Page 123 - NM Winter 2023

THE DOWNS AT ALBUQUERQUE
Casino at the Downs TB Derby (R)
Photos by Coady Photography
Sway Away
Afleet Alex
Seattle Shimmer
Bertrando’s Lady
Bertrando
Storybook Fair
LET HIM BE
Making his first start at the distance, V Bar V Racing’s Let Him Be kept his perfect record intact with his three-quarter length victory in the October 7, 1-mile Casino at The Downs Derby (R) for New Mexico-bred 3-year-old Thoroughbreds at Albuquerque Downs.
Let Him Be stopped the timer in 1:37.43 under jockey Miguel Fuentes Jr. Joel Marr prepped the bay son of Sway Away, who earned $58,000 from his first lifetime stakes win.
Let Him Be was bred by Jim Volk, and he was stretching out in distance off of his three- length victory in a 6-furlong non-winners-of-two allowance for state-bred 3-year-olds and older
at Ruidoso Downs on August 18. The gelding became the first official black-type stakes winner sired by Sway Away, a 15-year-old Kentucky-bred son of three-time Grade 1 winner and 2005 U.S. champion 3-year-old male Afleet Alex.
Racing in three states from 2010-12, Sway Away won two of 10 starts and earned $206,800, and his race record included second-place finishes in J P’s Gusto’s 2010 Best Pal Stakes (G2) at
Del Mar, and The Factor’s 2011 San Vicente Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park. A half-brother to stakes winner Sandstone, the stallion has sired the earners of more than $1.5 million from 32 starters, including 2021 Longacres Mile (G2) runner-up Windribbon, and the multiple stakes placed gelding Massive Roar.
Let Him Be is also one of five winners from eight starters produced by Bertrando’s
Lady, an unraced California-bred daughter of 1993 Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) winner and U.S. champion older male horse Bertrando. The gelding’s second dam, the winning and multiple stakes placed Avenue Of Flags mare Storybook Fair, foaled five winners from seven starters, including a pair of stakes- winning half-brothers to Bertrando’s Lady: L.A. Weekend, the winner of the 2013 Phoenix Gold Cup Stakes at Turf Paradise, and Shining Nuggets, the winner of the 2000 I’m Smokin Stakes (R) for California-bred juveniles at Del Mar.
Let Him Be’s third dam, the unraced Kentucky-bred Assert (IRE) mare Comical
Story, produced seven winners from 10 starters, including Funny Tale, a half-brother to Storybook Fair who won three stakes on the west coast in 1997, including the Budweiser Emerald Handicap at Emerald Downs near Seattle. The gelding traces back to his fifth dam, Dihela, a daughter of the Ambiorix stallion Hitting Away who won the 1968 Astarita Stakes at Belmont Park.
Let Him Be began his career with a head victory on a sloppy track in a 6-furlong maiden-special-weight race for New Mexico- bred sophomores at Ruidoso Downs on July
9. All told, the gelding is undefeated in three starts and has earned $93,880, all of which has been banked this season.
Let Him Be was sent to post as the 5-2 second choice in the field of 10 and
returned a $7.40 win mutuel. Sweet Money finished second and was followed by Smartsrealgood, Antonios Mark, Thruthestorm, My Special Mistake, 13-10 favorite Still In The Trap, Ryders Up, Valentino Who and Musics My Vice.
Sweet Money is a homebred dark bay or brown son of the Uncle Mo stallion Conquest Mo Money owned by Judge Lanier Racing LLC. The gelding has won two of seven
races, and the $20,000 runner-up share of the Casino at The Downs Derby purse increased his earnings to $96,656, of which $76,256 has been pocketed from five outs this season.
Smartsrealgood is a son of Sway Away campaigned by Greg Green, R. Dwain Yarbar, and Duncan Hamlin. The homebred stakes- winning gelding has won two of 14 races and has banked $163,475.
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