Keeton Saddles 1-2 Finishers In $793,603 Grade 1 Rainbow QH Derby at Downs at Albuquerque

RUIDOSO DOWNS, NM–JULY 27, 2024–Trainer Toby Keeton saddled the 1-2 finishers in the $793,603 Grade 1 Rainbow QH Derby contested at Downs at Albuquerque today.

He and jockey Juan Pulido, who teamed to win the $100,000 Rainbow QH Invitational earlier on the card, got their second stakes victory of the day when Dashing Tres defeated stablemate Visa by a neck.

Heavy post-time favorite and champion Dark Nme chased throughout after getting away late and was another neck back to take third.

Dashing Tres veered out under Pulido while completing the 440 yards in 21.185 seconds, equaling a 98-speed index into a 10 mph headwind. The Tempting Dash homebred racing for owner-breeder Bob McClure earned $333,313 for the effort.

Bred from the Tres Seis mare Sissys Tres Girl, Dashing Tres has compiled a (8) 5-0-2 record and earned $597,604. He placed third in the Ruidoso QH Derby(G1) in June and was a finalist in the All American Futurity(G1) last season.

Simmons Racing, Wootan Racing, and Roger Beasley's Visa earned $142,849 for second. Keeton named jockey Edwin Escobedo to ride the Corona Cartel colt, which is out of the thoroughbred Will Take Charge mare Cascheckorcharge. Visa won the All American Juvenile last summer at Ruidoso Downs.

Dark Nme was bumped at the start but closed quickly under champion jockey Francisco Calderon to take home $79,261 for third. Named the AQHA Racing Champion 2-Year-Old Filly in 2023, the daughter of champion Hes Relentless races for owner TYKHE Racing LLC is trained by Romero Mireles.

L Hendrix Horses LLC bred the bay filly in Oklahoma from the Spit Curl Jess mare Quions. She has won nine of 11 career starts, including the Rainbow QH Futurity(G1), Texas Classic Futurity(G1), and Remington Park Oklahoma-Bred Futurity(RG1). Dark Nme has earned $1,644,813.

Dashing Tres returned $22.80 to win, $10.40 to place, and $4 to show. Visa paid $8.40 to place and $3.80 to show and Dark Nme returned $2.10 on a show ticket.

Scream Machine, Shoeless, Politko, Johnny Ringo 123, Moes, Unrelentless, and Js On Fire completed the Rainbow Derby field.

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Live racing returns to the Downs at Albuquerque on Sunday with a 12-race card with five stakes, including the Grade 1 $350,000 Rainbow QH Oaks and the restricted Grade 1 $358,451 Zia QH Futurity. The first post is at 12:30 p.m. (MDT).