ALBUQUERQUE — Trainer Todd Fincher brings Speed Merchant back to the races off a five-month layoff and will face five rivals in the $75,000 Road Runner Stakes, the featured event on Sunday’s program at Albuquerque Downs.
Owned by Dale F Taylor Racing LLC, Speed Merchant is a perfect 3-for-3 over the Albuquerque Downs course, including a win in the New Mexico State Fair Thoroughbred Futurity. Bred in New Mexico by Brad King and Chris Coleman, the son of Marking has won five of seven career starts and earned more than $335,000.
The Road Runner Stakes, a 5 1/2 furlong sprint for state-bred 3-year-olds, will be run as the ninth race with a scheduled post time of 4:50 p.m.
A three-time stakes winner, Speed Merchant also scored victories in the Hobbs Fall Classic last November at Zia Park, then opened his 3-year-old campaign with a narrow victory in the Corralito Steak House Stakes. In his most recent start, he was second in the Red Hedeman Mile in his first start around two turns.
Speed Merchant will break from post five in the six-horse field and will be ridden by Alfredo Juarez, Jr., coming off a strong season at Lone Star Park where he finished eighth in the thoroughbred standings, winning 24 races from 171 starts.
Trainer Dick Cappellucci will send out a pair of starters in the Road Runner, including the unbeaten Driving Money. The son of Conquest Mo Money, owned by Judge Lanier Racing and bred by McKenna Thoroughbreds, is 2-for-2 including a win in the Kendrick Stakes at SunRay Park last May and has earned more than $60,000.
Driving Money will break from post three in the Road Runner Stakes and will be ridden by Oscar Andrade, Jr.
Cappellucci will also saddle Vanishing Money, a two-time winner from four starts with earnings of nearly $47,00. The son of Conquest Mo Money will break from the outside post under jockey Miguel Perez.