Page 54 - Speedhorse September 2017

2017 ALL AMERICAN DERBY QUALIFIERS
Race record: 10-7(2)-1-1
Darling Farm’s Hold Air Hostage dominated during an ever-changing afternoon of 13 trials to the All American Derby. A $50,000 supplemental nominee, Hold Air Hostage flew through the rain and over a sealed and sloppy track to win the 11th trial by 3 1/2-lengths for his fourth consecutive daylight victory. His time of :21.109 easily placed him ahead of stablemate and second-fastest quali- fier Duponte, who went postward in the 12th trial. Both horses are from the Jimmy Padgett barn, formerly the Judd Kearl stable.
2 DUPONTE SI 94, $770,415 2
Like Hold Air Hostage, Duponte took a rail trip to victory under Rodrigo Vallejo. Duponte, owned by breeder Bobby Cox with Homero & Kristen Paredes, won the 12th heat by 2 1/2-lengths as the favorite in :21.441 that was the day’s second fastest. Last year, the son of American Runaway won the Harrah’s Futurity-G3 and the $1 Million Heritage Place Futurity-G1. He was second in the $385,000 Dash
For Cash Futurity-G1. Earlier this year, Duponte ran fourth in both the Heritage Place Derby-G2 and Rainbow Derby-G1. Duponte will go postward as the richest horse in the All American Derby. He has a pedigree connection to All American Futurity qualifier Hawkeye, owned by Cox -- the third dam of each runner is Fitting Celebration, the 2004 AQHA Broodmare of the Year. Duponte is the first foal out of Havanah Goodtime, who also produced 2017 Heritage Place Futurity champion Nymeria.
3 DE LA EAGLE, SI 93, $57,802 3
Cream Of The Crop Inc.’s De La Eagle led the three qualifiers from the ninth trial with the third- fastest qualifying mark. The Marfa Lights followed with the fourth-fastest time and One Sweet Racy had the fifth-fastest mark. De La Eagle, a gelding by One Famous Eagle, won the trial by 1/2-length in :21.444. The Juan Gonzalez-trained 10-1 outsider raced to his first win in over a year. Jockey Tanner Thedford took over the mount from Jamie Parga Leos in a program change and scored the win. As a two year old, De La Eagle was second in the West Texas Juvenile and eighth in the Rain- bow Futurity-G1. Burnett Ranches LLC bred the gelding, who is out of the unraced mare La Reina De La Noche, a daughter of First Down Dash and full sister to Brookstone Bay si 101. De La Eagle is a 1/2-brother to multiple stakes winner Zoomin Daphne si 107 ($73,242).
4 THE MARFA LIGHTS SI 92, $457,220 4
Running on the opposite end of the track, Michael and Beth Harper’s The Marfa Lights finished second to De La Eagle in the ninth trial and also posted a time fast enough to earn a spot in the All American Derby finals. Larry Payne piloted the Jose Villafranco-trained colt, who crossed the wire in :21.501, a nose in front of fellow qualifier One Sweet Racy. Bred by Vessels Stallion Farm LLC, The Marfa Lights is a well-bred colt out of Champion Two Year Old and Two-Year-Old Filly Your First Moon si 96 ($750,726). He is a 1/2-brother to Champion Three Year Old and Three-Year-Old Gelding and Cham- pion Aged Horse and Aged Gelding Moonist si 101 ($878,468) and a full brother to Moonin The Eagle si 111 ($556,100, Ntr, 24 wins), among others. The Marfa Lights previously finished second in the 2016 All American Futurity-G1. The All American Derby will be his second career stakes appearance.
5 ONE SWEET RACY SI 92, $18,254 5
Trey Wood and Ricky Ramirez teamed up to qualify two horses to the All American Derby. Johnny Trotter’s One Sweet Racy earned her berth with a close third-place finish in the ninth trial, where she stopped the clock in :21.509. The One Sweet Jess daughter qualified to last year’s $100,000 Rainbow Juvenile, where she ran sixth. One Sweet Racy broke her maiden in her first start this year and has hit the board in every race since. She has contested the trials for the Ruidoso and Rainbow derbies, but
the All American marks her first qualifying effort as a sophomore. Bred by Sunflower Supply Co., One Sweet Racy is out of the blue-hen mare Miss Racy Vike si 105, a multiple Grade 1 winner of $263,661. Miss Racy Vike has also produced Champion Three-Year-Old Filly Miss Racy Jess si 91 ($485,113), graded stakes winner Miss Racy Eyes si 98 ($133,195), Vikes Iota si 94 ($103,709), and many others.
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HOLD AIR HOSTAGE SI 102, $642,636
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Race record: 13-6(2)-2(1)-0
Race record: 10-2-5(1)-0
Race record: 8-2-3(1)-1
Race record: 8-1-2-3
52 SPEEDHORSE, September 2017