Page 108 - NMHBA_Winter2022

ZIA PARK
Photos by Coady Photography
Rocky Gulch New Mexico Cup Cl. Champ. (R)
Dome
Storm Cat
She’s Tops
Lauren Lynn
Hadif
Soiree
THUNDER DOME
Thunder Dome, an 8-year-old son of Dome racing for Mike H. and Bill Carson, earned his eighth career stakes victory in the October 30, 1-mile Rocky Gulch New Mexico Cup Classic Championship (R) for state-bred Thoroughbreds at Zia Park.
Ridden by Rigo Sarmiento for trainer Dallas Barton, Thunder Dome covered his 8-furlong trip in 1:38.15, and his winning margin was three-quarters of a length from Cheese Tray. The chestnut gelding pocketed the $72,600 winner’s share of the $125,000 purse.
Thunder Dome was making his first start since August 6, when he was moved up from second to first following a stewards’ inquiry
and disqualification to win the 7 1/2-furlong, $50,000 Land of Enchantment Stakes (R) at Ruidoso Downs. The gelding was bred by Frank Richardson and W.L. Mooring, and he is one of seven official black-type stakes winners from 18 crops sired by Dome, an unraced Kentucky-bred son of the Storm Bird stallion Storm Cat.
A half-brother to two-time Grade 1 winner Dixie Union, Dome has sired 127 winners and the earners of more than $6.8 million from 210 starters, including multiple stakes winners On The Low Down, Glory Be Mine, Etoile de Dome and Z Z Dome.
Thunder Dome is also one of seven winners from nine starters foaled by Lauren Lynn, a winning and multiple stakes placed daughter
of the Clever Trick stallion Hadif. The gelding is a half-brother to If I Had A Bull, an In Excessive Bull filly who won the 2010 Sierra Starlet Handicap (R) at Ruidoso Downs.
Thunder Dome’s second dam, the Full Choke mare Soiree, won three stakes in New Mexico from 1996-98, including the 1996 Rio Grande Kindergarten Futurity and Kachina Stakes at Ruidoso Downs. The gelding’s third dam, Flying B.G., was a winning daughter of the Northern Dancer stallion Barachois. A 1978 New Jersey-bred foal, Flying B.G. foaled three other stakes winners, all of whom were full brothers to Soiree, including four-time stakes winner Talent Connection and 1991 Ruidoso TB Futurity winner B.G.’s Drone.
Raced in two states, including Arizona, Thunder Dome has won 13 of 52 starts and has earned $812,302, and his four wins in 16 outs at Zia Park include the 2018 and 2020 Rocky Gulch New Mexico Classics Championship (R). He’s also won the O.D. McDonald Stakes (R) at Albuquerque Downs twice (in 2018 and 2020), and he won the $152,986 Rio Grande Senor Futurity (R) at Ruidoso Downs during his juvenile campaign.
Masterclass finished third, four lengths behind Thunder Dome, and was followed by Comet Causey, Storm Bayou, Elliot, One Mark, Half Court Sam, Color Me Gone and Jet N G.
Runner-up Cheese Tray banked the $24,200 runner-up share of the purse for his owners, J. Kirk and Judy Robison of El Paso, Texas. A homebred son of the Forest Wildcat stallion Attila’s Storm and a half-brother to 2019 Mountain Top Futurity (R) third-place finisher Road To Heat, the 4-year- old bay gelding has won five of 20 races and
has earned $255,666. Cheese Tray’s race record includes a three-quarter length victory as the 5-2 favorite in the March 27, $120,000 New Mexico State University Handicap (R) at Sunland Park.
Masterclass was claimed by owner Sherri Galvez for $15,000 at Zia Park on November 15, 2021. A son of the Scat Daddy stallion Finale, the 5-year-old bay gelding has won two of 28 races, and the $12,100 third-place share of the Rocky Gulch New Mexico Classics Championship purse bumped his bankroll to $107,649.
Thunder Dome’s winning connections include owners Mike H. and Bill Carson, trainer Dallas Barton and jockey Rigo Sarmiento.
106 New Mexico Horse Breeder