Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Varsity Girl wins $252,625 Grade 1 West Texas Futurity
Song of Navarone notches win in $100,000 Sunland Park Handicap
The Grade 1, 300-yard West Texas Futurity worth $252,625 proved to be a competitive one on paper with no real clear cut favorite.
Varsity Girl proved she was just as good as anyone on Sunday afternoon, earning a win by a neck in the 51st running of the event.
Leaving the gate at 31-1 odds, the 2-year-old daughter of Shazoom made a big time push in the final 100 yards for her second career win in three starts. Victory Girl joins last year’s winner Fast Prize Zoom as offspring of Shazoom.
Varsity Girl won Sunday’s race in a respectable time of 15.18 seconds for trainer Ralph Muniz and jockey Ricky Ramirez.
“She left the gate awesome,” Ramirez said. “She had a perfect trip, the rest of the field had to catch me, we got to the wire in time.”
Varsity Girl, which earned a 92 speed index in the win, collected $118,734 for owner Enrique Hernandez of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
She returned $64.80 to win, $19.60 to place and $7.40 to show for her loyal backers.
Shake Em Money Pop was second for trainer Blane Wood and Mark It Famous, the 2-1 favorite at post, got third for trainer Wes T. Giles, who had won the previous two West Texas Futurities.
“She’s a nice filly,” Muniz said. “Ricky did a great job on her. We’re headed to Ruidoso Downs for the summer meet.”
In Sunday’s co-feature, Song of Navarone showed his class once again in rallying late to win the 50th running of the 1 and 1/8 mile Sunland Park Handicap, which was worth $100,000. Song of Navarone got a solid ride from jockey Antonio Castanon throughout the race and won in a very good time of 1:48.78, just off the track record of 1:48.20 set by the very good Winsham Lad in 1961. He hung close to the pace and then made a wide-sweeping move in the final stretch to edge Lobo Lobo Country by a half-length. Song of Navarone, who went to past as a 3-5 favorite, won his eighth career race in 11 starts and his fourth straight handicap win, three of which came at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.
“I had to swing him outside, it was the only way he was going to win,” Castanon said.
Tricky Causeway, Quiet Again and Lobo Country battled near the lead for much of the race with Tricky Causeway in the lead for much of the race until he faded to fourth.
Lobo Country passed Quiet Again and Tricky Causeway and looked to be the winner until getting passed by Song of Navarone. Quiet Again finished third.
Song of Navarone earned $60,000 for owner George Coleman of El Paso, Texas, and pushed his career earnings post $620.000.
Winning trainer Henry Dominguez said future plans for Song of Navarone are uncertain at this point, saying he wants to see how the horse comes out of Sunday’s hard-fought win.
The 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Sultry Song returned $3.40 to win, $2.60 to place and $2.60 to show for his loyal backers.
Lobo Country returned $7.60 place and $6.20 to show, while Quiet Again returned $4 to show.
Racing resumes on Tuesday at 12:55 p.m., which will be the final day of the 2008-09 campaign.
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Sunday, April 19, 2009
Varsity Girl wins $252,625 Grade 1 West Texas Futurity
Song of Navarone notches win in $100,000 Sunland Park Handicap
The Grade 1, 300-yard West Texas Futurity worth $252,625 proved to be a competitive one on paper with no real clear cut favorite.
Varsity Girl proved she was just as good as anyone on Sunday afternoon, earning a win by a neck in the 51st running of the event.
Leaving the gate at 31-1 odds, the 2-year-old daughter of Shazoom made a big time push in the final 100 yards for her second career win in three starts. Victory Girl joins last year’s winner Fast Prize Zoom as offspring of Shazoom.
Varsity Girl won Sunday’s race in a respectable time of 15.18 seconds for trainer Ralph Muniz and jockey Ricky Ramirez.
“She left the gate awesome,” Ramirez said. “She had a perfect trip, the rest of the field had to catch me, we got to the wire in time.”
Varsity Girl, which earned a 92 speed index in the win, collected $118,734 for owner Enrique Hernandez of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
She returned $64.80 to win, $19.60 to place and $7.40 to show for her loyal backers.
Shake Em Money Pop was second for trainer Blane Wood and Mark It Famous, the 2-1 favorite at post, got third for trainer Wes T. Giles, who had won the previous two West Texas Futurities.
“She’s a nice filly,” Muniz said. “Ricky did a great job on her. We’re headed to Ruidoso Downs for the summer meet.”
In Sunday’s co-feature, Song of Navarone showed his class once again in rallying late to win the 50th running of the 1 and 1/8 mile Sunland Park Handicap, which was worth $100,000. Song of Navarone got a solid ride from jockey Antonio Castanon throughout the race and won in a very good time of 1:48.78, just off the track record of 1:48.20 set by the very good Winsham Lad in 1961. He hung close to the pace and then made a wide-sweeping move in the final stretch to edge Lobo Lobo Country by a half-length. Song of Navarone, who went to past as a 3-5 favorite, won his eighth career race in 11 starts and his fourth straight handicap win, three of which came at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.
“I had to swing him outside, it was the only way he was going to win,” Castanon said.
Tricky Causeway, Quiet Again and Lobo Country battled near the lead for much of the race with Tricky Causeway in the lead for much of the race until he faded to fourth.
Lobo Country passed Quiet Again and Tricky Causeway and looked to be the winner until getting passed by Song of Navarone. Quiet Again finished third.
Song of Navarone earned $60,000 for owner George Coleman of El Paso, Texas, and pushed his career earnings post $620.000.
Winning trainer Henry Dominguez said future plans for Song of Navarone are uncertain at this point, saying he wants to see how the horse comes out of Sunday’s hard-fought win.
The 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Sultry Song returned $3.40 to win, $2.60 to place and $2.60 to show for his loyal backers.
Lobo Country returned $7.60 place and $6.20 to show, while Quiet Again returned $4 to show.
Racing resumes on Tuesday at 12:55 p.m., which will be the final day of the 2008-09 campaign.
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