A Spring Snow, a 5-year-old gelding by champion This Snow Is Royal, is the fastest qualifier to this year’s 350-yard Pfizer New Mexico Starter Allowance Challenge at SunRay Park.

Ridden by Esgar Ramirez for owner and trainer Abraham Jaquez of Albuquerque, A Spring Snow won the second of two trials by 2 ¼ lengths as the 1-2 favorite. The gelding covered 350 yards in :17.087 and earned a 103 speed index.

A Spring Snow was claimed by Jaquez for $6,250 at The Downs at Albuquerque on October 5, 2009. The gelding is one of 332 winners from 524 starters sired by the late This Snow Is Royal, the AQHA champion 2-year-old colt in 1997 whose nine crops have earned more than $12.3. He is also one of four winners from five starters produced by the winning and stakes-placed Special Effort mare Lexines Legacy.

An earner of $76,272 from 28 starts, A Spring Snow has won six races, including a 400-yard starter allowance dash at SunRay Park on April 25. He also was a finalist in the 2007 Four Corners Futurity (G3).

David P. Alaniz’s Shazooms Finale won the first trial by three-quarters of a length as the 7-10 choice. Saddled by James J. Gonzales II and ridden by Oscar Ortega, the 4-year-old gray gelding by Shazoom went 350 in :17.243 while scoring his third victory in 16 outs.

The winner of the May 31, $20,000-added final will earn a starting berth in the $75,000 Pfizer Starter Allowance Challenge Championship at Fair Grounds Racecourse in New Orleans on November 20.

The complete list of qualifiers: