ALBUQUERQUE – The field of 10 juvenile quarter horses which will head into the starting gate for the $3 million All American Futurity was set in place following a total of 28 trial heats held Friday and Saturday at Albuquerque Downs.
The richest quarter horse race in the world will be run on Labor Day, Sept. 7, the traditional closing day of racing for the Ruidoso Downs season, which has been held this season at Albuquerque Downs.
The All American Futurity, the third and final leg of quarter horse racing’s Triple Crown, will be part of a stacked weekend of racing at Albuquerque Downs, which will include Sunday’s $1 million All American Derby and the $700,000 All American Oaks.
Friday’s eighth race proved to be the most productive of the opening day round of trials.
Winner Chile Gato earned the fastest qualifying time of the day after winning the eighth race in a time of 20.911 seconds. The son of Chilitos, ridden by Francisco Calderon, was the only runner who ran 440 yards in under 21 seconds.
Trained by Jed Vane, Chile Gato was making only his second career start on Friday. His only prior outing was a fifth place finish on March 5 at Remington Park in Oklahoma City.
The 1 1/4 length win over runnerup Ask Her To Fly (21.1) was strong enough that both runners earned qualifying times for the All American Futurity.
Ridden by Ramiro Garcia, Ask Her To Fly was making her seventh career start Friday, having already earned three wins and a stakes placing in the Ruidoso Futurity over this course on June 7.
In the 14th and final trial heat of the day, Cowboys Flying (21.019) kept his unbeaten streak intact, winning his fifth straight race and earning the third-fastest qualifying time the 10 finalists.
Trained by Ramiro Villarreal and ridden by Nestor Duran, Cowboys Flying rolled to a 3 3/4 length win as the heavy post time favorite. The son of Flying Cowboy 123 is already a two-time stakes winner with earnings topping $562,000.
The only other trial participant to race under 21 seconds over the 28 trials was Tempting Lu, a half-length winner over Jess A Bad Lil Kat in the fifth race on Saturday.
The daughter of Tempting Dash was ridden by Jose Luis Enriquez, stopping the timer in 20.999 seconds. Both the winner and runner-up earned a spot in the starting gate for the Futurity.
Tempting Lu is one of two qualifiers for trainer Omar Vargas, who also will send Leaving London (21.109) to the starting gate for the finals after winning Friday’s fourth trial under Sergio Becerra, Jr.
Trainer Manuel Rodriguez will likely have a pair of starters in the All American Futurity. Happy Flying Bird (21.102) won Friday’s second trial under Gabriel Medrano and finished the weekend as the seventh-fastest qualifier.
Rodriguez-trained Blueyy (21.176) ran to victory under Luis Martinez in Saturday’s seventh trial heat and gets into the finals as the 10th fastest qualifier.