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New Mexico Classic Juvenile Stakes (R)
Kings Touch, a chestnut son of freshman sire Eye Am King owned by Jay Glover and Gary Stallings, scored a wire-to-wire victory in the October 29, 350-yard New Mexico Classic Juvenile Stakes (R) for state-bred 2-year-olds at Zia Park.
Ridden by Ricky Ramirez for trainer Casey Lambert and aided by a reported 5-mph tail wind, Kings Touch defeated stablemate Nine Walks by a neck in :17.454. The gelding recorded a 102 speed index while earning his first lifetime stakes win.
Kings Touch was bred by William and Mary Robertson, and he was purchased as a yearling by Glover and Stallings for $10,000 at last year’s New Mexico-Bred Sale at Ruidoso Downs. He is the first stakes winner sired by Eye Am King, a 7-year-old son of 1994 AQHA champion 2-year-old Mr Jess Perry and 2007 Golden State Million Futurity (G1) winner Eye For Corona.
Eye Am King is a full brother to stakes winner Dr Jess and a half-brother to stakes winner Ultimate Wave. The stallion is owned by and stands for a $3,000 fee at Mac and Janis Murray’s MJ Farms at Veguita, New Mexico.
Kings Touch is out of Physical Touch, a winning 11-year-old daughter of the Heza
Fast Man stallion Heza Fast Dash. The gelding’s second dam, the winning Tres Seis mare Fleeting Touch, produced two graded stakes winning half siblings to Physical Touch: Nellie Delaney, the winner of the 2013 Southern California Derby (G1) and 2014 Los Alamitos Winter Championship (G1), and Jacky Martin 21, the winner
of the 2019 West Texas Maturity (G3) at Sunland Park.
Kings Touch traces back to his third
dam, the winning and graded stakes placed Dashing Val mare Sheeza Lil Val. A 1994 foal, Sheeza Lil Val foaled three graded stakes winners, including Grade 1 winners Value The Man and Valiantly.
Kings Touch has won three of nine starts, and the $24,000 winner’s share of the New Mexico Classic Juvenile Stakes purse bumped his bankroll to $82,071. The gelding’s summer record included
a fifth-place run, three lengths behind winner Pick Your Pour, in the June 19, $341,862 Mountain Top Futurity (RG2) at Ruidoso Downs.
Mires A La Luna ran third, a half
of a length behind Kings Touch. Gemologist, MM The Gray Rocket, Fine
Am Eye, Fancyinallofus, Pandemic and Dontmesswiththelady completed the official order of finish.
Runner-up Nike Walks was purchased as a yearling by Jay Glover and Gary Stallings for $30,000 at last year’s New Mexico-Bred Sale. The sorrel Big Daddy Cartel gelding has won two of six races, and the $8,000 second-place share of the purse increased his earnings to $27,800.
A full brother to multiple graded stakes winner No Mires A La Luna, Mires A La Luna is a homebred son of First Moonflash racing for Byron R. Woodard. The brown gelding has banked $5,830 from five starts.
Kings Touch’s winning connections include owner Jay Glover, trainer Casey Lambert and jockey Ricky Ramirez.
Photos by Coady Photography
ZIA PARK
Eye Am King
Mr Jess Perry
Eye For Corona
Physical touch
Heza Fast Dash
Fleeting Touch
KINGS TOUCH
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