Saturday, December 11, 2010
Ducky Drake came from off of the pace to win the 5 ½-furlong, $50,000 KLAQ Handicap at Sunland Park on Saturday.
Ridden by Miguel Hernandez for owners Ralph and Aury Todd of Santa Ynez, California, and trainer Bart Hone, Ducky Drake closed off of the fractions set by odds-on favorite Kineticat Yankee and reached the wire in 1:03.31, and his margin of victory was a half of a length from Tactful. Kineticat Yankee finished third, three-quarters of a length behind the winner.
Ducky Drake is a homebred 8-year-old gelding and one of 20 stakes winners from nine crops sired by Benchmark, a stallion by Alydar and half brother to two-time Grade 1 winner Tranquility Lake. Now 19, Benchmark has sired the earners of more than $21.2 million from 410 starters, including his top earner, ’06 Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Brother Derek. The stallion is owned by Ballena Vista Farm and stands for a $4,000 fee at the farm in Ramona, California.
Ducky Drake’s dam, Alice May, is an unraced daughter of the His Majesty stallion Pleasant Colony. The 17-year-old mare was bred in Kentucky by the Todds, and she has produced six winners from seven starters.
Alice May is a half sister to two stakes winners – The Tin Man, a gelding by Affirmed who won eight graded stakes from 2002-07, including the ’06 Arlington Million (G1) at Arlington Park near Chicago, and the late Mama Simba, a daughter of Mamaison who won seven ungraded stakes in California, Louisiana, and Arkansas from 1990-94.
Ducky Drake’s third dam, Dancing Liz, was a stakes-winning daughter of Northern Dancer who produced 15 winners from 16 starters, including Oraibi, a colt by Forli who won the 1988 Malibu Stakes (G2) and ’89 Sierra Madre Handicap (G3) at Santa Anita.
Ducky Drake traces back to his fourth dam, the winning Crimson Satan mare Crimson Queen. A 1967 Kentucky-bred foal, Crimson Queen produced Crimson Slew, a stakes-winning colt by 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew who ran third in Judge Angelucci’s 1986 San Antonio Handicap (G1) at Santa Anita.
Ducky Drake currently holds a three-race win streak that includes the 5 ½-furlong, $56,900 Lea County Sprint Stakes at Zia Park on November 14, a race that the gelding also won in 2008. An earner of $515,939 from 41 starts, Ducky Drake has won 16 races, including seven stakes. He also won the KLAQ Handicap as the 17-10 favorite three years ago.
A $16,000 claim by owner Arthur Olivier at Golden Gate Fields on August 27, Tactful banked $11,000 to push his earnings to $130,540, of which $32,820 has come since the claim. Tactful is a 4-year-old gelding by Bertrando who raced in California from 2008-10, until he made his first start off the claim at Zia Park on October 18, an out that resulted in a 2 ¼-length victory in a 5 ½-furlong allowance sprint.
Kineticat Yankee earned $5,000 to push his bankroll to $110,032 for owners Brad and Kim Bingham and Nick Morris. The 6-year-old Tale Of The Cat stallion has won four races from 10 starts, including the 6-furlong Free Spirits Handicap at Ruidoso Downs in August.
River Echo, Haitian Hero, and Mountain Guide completed the order of finish.