Page 105 - New Mexico Winter 2021

New Mexico State Fair Juv. S. (R)
RIVER FLASH
by Michael Cusortelli • Photos by Coady Photography
Chicks Regard
Chicks Beduino
First Regard
Riverside Flash
First Moonflash
Riverside Eye Opener
Making just his third career start, River Flash won the September 19, $50,000 New Mexico State Fair Juvenile Stakes (R) for state- bred 2-year-old Quarter Horses.
River Flash covered 400 yards in :19.534 under jockey Emilio Tapia, and his margin of vic- tory was three-quarters of a length from Antinori. Wes Giles prepped the gray son of Chicks Regard for owners Robert M. Driggers and Ben Lee Ivey.
River Flash was bred by Ivey Cattle Co. His sire, Chicks Regard, is a stakes-winning son
of the Beduino (TB) stallion Chicks Beduino. Racing in California and New Mexico from 2001-03, the gray stallion earned $52,783 from 13 starts, and he was a finalist in the 2001 Sunland Park Fall Futurity (G2).
Chicks Regard’s top runners include graded stakes winners Regard With Respect, You
N How Many More, and A Streak Regard. The stallion is owned by K. Humberto Lopez Gaxiola, and he stands for a $2,800 fee at Robert and Del Rae Driggers’ Bar Y Equine at Berino, New Mexico.
River Flash is out of Riverside Flash, a
winning homebred 6-year-old daughter of 2009 AQHA champion aged stallion First Moonflash and a finalist in the 2017 Zia (RG1) and New Mexico Cup (RG2) futurities. The gelding’s second dam, the winning homebred Mr Eye Opener mare Riverside Eye Opener, ran second in the 2004 La Mariposa Handicap (G3) at Albuquerque Downs.
River Flash broke his maiden with a neck victory in one of seven New Mexico State Fair Futurity (RG3) trials on August 27. The gelding has won two of his three starts, and the $30,000 winner’s share of the purse from his first stakes score increased his earnings to $34,720.
Daddies Wish, the 5-2 favorite in the field of seven, finished third, one length behind winner River Flash. First Feature, Classy Moon, Gabbie, and Ed N Otis completed the order of finish.
Runner-up Antinori earned $10,000 to bring her bankroll to $17,455 from seven races for owner Super Champion Inc. The sorrel daughter of Big Daddy Cartel was a $15,000 purchase at last year’s Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale, and she
was a finalist in the April 28, $61,000 Desert Classic Futurity (R) at Turf Paradise, and the May 23, $113,000 New Mexico Breeders’ Futurity (RG3) at SunRay Park.
A $32,000 buy at last year’s Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale, Daddies Wish races for Julie A. Schoenhofer and Maricela Vasquez. The gray Big Daddy Cartel filly has earned $14,035 from six outs, and her summer resume includes a third-place finish in the August 1, 400-yard Zia Juvenile Stakes (R) at Ruidoso Downs.
New Mexico Cup Sophomore Stakes (R)
THE DOWNS AT ALBUQUERQUE
Winners Version
Holland Ease
The Jubilee Diamond
Icy Storm
Attila’s Storm
Icy Hollywood
ICY MORNING BREEZE
Icy Morning Breeze, a homebred Winners Version filly campaigned by William R. Robertson and Mary Robertson, rallied to win the November 1, 400-yard New Mexico Cup Sophomore Stakes (R) for state-bred 3-year-olds at Zia Park.
Saddled by Jackie Riddle, Icy Morning Breeze defeated Winner Takes It All by 1 1/4 lengths in :19.673. Juan Rivas rode the filly, who banked $18,000 from her third career stakes victory.
Icy Morning Breeze was coming off of a sixth- place finish in the second of two New Mexico Cup Derby (RG2) trials on October 11. The filly’s sire, Winners Version, is a graded stakes winning 15-year-old son of the First Down Dash stallion Holland Ease. Raced in New Mexico
and California from 2008-09, the stallion earned $399,057 from 17 outs, and his five wins included the 2009 Hobbs America Derby (G3) at Zia Park. He also was a finalist in five Grade 1 futurities
in 2008, including the All American and Los Alamitos Two-Million futurities.
Winners Version has sired the earners of more than $5.1 million from eight crops, including multiple graded stakes winner
Seeyalateralligator. The stallion stood the stood the 2021 season at Highpoint Performance Horses at Pilot Point, Texas.
Icy Morning Breeze is out of Icy Storm (TB), a winning 11-year-old daughter of the Forest Wildcat stallion Attila’s Storm and a full sister to 2013 C.O. “Ken” Kendrick Memorial Stakes (R) runner-up Unofficial Winner. The filly traces back to her third dam, Icy Morn, a daughter of the J.O. Tobin stallion Crowned Jewel who won 12 stakes in three states from 1994-97. Icy Morn produced three winners from four Thoroughbred starters, including Icy Lane, the winner of the 2004 La Senora Handicap (R) at Sunland Park.
Icy Morning Breeze has won six of 11 starts and has earned $258,995, and her two wins
in four races at Zia Park include last year’s 350-yard, $360,000 New Mexico Cup Futurity (RG2). The filly’s resume includes a victory
in the inaugural 350-yard, $91,000 Mountain Top Derby (R) at Ruidoso Downs on June 19.
Tuco Salamanca ran third, two lengths behind Icy Morning Breeze. Ember Moon,
Fantastico Dragon, and Mr Money Baggs completed the order of finish.
Runner-up Winner Takes It All banked $6,000 for his owner, David Vasquez. An $11,500 yearling purchase at the 2019 New Mexico-bred Sale, the Winners Version colt has won two of 10 races and has earned $21,163.
Tuco Salamanca is a bay son of TF Featured Effort campaigned by Jennifer Lopez. The gelding has won one of 11 outs and has banked $25,982.
WINTER 2021 103