Page 108 - New Mexico Horse Breeders 2019 Stallion Register

ZIA PARK
by Michael Cusortelli
NM Cup Sprint Championship (R)
So Long Birdie
Pioneering
Dear Birdie
Alicita My Love
Birdonthewire
Ayers Rock
D E LOVER
D E Lover, a 7-year-old son of So Long Birdie owned by Leroy Martinez and trainer Tony Sedillo, extended his win streak to three with a 3/4-length score in the Nov. 4, $170,000 New Mexico Cup Sprint Champ. (R) at Zia Park.
Under jockey Shane Laviolette, D E Lover covered 6 furlongs in 1:09.18. The chestnut gelding was winning for the 15th time in 57 starts against Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, and the fifth time in 11 outs at Zia Park.
D E Lover was shortening in distance off of his 3 1/2-length victory as the 2-1 favorite in a
6 1/2-furlong, $40,000 allowance race for state- breds at Zia Park on Oct. 7. The gelding was bred by Double Eagle Ranch at Roswell, New Mexico, and he is one of 25 winners from 36 starters sired by So Long Birdie, a Florida-bred son of the Mr. Prospector stallion Pioneering and a 1/2-brother to 2004 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Birdstone.
Racing in California from 2004-05, So Long Birdie earned $60,025 from five outs and ran second in the 6-furlong, $102,762 San Miguel Stakes at Santa Anita in ’05. From eight crops, So Long Birdie has sired the earners of more than $1.4 million.
D E Lover is also one of two winners from as many starters produced by Alicita My Love, a winning daughter of the stallion
Birdonthewire who ran 2nd in the listed Ohio Valley Handicap at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia in 2004. The gelding’s 2nd dam, the winning Slew The Knight mare Ayers Rock, finished 2nd in the ’97 New York Oaks (R) for state-bred fillies at Finger Lakes.
D E Lover traces back to his fifth dam, Missi Baba, a daughter of My Babu who produced seven stakes winners, including 1977 Arlington- Washington Futurity (G1) winner Sauce Boat and multiple stakes winners Raja Baba and Dromba.
The $102,000 winner’s share of the New Mexico Cup Sprint Champ.purse pushed D E Lover’s bankroll to $767,678, of which $33,976 has been earned against Quarter Horses in 870- yard races from 2014-15. His seven stakes scores include consecutive runnings of the Sierra Blanca Handicap (R) at Ruidoso Downs (2015-16), and the 2016 New Mexico Cup Sprint Champ.
D E Lover returned a $9.80 win mutuel as the 7-2 second choice. Diabolical Gator, the 4-5 favorite in the 12-horse field, ran second and was followed by E Bar Way, Red Zenon, Another Brother, Stormin The Jewels, Four Star Saint, Big Hitter, Way Nifty, Mr. Mooch, War Wounds, and Reining Pesos.
Diabolical Gator races for J. Kirk and Judy Robison of El Paso, Texas, who also bred the
4-year-old chestnut son of the Artax stallion Diabolical. The gelding has won six of eight starts, and the $37,400 runner-up share of the purse boosted his earnings to $148,040, of which $132,140 has been banked this season. Diabolical Gator’s resume includes a clear 5 3/4-length win in the Sierra Blanca Handicap (R) on July 29.
E Bar Way finished 3-lengths behind D E Lover and pocketed $17,000 for owner Ramiro Miranda. A 9-year-old chestnut gelding and a $5,000 claimer at Sunland Park last winter, E Bar Way has won 10 of 53 starts and has banked $294,899, and his four wins in 14 outs at Zia Park include a 1/2-length victory in the 2011 New Mexico Eddy County Stakes (R).
106 New Mexico Horse Breeder