RUIDOSO DOWNS, NM—JULY 5, 2015—New Mexico-bred Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse trials dominate the Saturday Ruidoso Downs’ program with the qualifiers advancing to their respective finals during the Zia Festival with $1 million in purses on July 25-26.

Quarter Horses start the program at 1 p.m. with three trials to the $163,172 Zia Quarter Horse Derby for three-year-olds.

MJ Farms’ homebred Astica chases her third-straight win in the 400-yard Zia Quarter Horse Derby trials after finishing third in last year’s $341,000 Mountain Top Quarter Horse Futurity. She then won her Zia Futurity trial a year ago and was sidelined until the $60,000 Pelican Stakes in May at The Downs at Albuquerque.

Astica, a daughter of Jesse James Jr and champion Alice K White, outclassed her state-bred filly rivals in the Pelican when she won by three lengths and set a new track record of :18.912 for the 400 yards.

Trainer Wes Giles will have Adrian A. Ramos on Astica with the fourth post position in the third race.

Thoroughbred two-year-old males will race five-and-one-half furlongs in the trials to the $194,672 Rio Grande Senor Futurity. Their female counterparts compete in the trials to the $165,771 Rio Grande Senorita Futurity.

J. Kirk and Judy Robison’s homebred Diabolical King stands out in the Senor Futurity trials after his dominating win in the $146,571 Mountain Top Thoroughbred Futurity. The colt raced near the pace in the five-furlong dash and then humbled his rivals while winning by a growing seven-and-one-quarter lengths over True Heat. The Diabolical-sired Diabolical King was timed in :58.06.

Diabolical King won his maiden in the Mountain Top Futurity after finishing a close second in his Mountain Top trial. That was his first race.

Trainer Henry Dominguez will have Enrique Portillo-Gomez on Diabolical King with the fourth post position in the eighth race.

Dominguez and Portillo-Gomez are also dangerous in the Senorita trials with Bennie Vanecek’s Rapping Mary. She has not started since taking the filly division of the Copper Top Futurity back in April. Rapping Mary went to the lead out of the gate in the four-and-one-half-furlong dash and was never headed while winning by three quarters of a length.

The Rapper SS-sired Rapping Mary starts from the fourth post position in the seventh race.

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