Page 126 - NM Winter 2023

THE DOWNS AT ALBUQUERQUE
New Mexico State Fair QH Futurity (RG2)
Photos by Coady Photography
Eye Am King
Mr Jess Perry
Eye For Corona
Mr Jingles
Bigtime Favorite
Some Quick Dasher
BELLA DE BALL
Breaking sharply from post 5, MJ Farms’ Bella De Ball led at every call en route to a head victory in the October 15, 400-yard New Mexico State Fair Quarter Horse Futurity (RG2) for state-bred 2-year-olds at Albuquerque Downs.
Bella De Ball stopped the timer in :19.400 and recorded a lifetime-best 97 speed index while aided by a reported 5-mph tail wind. Alan Hernandez rode the homebred Eye Am King filly for trainer Wes Giles.
Bella De Ball was earning her first stakes victory while banking the $604,334 winner’s share of a stakes-record $1,208,669 purse. The filly’s sire, Eye Am King, is an 8-year- old son of 1994 AQHA champion 2-year-
old Mr Jess Perry and the Grade 1-winning Corona Cartel mare Eye For Corona. A
full brother to stakes winner Dr Jess and a half-brother to stakes winner Ultimate Wave, Eye Am King has sired the earners of more than $3.6 million from two crops, including graded stakes winner Vintage Bourdeaux and stakes winner Doin Something Right.
Eye Am King is owned by and will stand the 2024 season for a $6,000 fee at MJ Farms.
Bella De Ball is out of Ms Jingles, a 13-year- old Louisiana-bred daughter of the Chicks Beduino stallion Bigtime Favorite and the winner of the 2021 Lee Berwick Memorial (RG1) and Louisiana Breeders’ Lassie Futurity
(RG2) futurities at Delta Downs. The filly is a half-sister to Convergence, a son of American Runaway who ran third in the 2017 Adequan Mexico Derby Challenge.
Bella De Ball’s second dam, Some Quick Dasher, is a winning daughter of the Dash For Cash stallion Some Dasher. The filly’s third dam, the unplaced Rare Jet mare Quicken, produced the stakes placed BT Fly Boy and 2007 Oklahoma Futurity (G3) finalist Ms Make It.
Bella De Ball traces back to her fourth dam, Come On Babe, a daughter of the Greek Answer (TB) stallion My Dear Charlie and a half-sister to 1989 AQHA world champion See Me Do It.
Bella De Ball was the 10th-fastest qualifier from 15 trials run on September 22. The filly has won three of five races, including the July 23, $50,000 Zia Juvenile Stakes (R) at Ruidoso Downs, and she has earned $632,374.
Bad King ran second and was followed by Miss Hi Tide, Mr Jess Effort, Young Emperor, Melomi Noir, Untangled Queen, JM Mia, fastest qualifier Crispyn and Uno Mamma Say.
A $65,000 yearling purchase at last year’s New Mexico-Bred Sale at Ruidoso Downs, Bad King races for Nove Racing LLC, Triple R Racing Stables LLC, Antoinette Gonzales and Patricio Venzor. The gelded son of Eye Am King has won two of five
starts, and the $241,734 runner-up share of the State Fair Futurity purse pushed his bankroll to $251,534.
Miss Hi Tide is a multiple graded stakes placed daughter of the Dash Ta Fame stallion Woodbridge campaigned by Uno Menos. A full sister to multiple graded stakes winner and 2019 All American Futurity (G1) runner-up Mister Riptide, the sorrel filly has won one of four races, and the $145,040 third-place share of the State Fair Futurity purse increased her earnings to $218,840.
The New Mexico State Fair Futurity is one of Quarter Horse racing’s oldest continually run stakes and has been run at Albuquerque since the 1930s. In 2023, the New Mexico State Fair Futurity became the richest state- bred futurity in North America.
124 New Mexico Horse Breeder