RUIDOSO
DOWNS, New Mexico (June 6, 2009) – What a difference an hour makes in horse
racing.An hour after Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, co-owned by Mark Allen’s Double Eagle Ranch, finished third as the 6-5 favorite in the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes in New York, Allen’s horses Time For A Cigar and Shaboomator finished first and second in Grade 1, $308,073 Ruidoso Derby at Ruidoso Downs on Saturday afternoon.
They earned $203,456 by sweeping the top-two spots in the season’s first Grade1 race at Ruidoso Downs. The two horses were purchased for a combined $60,000 at the 2007 Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale.
“I was disappointed after the Belmont,” said Jerry Nicodemus, the Double Eagle Farm ranch manager and retired hall of fame jockey. “But this really picked me up, finishing first and second.”
The improving Time For A Cigar raced to his third-straight win with a flawless effort. “He broke super. He was ready to go,” said winning jockey Mark Anthony Villa. “He ran well in his trial, but he really stepped it up to another gear at the end of the derby.”
The son of leading sire Corona Cartel covered the 400 yards in :19.803 to win by one-and-one-half lengths over stablemate Shaboomator, piloted by Chris Zamora. The top-two finishers are trained by Tony Sedillo.
The Paul Jones-trained pair of Takeela Sunrise and Brenda Beautiful finished third and fourth. Champion Brenda Beautiful, the 7-10 favorite, was in contention for the win before jumping grandstand shadows about 100 yards from the finish.
“Brenda Beautiful is fine,” Jones said an hour after the derby. “She just got pushed out [from the ninth post position] to about the 12 hole and jumped the shadows.
Time For A Cigar, the 7-2 second choice, is unbeaten from three starts this year while successfully stepping up in class for each race. He won his maiden by more than a length on February 27 at Sunland Park and then prevailed by one-half length in the second of three Ruidoso Derby trials. His time of :19.474 was the second-fastest clocking, nearly as fast as Brenda Beautiful’s fastest-qualifying mark of :19.465.
“Time For A Cigar will be real tough this summer if he stays sound,” said Nicodemus. The colt will now point at the Grade 1 Rainbow Derby and the Grade 1 All American Derby.
“He was my pick of all the yearlings that Mark bought that summer,” he said of the $40,000 purchase.
Shaboomator surprised at 29-1 odds by finishing second. The Shazoom-sired gelding returned from an eight month layoff to finish fourth in his Ruidoso Derby trial with the ninth-fastest qualifying time, :19.690. He has one win from eight career starts.
Third-place finisher Takeela Sunrise showed promise with three-straight wins before finishing a close second in his Ruidoso Derby trial. He was the seventh-fastest qualifier at :19.579.
Fourth-place finisher Brenda Beautiful was named the 2008 champion two-year-old filly after concluding her freshman season with wins in the Grade 1, $300,000 Southwest Juvenile Championship and the Grade 2 Hobbs America Futurity.
Following Brenda Beautiful under the wire were Cashinginmydreams, Lake View Dreams, Fasten Your Cuflinks and Little Rebas Corona. Mightys Last Call and Zoomin For Cash were scratched.