Page 91 - Winter 2020

Aisle Runner, a bay son of Attila’s Storm campaigned by B. Ray Willis of Roswell, New Mexico, scored his first stakes victory in the Sept. 20, 6-furlong New Mexico State Fair Thoroughbred Futurity (R) for state-bred 2-year- olds at Albuquerque Downs.
Trained by Todd Fincher, Aisle Runner defeated 2-1 favorite Delbert Too by 2 3/4 lengths in 1:11.75. Luis Fuentes rode the gelding, who banked the $135,253 winner’s share of the $270,507 purse.
Aisle Runner made his Albuquerque debut with a second-place finish in a New Mexico State Fair Thoroughbred Futurity trial on August 29. The gelding was bred by R.D. Hubbard, and he is one of 170 winners from 224 starters sired by Attila’s Storm.
Racing from 2004-07, Attila’s Storm won five of eight races, including the 2007 Toboggan Handicap (G3) at Aqueduct, and he earned $534,983. The stallion has sired 22 black-type stakes winners and the earners of more than $13.3 million from 10 crops, including multiple stakes winners Waltzing Attila, Flight Song,
Go for a Stroll, and Stormin The Jewels. Attila’s Storm is owned by Jimmy J. Vasquez and Scott Branson, and he stands at W.L. Mooring’s Double LL Farm at Bosque, New Mexico.
Aisle Runner’s dam, Garter, is an unraced 12-year-old homebred daughter of the A.P. Indy stallion Bernardini. A Kentucky-bred, Garter has foaled seven winners from as many starters and two stakes winners, both of are full siblings to Aisle Runner - Go for a Stroll, a 3-time stakes winner who won the $100,000 New Mexico Breeders’ Derby (R) at Sunland Park in ‘17, and 2016 Lincoln Handicap (R) winner Stormy Day.
Aisle Runner’s second dam, the Blushing Groom (FR) mare Fire the Groom, won the 1991 Beverly D. Stakes (G1) on the turf at Arlington Park. A Kentucky-bred 1987 foal, Fire the Groom produced two stakes winners, both of whom were half-brothers to Garter, includ- ing Stravinsky, a son of Nureyev who won two Group 1 stakes in England in ‘99.
Aisle Runner traces back to his third dam, Prospector’s Fire, who foaled two stakes winners, including Dowsing, a Group 1-winning half- brother to Fire the Groom.
Aisle Runner began his career with a clear
6 1/2-length victory in a 5-furlong Mountain Top Futurity (R) trial at Ruidoso Downs on June 6. In addition to qualifying to the June 20, $163,415 Mountain Top Futurity final, the geld- ing was a finalist in the Aug. 16, $134,667 Rio Grande Senor Futurity (R) at Ruidoso.
All told, Aisle Runner has won two of six races, and he has banked $151,678.
Ima Saint Too finished third, and was fol- lowed by Bully Baby, Coming Abstraction, Pub, Quatro, One Mark, Dan Who, and Silver Ponzi.
Runner-up Delbert Too is a gelded son of the Bernardini stallion Marking racing for B4 Farms LLC, Lee Owens, and Dale Alan Doby. Delbert Too has earned $122,535 from four outs, and includes a victory in the Rio Grande Senor Futurity.
A son of the Distorted Humor stallion Laugh Track, Ima Saint Too races for Greg Green and Jeff Anderson. The gelding has banked $33,196 from three race.
by Michael Cusortelli • photos by Coady Photography
New Mexico State Fair TB Futurity (R)
THE DOWNS AT ALBUQUERQUE
Attila’s Storm
Forest Widcat
Sweet Symmetry
Garter
Bernardini
Fire The Groom
AISLE RUNNER
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