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RUIDOSO DOWNS, NM—APRIL 24, 2015—Horses began preparing for the upcoming history-making summer season at Ruidoso Downs when the track opened for training on Friday morning.
History will be made on closing day (Labor Day) when the Grade 1, $3 million All American Futurity is contested. The $3 million is the largest purse for any two-year-old race in the world, the $1.5 million winner’s share is also a record and it is the largest purse in quarter horse racing history.
The season starts on May 22 with the first of two days of trials to the Grade 1, $750,000 Ruidoso Futurity.
The first opportunity to see some of this year’s futurity prospects will be on May 4-6 when training races will be held. These are some of the two-year-olds the vast majority are non-starters who will point at the Ruidoso Futurity, the Grade 1, $1 million Rainbow Futurity and the All American Futurity.
Quarter horse racing’s premier three-year-olds will be at Ruidoso Downs. Their primary objectives will be the Grade 1, $800,000 (est.) Ruidoso Derby, the Grade 1, $1 million (est.) Rainbow Derby and the Grade 1, $2.3 million All American Derby. Non-qualifiers for those three major derbies will be contenders to the three $100,000 stakes associated with each derby: the Mr Jess Perry, the Corona Cartel and the First Down Dash.
The thoroughbred stakes schedule becomes even more attractive with the Ruidoso Downs’ Thoroughbred Championship purse increasing to $100,000 from $60,000. The Thoroughbred Championship complements the All American Futurity on Labor Day.
New Mexico-breds always play a large part of racing at Ruidoso Downs. The Zia Festival will be held on the final weekend of July and showcases the finest New Mexico-bred thoroughbreds and quarter horses in stakes races that project to be worth more than $1 million.
For complete Ruidoso Downs’ information, go to www.raceruidoso.com, visit the Ruidoso Downs Race Track and Casino Facebook page and follow the Ruidoso Press Box (@RuiPressBox) on Twitter.