Page 14 - NMHBA Spring 2022

Helen Nave of Hobbs, New Mexico, is serving
NMHBA Trustee Profile: Helen Nave
by Michael Cusortelli
“My passion is raising and racing horses.
I ran for the (NMHBA) board to represent the
membership and help the association.”
5, 2011, and ran third for Pesikan and Kilgroe know how split meets would affect our trainers,
her first term on the New Mexico Horse Breeders’ Association board of trustees.
Helen’s name is familiar to anyone connected to our state’s racing scene, as she has for several years been a successful breeder and owner of homebred Thoroughbreds. According to statistics supplied by Equibase, horses she has raced in her own name have (since 2009) won 34 races from 143 starts and have earned $870,901. Her most successful homebred, the Comic Genius mare Comicsperfectstorm, banked $282,719 from 11 races and won four stakes from 2010-13, including the 2010 Rio Grande Senorita Futurity (R) at Ruidoso Downs and 11 New Mexico Cup Filly Championship (R) at Zia Park.
Comicsperfectstorm was the NMHBA Champion 2-Year-Old Filly in 2010, and the now 14-year-old mare is part of Helen’s broodmare band. Comicsperfectstorm has foaled three winners from many starters, including Comic Hot Toddy, a daughter of the Indian Charlie stallion Indian Firewater who won the $133,828 Rio Grande Senorita Futurity (R) two years ago, and Comic Hot Rod, a winning Abstraction gelding who ran second in the 2018 Rio Grande Senor Futurity (R).
In partnership with Larry Strain of Hobbs, Helen raced Way Nifty, a homebred son of The Way Home who earned $173,972 from 34 starts while racing in New Mexico from 2015-19. Helen has also raced Thoroughbreds in partnership with fellow NMHBA board member Susie Prather and her longtime trainer, Todd Fincher.
“My passion is raising and racing horses,” Helen says. “I ran for the (NMHBA) board to represent the membership and help the association.
“I got involved in the racing business when my neighbor Steve Prather partnered with me to raise an orphan foal for him,” she adds.
“I later purchased my first broodmare, Cats Bounty, from him.”
A daughter of Comic Genius, Cats Bounty has since foaled Comicsperfectstorm and four other starters, including Comic Smarty Cat, a winning full brother to Comicsperfectstorm who was claimed for $10,000 at Sunland Park on March
Stables in that season’s Sierra Blanca Handicap (R) at Ruidoso Downs.
Helen also campaigns Quarter Horses as part of the Lucky Ladies partnership. One
of the partnership’s runners, the winning Texas-bred Good Reason SA gelding A Lucky Ladies Man, ran third in the 2019 Golden State Million Futurity (G1) at Los Alamitos Racecourse in California.
Helen graduated from Hobbs High School in 1973 and New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs in ’75. She also holds a BA Degree
in Economics from New Mexico State University. Helen and her husband, Steve, have two children, son Jake Nave and daughter Beth Nave Culbertson. The Naves have four grandchildren, Cade Nave and Jace Nave, and Claire Culbertson and Jasper Culbertson.
Helen serves on the NMHBA legislative and summer party and awards banquet committees. She recently visited with our magazine for an interview.
What do you think are the major issues facing the racing industry in New Mexico? I think the major issue is keeping our foal numbers up. We also need to attract more owners and breeders.
Are you generally optimistic about the future of racing in New Mexico?
I’m generally optimistic. We have good horses. I would be more optimistic if the New Mexico Racing Commission would be more supportive of our horsemen. I would like to see us get back the race dates we’ve lost these past few years.
We race both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses here in New Mexico, and there has often been talk about the tracks here running split meets -- that is, separate meets for each breed. How do you feel about that?
I have mixed feelings about split meets. I run both Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds, so I like the way things are currently set up. I don’t
but we might be forced into split meets when the HISA (Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act) goes into effect.
Do you have a personal preference between Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses?
My preference is Thoroughbreds. I guess that’s because there’s just something special when you foal one out and watch him grow up to race. But I do love racing Quarter Horses, too. I’m fortunate to be a part of the Lucky Ladies partnership.
What is it that you like most about the horse racing industry in our state? What changes, if any, would you like to see made?
I think we have a good breeding program. Our board is always open to discussion with our members about any changes that would benefit our breeding program.
12 New Mexico Horse Breeder
COADY PHOTO
Comicsperfectstorm, bred and owned by Helen Nave, winning the Sierra Starlet Handicap at Ruidoso Downs.
Comic Hot Toddy, a daughter of Comicsperfectstorm also bred and owned by Helen Nave, winning the
Rio Grande Senorita Futurity at Ruidoso Downs.