its toll. All five of the day’s qualifiers came from the first five trials, and none started farther from the rail than post position four.
Things turned around for the second full day of trials, as all five of the qualifiers raced on the last half of the card and from post positions
August 17
:21.349 Apocalyptical Jess, g, (Apollitical Jess-Cassandra Crest, Holland Ease) Bill T Robbins/G Blane Wood/Ricky Ramirez
:21.479 Tools In the Sky, g,
(First Down Dash-No Tools Required, Jody O Toole)
Licon Farm & Ranch LLC/Michael W Joiner/Felipe Garcia-Luna
:21.521 Im Jess Special V, g,
(Jess Lips-Special Folly Dash, Tempting Dash)
Valeriano Racing Stables LLC/Toby Keeton/Agustin Silva
:21.524 Wokatee On Fire, g,
(Highest Fire-Wokatee, Shazoom)
Wokatee On Fire LLC (lessee)/Clinton Crawford/James Flores
:21.535 Lynnder 16, f,
(Apollitical Jess-Tinys Corona Queen, Corona Cartel)
Tom Maher & Dick Tobin/Jason Olmstead/Cristian R Esqueda
all over the track. While the weather wasn’t as wet as the day before, the cloudy day did result in minimal rain, and only the last three races benefitted from a tail wind.
There won’t be any coupled entries this year, as no owner quali- fied more than one horse. Only one trainer will saddle multiple horses in the All American Futurity, as Blane Wood has three qualifi- ers, all of which were ridden in the trials by Ricky Ramirez. Ramirez is the only jockey who qualified more than one horse, and one of his three qualifiers is Apocalyptical Jess, who heads into the finals as the fastest qualifier. Three breeders – Grant Farms, Valeriano Racing Stables, and Mark and Annette McCloy – will be racing homebreds in the finals, and Grant Farms is the only breeder to have two horses in the finals, though their second representative races for La Feliz Montana Ranch.
August 18
:21.520 Pilot Points Moon, g,
(First Moonflash-Ms Pilot Point, Splash Bac) Grant Farms LLC/Wesley T Giles/Adrian Ramos
:21.648 MM Fourinthemorning, g,
(Mr Jess Perry-Easeful Dinastia, Corona Cartel)
Mark & Annette McCloy/G Blane Wood/Ricky Ramirez
:21.664 Badhabit Jess, g,
(Mr Jess Perry-Sheza Bad Habit, Looking For Chicks)
La Feliz Montana Ranch LLC/G Blane Wood/Ricky Ramirez
:21.680 No Mires A La Luna, g,
(First Moonflash-Dont Looke Ethel, Genuine Strawfly) David Valdez & Byron Woodard/Trey Ellis/Rodrigo Vallejo
:21.695 Rustys Miracle, f,
(Valiant Hero-Rustys Lil Lady, Fredricksburg) J & SM Inc/Fred I Danley/Sergio Becerra Jr
by Stacy Pigott • photos by Linda Earley
50 SPEEDHORSE, September 2018