Page 106 - NMHBA_Winter2022

ZIA PARK
Photos by Coady Photography
New Mexico Classic Cup Sprint Champ.(R)
Fusaichi Zenon
Sunday Silence
Elizabeth Rose
Strawberry Pet
Petionville
Strawberry Runner
STRAWBERRY WHISKY
Aldo Arboleda rode Strawberry Whisky to a neck victory in the October 30, 6-furlong New Mexico Classic Cup Sprint Championship (R) for state-bred Thoroughbreds at Zia Park.
Owned and trained by Celio E. Trujillo Jr. and sent to post as the 7-2 second choice in a field of 12, Strawberry Whisky stopped the timer in 1:09.64. The 5-year-old Fusaichi Zenon (JPN) gelding earned his third career stakes win while banking the $71,400 winner’s share of the $125,000 purse.
Strawberry Whisky was shortening in distance off of his one-length victory in the 7-furlong, $100,000 O.D. McDonald Stakes (R) for New Mexico-breds at Albuquerque Downs on October 1. The dark bay or brown gelding was bred by Michael Weatherly, and he is one of five official black-type stakes winners from 16 crops sired by Fusaichi Zenon, a son of 1989 Eclipse Award- winning Horse of the Year Sunday Silence.
Racing in Japan 1999-2001, Fusaichi Zenon won three of eight starts and earned $768,157, and he was a listed stakes winner in 2000. The stallion has sired 64 winners and the earners
of more than $3.5 million from 99 starters, including multiple stakes winner Zenon’s Star and stakes winners Not My Note, Honshu City, and Parklane Lass.
Fusaichi Zenon is owned by Armando Orozco Jr., and he stands at Orozco Ranch at Sunland Park, New Mexico.
Strawberry Whisky is also one of six winners from as many starters produced by Strawberry
Pet, a winning Kentucky-bred daughter of the Grade 2-winning Seeking The Gold stallion Petionville. The gelding is a half-brother to Strawberry Bling, a Your Eminence filly who ran second in Diabolical Dame’s 2015 Lincoln Handicap (R) at Ruidoso Downs.
Strawberry Whisky’s second dam, the winning Kentucky-bred Strawberry Road
(AUS) mare Strawberry Runner, foaled Princess Samala, a winning half-sister to Strawberry Pet and runner-up in the 2005 Swept Away Stakes at Calder Racecourse in Florida. His third dam, the Northern Prospect mare Norangle, won the 1988 Crocus Stakes at Garden State Park in New Jersey.
Strawberry Whisky traces back to his fourth dam, Double Angle, a winning and stakes- placed daughter of the Quadrangle stallion Angle Light who produced seven winners from seven starters, including Northern Dixie, a stakes-placed half-sister to Norangle.
Strawberry Whisky has won his last three outs, including a 6 1/2-furlong, $38,000 allowance race at Albuquerque Downs on August 28. All told, the gelding has won six of 17 races and he has earned $261,485, of which $157,938 has been banked from five starts this season. Strawberry Whisky ended his 2021 campaign with a one-length victory in the October 31, $100,000 New Mexico Classic Cup Sprint Championship (R) at Zia Park.
All Chrome, a 36-1 longshot, finished second and was followed by Delbert Too,
McThanks, Lariat, 5-2 favorite No Pasa Nada, Diabolical Gator, Izeright, Cerveza, Desert Reward, On A Warpath and Monterey Secret.
A homebred 5-year-old son of the Wagon Limit stallion Silver Wagon, All Chrome races for Benjamin G. McDonald. The gray or roan gelding has won three of 20 starts, and the $23,800 runner-up share of the New Mexico Classics Sprint Championship purse bumped his bankroll to $103,615.
Delbert Too is a 4-year-old son of the Bernardini stallion Marking campaigned by Filiberto Quiroz. A $25,000 yearling purchase at the 2019 New Mexico-Bred Sale at Ruidoso Downs, the bay gelding has won five of 26 races, including the January 30, $100,000 Jamison Memorial Handicap (R) at Sunland Park,
and the $11,900 third-place share of the purse increased his earnings to $345,136.
104 New Mexico Horse Breeder
Strawberry Whisky’s winning connections include owner/trainer Celio E. Trujillo Jr. and jockey Aldo Arboleda.