Page 138 - NM Winter 2023

THE DOWNS AT ALBUQUERQUE
Albuquerque Downs Meet Recap
136 New Mexico Horse Breeder
Albuquerque Downs ended its 36-date Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse meet with a 10-race program on Sunday, October 29.
Todd Fincher was the meet’s leading Thoroughbred trainer with 16 wins from 58 starters, seven more than runner-up Rafael Barraza, who prepped the winners of nine races from 31 starters. Fincher also led all Albuquerque Thoroughbred trainers in starter earnings at $749,281.
Alejandro Medellin was Albuquerque Downs’ leading Thoroughbred jockey with 23 wins from 116 mounts, five more than runner-up Rodolfo Guerra, who won 18 races from 99 mounts. Medellin also was the meet’s leading rider in mount earnings at $492,919.
Albuquerque Downs’ leading Thoroughbred owners -- J. Kirk and Judy Robison, Tom and Sandy McKenna’s Judge Lanier Racing, and Jeremy Ramsland -- won four races apiece. B4 Farms LLC was the meet’s leading Thoroughbred owner in purse earnings at $172,613.
On the Quarter Horse side of the ledger, Edgar S. Martinez led all Albuquerque
Downs jockeys with 11 wins from 84 mounts, one more than runners-up Adrian Ramos, Christian Ramos and Daniel Amaya. Francisco Calderon led all Quarter Horse jockeys in mount earnings at $770,862.
Wes Giles led all Quarter Horse trainers with 13 wins from 67 starters, five more than runners-up James Gonzales III and Marco A. Flores. Giles also was the meet’s leading Quarter Horse trainer in starter earnings at $1,180,439.
Christian A. Dominguez-Olivas and Janie Reza were Albuquerque’s leading Quarter Horse owners with four wins each. Mac and Janis Murray’s MJ Farms was the track’s leading Quarter Horse owner in purse earnings at $614,953.
This year’s Albuquerque Downs meet featured the Quarter Horse racing’s richest state-bred futurity, the 400-yard, $1,208,669 New Mexico State Fair Futurity (RG2) for 2-year-olds on October 15. MJ Farms’ Bella De Ball, a homebred daughter of Eye Am King, won the race under jockey Alan Hernandez. Wes Giles trained the sorrel filly, who earned the $604,334 winner’s share of the stakes- record purse.
Albuquerque’s October 15 card
included five other stakes, including
the 6-furlong, $294,534 New Mexico
State Fair Thoroughbred Futurity (R)
for state-bred 2-year-olds, and the 440- yard, $350,000 Albuquerque Fall Quarter Horse Championship (G1). Milk It, a homebred son of the Indian Charlie stallion Shame On Charlie campaigned by R. Dwain Yarbar, M C M Stables LLC and trainer Greg Green, won the State Fair Thoroughbred Futurity by three-quarters
of a length while banking the $141,267 winner’s share of the purse. Francisco Amparan rode the bay gelding.
Valeriano Racing Stables’ Flash Bak
won the Albuquerque Fall Quarter Horse Championship, as the 5-year-old Moonin The Eagle gelding covered his quarter-mile trip in :20.921 and earned a 104 speed index while defeating AQHA champion KJ Desparado by a head. Francisco Calderon rode Flash Bak for trainer Santos Carrizales Jr.
Live racing is scheduled to resume at Albuquerque Downs on Thursday, August 29, 2024. The 37-day season will include a 17-day New Mexico State Fair meet from September 5-29. Next year’s Albuquerque Downs meet will run through October 27, and it will feature the 32nd annual Bank of America Challenge Championships for Quarter Horses.
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