July 20, 2006 – Although her trial time was the seventh-best, Remember Me Rose is already a stakes winner and the only undefeated finalist to the Rainbow Futurity (G1), and could be the favorite in the $625,000 event Sunday at Ruidoso Downs.
Owned by Azoom LP, the Veracruz, Mexico, partnership of Enrique Carrion and Alejandro Barradas, and conditioned by Ben Torres, Remember Me Rose began her racing career in Mexico, breaking her maiden and winning by a dramatic 2 3/4 lengths and setting the fastest qualifying mark of :17.16 in her 350-yard Ford Mexico Juvenile Challenge trial. She went on to dominate the final with a two-length victory.
A daughter of leading sire Corona Cartel and out of the Zevi (TB) mare Im Moonlighting, Remember Me Rose supplemented to the Rainbow for $25,000. The confidence of the Azoom LP partnership has paid off so far, as the filly raised her official record to three wins from three starts with an impressive 1 1/2-length victory in :19.825 in the last of 16 Rainbow trials, during a very wet afternoon when nine of the 10 qualifiers came out of the first four trials.
Winning the first trial was the Jamie Zamora-trained Screamin Bye (Dashin Bye – Dreamit by Proudest Effort) owned by Bobby L. Maes’ BLM Racing whose qualifying time of :19.518 for the 400 yards held up as the fastest in the 16 heats.
The Rainbow Futurity (G1) is the second leg of the All American Triple Crown series, which began with the Ruidoso Futurity (G1) on June 11 and concludes on Labor Day with the $2 million All American Futurity (G1). Though Ruidoso Futurity (G1) winner Okey Dokey Fantasy won his Rainbow trial, he failed to qualify to the final so there’s no chance of a bonus payoff for a sweep of the series this year. No other horse has accomplished this feat since Special Effort in 1981.
On Saturday, Ruidoso Downs will present the $268,000 Rainbow Derby (G1). Four-time defending champion trainer Paul Jones will saddle five horses, headed by fastest-qualifier Separate Tac and multiple stakes winner Strawkins.
The Rancho Vista Partners’ Separate Tac (Separatist-Ought To Be Famous by First Down Dash) went into her Rainbow Derby trial without a win in a year, but bounced back from the winless streak with a 2 3/4-length victory in :21.211 over a sloppy surface for the 440 yards.
Separate Tac’s previous win, in the 2005 Rainbow Futurity trials, capped a solid start to her career when she won three of her first four starts and was sixth behind eventual champion 2-year-old Leading Spirit in the Ruidoso Futurity (G1).
Donald and Peggy Boyle’s homebred Strawkins (Hawkinson-Shirleys Strawfly, Strawfly Special) has been winning races throughout the West and has earnings of $110,518 with nine wins from 12 career starts, all in stakes competition, with blacktype wins at four different tracks.
For results of these and all official American Quarter Horse racing events, visit aqharacing.com