ALBUQUERQUE – Trainers Raymond Valerio and Clinton Crawford will each saddle a pair of starters for the June 7 Ruidoso Futurity following trial heats last weekend at Albuquerque Downs.
More than 240 horses competed in 26 trials for the $1 million Ruidoso Futurity, the first leg of Quarter Horse racing’s Triple Crown. The five fastest runners from the Friday and Saturday programs automatically qualified for the Grade 1, 350-yard dash.
Valerio will send out fastest qualifier Highly Lethal V, winner of the 12th trial Saturday. Owned by Valeriano Racing Stables LLC, the Oklahoma-bred son of Apollitical Jess finished more than a length ahead in 16.966 seconds. That was just 0.001 seconds faster than Nine Degrees, who became the second-fastest qualifier after winning the third heat earlier that day.
Highly Lethal V was ridden to victory by Francisco Calderon, who also rode Heatseeker V, the other Ruidoso Futurity qualifier trained by Valerio. Heatseeker V earned his spot in the starting gate by winning Friday’s fourth trial heat in 17.146 seconds. The 10 fastest qualifiers for the Ruidoso Futurity are separated by less than a half-second.
Eric Valenzuela, the leading Quarter Horse trainer at the Sunland Park meet that ended in April, will send out Nine Degrees, a Texas-bred son of 2014 Ruidoso Futurity winner Kiss My Hocks. Nine Degrees was ridden to victory in the trials by Jose Enriquez.
Crawford will be represented in the Ruidoso Futurity by My Golden Boy and AJ Invictus Player, both of which finished second in their respective trial heats over the weekend.
My Golden Boy was second behind Highly Lethal V on Saturday, while AJ Invictus Player finished second behind Ask Her to Fly, the fastest qualifier from Friday’s 13-race card.
Ask Her to Fly, trained by Jason Olmstead, won her trial by more than a length under Ramiro Garcia. The Oklahoma-bred filly by Flying Cowboy 123 clocked a final time of 17.12 seconds.
The next 10 fastest qualifiers that didn’t reach the Ruidoso Futurity finals will be entered in the $100,000 Ruidoso Juvenile Invitational, to be run that same day.
The 2026 Ruidoso season will be run entirely at Albuquerque Downs following the decision to close the racing facilities at Ruidoso Downs because of extensive property damage from flooding during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
This weekend, Albuquerque Downs will host trials for the Mountain Top New Mexico-bred Quarter Horse Futurity and Derby, which will be held June 13 and 14, respectively.
Friday’s 11-race card will feature some of the state’s fastest 2-year-olds seeking a spot in the estimated $350,000 event. Saturday’s card will be highlighted by six trials for the state’s top 3-year-olds looking for a spot in the starting gate for the Derby.