Page 178 - Speedhorse June 2019

Mexico Futurity
ONE ZULU DRAGON
by Luis Prieto Zamudio
The outcome of the first large event for two- year-old colts and fillies bred in Mexico, and presented at the 2018 Select Yearling Auction, was held at the Hipodromo de las Americas
on May 12 when the 10 finalists met and the undisputed champion arose: One Zulu Dragon, a gelding sorrel who reached this stage after qualifying with the fifth best time in the trials held on April 20-21 at 250 yards.
The 22 demanding qualification races gath- ered 177 individuals, most of them debutants. However, those who advanced to the finals and
to the consolation showed outstanding aptitudes, especially the sorrel By Jess Horse who from race two of the first day of the competitions established the best record of :12.866, the only one that sur- passed the barrier of 13 seconds, and so he was the favorite betting option to win the Mexico Futurity.
The start was plagued with blows, with only three being able to run without disturbance at
the beginning: One Zulu Dragon, who departed from the 5-post; SF Kiss Mystery from the 9-post, and LA Whistlin Corona from the 10-post. Of these three, the first took advantage of the fray and escaped at great speed under the excellent direction of Alejandro Gómez Díaz, in such a way that when the speedy By Jess Horse wanted to hunt him down, it was too late because One Zulu Dragon surpassed him at the wire by 3/4-lengths in an impressive :12.78 for a 108 speed index.
It was an unexpected victory, but very well done since with the performance, One Zulu Dragon would have been perhaps still invin- cible. He improved by 34 hundredths of a second the time of his trials, when he arrived in
second position a head behind Rex Sambaso. In this way, One Zulu Dragon broke his maiden in the futurity.
One Zulu Dragon is a sorrel
gelding, bred by the 21 Partnership.
As a yearling, he was presented to
the respective auction, where he was
quoted at $450,000 pesos (approx.
$23,071 U.S.). In that event, the son
of Zulu Dragon and out of Woodys Wild One
by Woodbridge was acquired for Cuadra Santa Cruz, that qualified another two individuals to this final: Rolex Cartel and No Baja, in such a way that One Zulu Dragon formed part of a powerful combined entry which is under the training of for- mer rider Ismael Parra, who for official purposes is represented by trainer Víctor Jarillo Sánchez.
One Zulu Dragon is a brother to One Rainbow SI 101 by Rabbits Rainbow, who in 2018 won the Mexico Futurity himself by a nose over AS Macho, who defeated her two months later in the Garañones Futurity. No doubt the mare confirms her great contribution as a producer of competitive offspring.
One Zulu Dragon is one of the 16 yearlings by Zulu Dragon auctioned in 2018 in Mexico, which on average achieved a price of $292,188 pesos (approx. $14,980 U.S.).
The futurity raised a total purse of $4,505,625 pesos (approx. $233,891 U.S.), of which $3,470,218 pesos (approx. $180,142 U.S.) were allocated to reward the finalists. Of this amount, $1,457,491 pesos were assigned to the winner (approx. $75,660 U.S.).
Second placed Jess Horse was involved in
a crash at the start with Big Papi and Jabulani Dash and lost valuable fractions of a second, an incident that merited the disqualification of the latter from sixth to ninth place. In spite of this, the
:12.85 seconds of By Jess Horse in the finals was an improvement by one hundredth of a second from his qualifying time. José Ángel Ambrosio Medina repeated as pilot, capturing $589,937 pesos (approx. $30,624 U.S.) for the benefit of Cuadra El Manantial. The gelding is the son of Sea Horse Corona and out of Feature Bye Jess by Dashin Bye, raised by Salomé Gallegos and saddled by trainer Jorge Adrián Jarillo Sánchez.
Rex Sambaso (Sambaso Dancer-The Answer Lady by Corona Cartel) was third under Rogelio Sáenz for Rancho El Suspiro and trainer Gonzalo Bastida Pacheco, and bred by Everardo Múzquiz Elguezáblal. His :12.98 also improved the :13.01 of his previous departure in the trials. The share for his performance was $416,426 pesos (approx. $21,617 U.S.).
La Ripol (Danny Cartel-Eyell Fool Ya),
LA Whistlin Corona (Corona Silver-Whistlin Ruaway), SF Kiss Mystery (Mr Queen Mystery-SF Royal Kisses), No Baja (Bullish One-Baja Luna), Big Papi (Bullish One-One Cool), Jabulani Dash (Jabulani-SF Finita Dash) and Rolex Cartel (Danny Cartel-Tiffany Cut) completed the order of finish.
Hipodromo de las Americas $180,142 • 250 yards :12.78 • si 108
First Down Dash
Zulu Dragon
Hidden Dragon
ONE ZULU DRAGON, ’17-g.
Woodbridge
Woodys Wild One
Just A Wildone
176 SPEEDHORSE, June 2019
One Zulu Dragon wins the $23,071 Mexico Futurity under Alejandro Gómez Diaz.
RACING NEWS
Miguel A. Espinoza: Hipodoromo de las Americas