ALBUQUERQUE – After missing a victory by a head in the $1,158,940 Heritage Place Futurity on May 30 at Remington Park, 2-1 favorite El Huracano V earned his first stakes win in Sunday’s $1 million Rainbow Futurity at The Downs at Albuquerque.
Bred and owned by Valeriano Racing Stable LLC and trained by Raymond Valerio, the Oklahoma-bred gelding by Golden Boi covered the 400 yards in 19.185 seconds under jockey Francisco Calderon. The win capped a major weekend for the connections, who also won with Toby Sis in Saturday’s $534,426 Rainbow Oaks and finished second with Jarvis V in the $756,800 Rainbow Derby.
El Huracano V now has a record of three wins, one second and one third from five career starts, with total earnings of $632,670. Aside from his second-place finish in the Heritage Place Futurity, his only other defeat was a third-place effort against maidens in his career debut in March at Los Alamitos.
El Huracano V’s sire, 2021 Ed Burke Million Futurity winner Golden Boi, added to his progeny earnings as this year’s leading first-crop sire. El Huracano V is out of the winning Valiant Hero mare Bellissima Chocolata. Her dam, multiple champion Heartswideopen, won four Grade 1 races, including the 2007 All American Futurity.
Sent off as the 2.20-to-1 favorite in the Futurity, El Huracano V paid back $6.60 to his winning backers. The $2 exacta with runnerup Think Twice Perry returned $61.60. Blueyy finished third with Heatseeker V rounding out the top four finishers.
Racing resumes Friday at Albuquerque Downs, with the weekend’s main attractions being Saturday’s $203,648 Zia Quarter Horse Derby and Sunday’s $365,139 Zia QH Futurity.