Page 86 - New Mexico Horse Breeder Spring 2018

SUNLAND pArk
by Michael Cusortelli
Lou Wooten/Sydney Valentini Handicap (RG2)
Jesse James Jr
Mr Jess Perry
Loose Lips
Total Miracle
Dean Miracle
Reckless Coin
PRINCESS JESSE
Princess Jesse, a homebred 4-year-old mare owned by Mikkelson Racing LLC of Bernardo, New Mexico, earned her first stakes win of the season in the 400-yard, $85,000 Lou Wooten/ Sydney Valentini Handicap (RG2) at Sunland Park on December 30.
Trained by Vance Mikkelson and sent to post as the 7-2 third choice, Princess Jesse stopped
the timer in :19.403 under jockey Alfredo Sigala, and her margin of victory was three-quarters of a length from 40-1 longshot Straw Fly Flower. The $51,000 winner’s share of the purse from Princess Jesse’s fifth career stakes score pushed the mare’s bankroll to $391,415 from 18 starts.
Princess Jesse was coming off of a sixth-place finish, two lengths behind winner Running Dragon, in the 400-yard, $140,000 New Mexico Filly and Mare Championship (RG1) at Zia Park on November 22. The mare’s sire, the Mr Jess Perry stallion Jesse James Jr, has sired the earners of more than $14.05 million from seven crops, including 2015 AQHA champion 3-year-old filly Astica, and multiple graded stakes winners Osbaldo and Cinco Menudos.
A full brother to Grade 1 winner Jesstified and a half to stakes winner Loose Teller, Jesse James Jr died on August 24, 2017, after a battle with laminitis. He was 16.
Princess Jesse’s dam, Total Miracle, is a win- ning 16-year-old daughter of champion Dean Miracle who ran third in the ’05 La Mariposa Handicap (G3) at Albuquerque Downs.
Princess Jesse has won nine races while competing exclusively in New Mexico, and the mare ended her sophomore campaign with a head victory in the Lou Wooten/Sydney Valentini Handicap. Of the filly’s career earnings, $251,375 was banked from eight starts during her 3-year- old campaign.
Running Dragon, the 7-5 favorite in the field of nine state-bred fillies and mares, finished third, one length behind Princess Jesse. Carson City Girl, Princess Jessie Jane, First Vegas Moon, Lady Version, First Moon Fire, and Sixie Won completed the order of finish.
Runner-up Straw Fly Flower is a 4-year-old daughter of the First Down Dash stallion Dashair racing for Bertha S. Irigoyen. A $10,000 claimer
during the Zia Park fall meet, the sorrel mare has won three of 13 outs, and the $18,700 runner- up share of the Lou Wooten/Sydney Valentini Handicap purse pushed her bankroll to $67,798.
Running Dragon is a homebred 3-year-old Zulu Dragon filly campaigned by By By JJ LLC of El Paso, Texas. Raced exclusively in New Mexico, Running Dragon has won 11 of 19 starts and has earned $702,217, and her six career stakes victories include a half-length score in the January 15, 400- yard Shue Fly Stakes (RG2) at Sunland Park.
Four Rivers John Deere Stakes (R)
Song Of Navarone
Sultry Song
Timely Legend
Carmen’s Delight
Carmen’s Glory
Dela’s Delight
BLAZING NAVARONE
Blazing Navarone ended his 2-year-old cam- paign with a convincing victory in the Dec. 31, $85,000 Four Rivers John Deere Stakes (R) for New Mexico-bred juveniles at Sunland Park.
Ridden by Enrique Gomez and sent to post at odds of 7-1, Blazing Navarone went 6 furlongs in 1:09.46, and his winning margin was a clear 3 3/4 lengths from 3-1 second choice Del Mar Summer. The bay gelding races for George E. Coleman and trainer Henry Dominguez.
Blazing Navarone was bred by Lucky Six Inc. The gelding is one of 14 winners from 23 starters sired by Song Of Navarone, a son of the Cox’s Ridge stallion Sultry Song.
Racing from 2006-10, Song Of Navarone earned $757,858 from 21 outs, and his five stakes victories included a 1 1/2-length win in the $600,000 WinStar Derby at Sunland Park in 2007. He also set track records for 1 1/8 miles at Zia Park in ’08, and for 1 1/16 miles at Sunland Park the following season.
Song Of Navarone has sired the earners of more than $647,000 from four crops. A half brother to Celluloid Hero, a multiple stakes
winner in Minnesota and Arkansas in 2006, he is owned by Henry Dominguez, and he stands at Lucky Six Farm at Sunland Park, New Mexico.
Blazing Navarone’s dam, the winning mare Carmen’s Delight, has foaled four winners from five starters, including Carmen’s Rocket, a win- ning half brother to Blazing Navarone who ran third in the 2013 Dine Stakes (R) at SunRay Park. The gelding’s fourth dam, Western Saint, was a winning mare by King Of The Castle who ran second in two stakes in New Mexico in ’82, including the Dessie Sawyer Futurity at Albuquerque Downs.
Blazing Navarone was shortening in distance off of his seventh-place finish in the 1-mile & 70-yard Eddy County Stakes (R) at Zia Park on Nov. 22. Campaigned exclusively in New Mexico, the gelding has won three of seven starts, and the $51,000 winner’s share of the purse from his first stakes victory pushed his bankroll to $117,226.
Blazing Navarone’s juvenile resume included
a second-place finish in the 5-furlong Mountain Top Futurity (R) at Ruidoso Downs in June, and a third-place finish in the New Mexico Cup Juvenile
Championship (R) at Zia Park on Oct. 29. Golden Band finished third. Strike A
Storm, Kris Who, Kama Rollin, 2-1 favorite Hollywood Henry, and Indian Jack completed the order of finish.
Runner-up Del Mar Summer is a home- bred chestnut campaigned by J. Kirk and Judy Robison of El Paso, Texas.
Golden Band is owned by Dale Taylor, who also bred the chestnut gelding. Golden Band has won two of five starts and has banked $46,035.
84 New Mexico Horse Breeder
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