Page 113 - NM Summer 2023

SUNLAND PARK
Sunburst Stakes (RG3)
Photos by Coady Photography
Big Daddy Cartel
Corona Cartel
Miss Racy Eyes
KJ Kiss Me Goodbye
First Moonflash
Tres Veses
KJ DADDYS MONEY
Making her first start in seven months, KJ Daddys Money was a prompt 2-1 favorite in the March 4, $100,000 Sunburst Stakes (RG3) for New Mexico-bred sophomore fillies at Sunland Park.
KJ Daddys Money defeated Fine Am Eye
by a neck while going 350 yards in :17.338 and recording a 102 speed index. Adrian Ramos rode the bay daughter of Big Daddy Cartel for owners John and Kathy Lee and Ruben Mares, and trainer Wes Giles.
KJ Daddys Money was bred by John and Kathy Lee. Her sire, Big Daddy Cartel, is a 14-year-old son of the Holland Ease stallion Corona Cartel. Racing at Ruidoso Downs during his 2-year-old season, Big Daddy Cartel earned $121,800 from five starts, and he was
a finalist in the 2011 Rainbow (G1) and All American (G1) futurities.
Big Daddy Cartel has sired the earners of more than $16.8 million from eight crops, including multiple graded stakes winner and 2017 All American Futurity (G1) runner-up Bigg Daddy and multiple graded stakes winners Cat Daddys Lil Girl, Bigg Dee and Mamacita Cartel. The stallion is owned by and stands for a $7,000 fee at Mac and Janis Murray’s MJ Farms at Veguita, New Mexico.
KJ Daddys Money is out of KJ Kiss Me Goodbye, a 7-year-old daughter of 2009 AQHA champion aged stallion First Moonflash and
half-sister to 2021 All American Futurity (G1) winner and 2022 champion 3-year-old KJ Desparado. The filly traces back to her fourth dam, the Runaway Winner mare Runaway Kate. A 1993 foal, Runaway Kate won the 1995 AQHA Texas Juvenile Challenge Stakes at Manor Downs and was a finalist in that season’s Texas QHA Breeders’ Futurity (RG1) at Sam Houston Race Park.
KJ Daddys Money ended her 2-year-old campaign with a three-quarter length victory
as the sixth-fastest qualifier in the 400-yard, $380,000 Zia Futurity (RG1) for state-bred 2-year-olds at Ruidoso Downs on August 7. All told, the filly has won three of seven races, and the $60,000 winner’s share of the purse from her second career stakes score bumped her earnings to $245,642. Her resume includes a third-place finish, one length behind winner Cartel Racer, in the April 3, $50,000 New Mexican Spring Fling Stakes (R) at Sunland Park, and she was a finalist in last year’s 350-yard, $342,000 Mountain Top Futurity (RG2) at Ruidoso Downs.
Wood Dee Queen finished third, a half of
a length behind KJ Daddys Money. My Heart Jess Runs, Sheza Ahotmess, Flashtoglory, Jumpn Katie, Wahine, Daddys First Fire and RC Jessa Flashn completed the order of finish.
Fine Am Eye banked the $20,000 runner-up share of the Sunburst Stakes purse for her owner, Backdoor Thoroughbreds LLC. A $27,000
yearling purchase at the 2021 New Mexico-Bred Sale at Ruidoso Downs, the sorrel daughter
of the Mr Jess Perry stallion Eye Am King has won four of 11 starts and has earned $66,918, and she was a finalist in last year’s 400-yard, $626,000 New Mexico State Fair Futurity (RG3) at Albuquerque Downs.
Wood Dee Queen was coming off of a second place run, a neck behind winner My Heart Jess Runs, in the January 28, $238,000 Shue Fly Stakes (RG2) at Sunland Park. A sorrel Eye Am King filly campaigned by J & SM Inc., Don Reynolds, and M. Lane Reynolds and a $34,000 yearling buy at the 2021 New Mexico- Bred Sale, Wood Dee Queen has won two of eight starts, and the $10,000 third-place share of the Sunburst Stakes purse increased her bankroll to $141,500.
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