Page 130 - NM Winter 2023

THE DOWNS AT ALBUQUERQUE
Petticoat Stakes (R)
Photos by Coady Photography
Marking
Bernardini
Seventh Street
Lookin Better
Lookin At Lucky
Better Again
BETTER BELIEVE
Better Believe, a homebred Marking filly owned by R. Lee Lewis and Brad E. King, led at every call en route to a 3 1/2-length victory in the October 28, 6 1/2-furlong Petticoat Stakes (R) for New Mexico-bred 3-year-old fillies at Albuquerque Downs.
Prepped by Todd Fincher and sent to post as the 2-1 second choice in the field of seven, Better Believe set hand-timed fractions of :22.73 and :44.98 before reaching the wire in 1:15.64. Felipe Valdez rode the bay filly, who earned the $60,000 winner’s share of the $100,000 purse.
Better Believe is one of eight official black-type stakes winners from 82 starters sired by Marking, a winning and Grade 1-placed Kentucky-bred
son of Bernardini. Campaigned from 2015-16, Marking won three of eight races and earned $426,200, and he ran second in Runhappy’s 2015 Malibu Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park.
Marking has sired the earners of more
than $5.2 million from four crops, including Slammed, the winner of last year’s Grade 2, $350,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky, multiple stakes winner Delbert Too, and stakes winners One Mark and Seventh St Diamond. A half-brother to Grade 2 winner Lake Avenue, the stallion is owned by Fred Alexander and Todd Fincher, and he stood the 2023 season for a $6,000 fee at A & A Ranch at Anthony, New Mexico.
Better Believe is one of two winners from as many starters produced by Lookin Better, an unraced 9-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of the Smart Strike stallion Lookin At Lucky. The filly is a full sister to Marked, a Marking filly who won the 2021 Mountain Top Futurity (R) for New Mexico-bred 2-year-olds at Ruidoso Downs.
Better Believe’s second dam, the winning Thunder Gulch mare Better Again, foaled two winners from three starters, including Go Soldier Go, a half-brother to Lookin Better who won the March 4 Al Bastakiya Stakes
at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates. The filly’s third dam, the stakes- winning and multiple graded stakes placed Unbridled mare Scenic Point, produced Better Now, a full sister to Better Again who won the 2005 Tempted Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park.
Better Believe traces back to her fourth dam, the unraced Riverman mare Bangkok. A 1982 Florida-bred foal, Bangkok foaled the earners of $1,563,281 from 11 starters, including Grade 3 winner River Squall, and listed stakes winner Eastern Dude.
Better Believe was rebounding off of
her distant ninth-place finish against older state-bred fillies and mares in the September 23, 6 1/2-furlong Carlos Salazar Stakes (R)
at Albuquerque Downs. All told, the filly has won five of 10 races and has banked $350,166. Better Believe’s three stakes scores include a 2
1/4-length victory in last year’s 5 1/2-furlong, $129,000 Rio Grande Senor Futurity (R) at Ruidoso Downs, and a 1 3/4-length win in last year’s 6-furlong, $330,000 New Mexico State Fair Futurity (R) at Albuquerque Downs.
Mama Was A Rocket, the 7-5 favorite, finished second and was followed by Moonlight Warrior, First Again, Doer Not A Faker, Marking’s Miracle and Bye Bye Brooky.
Mama Was A Rocket is a homebred Diabolical filly racing for J. Kirk and Judy Robison of El Paso, Texas. The filly has won three of 10 starts, including the January 15 La Senora Stakes (R) at Sunland Park, and she has earned $142,076.
A daughter of Archwarrior, Moonlight Warrior races for V Bar V Racing LLC. The bay filly has won three of seven outs and has banked $96,090.
128 New Mexico Horse Breeder