Saturday, December 31, 2011
Cold Cash 123, a homebred 3-year-old gelding racing for T-Bill Stables Inc., put the finishing touches on an outstanding season with a one-length win in Saturday's Grade 1, $350,000 Championship at Sunland Park.
Trained by C. Dwayne “Sleepy” Gilbreath, Cold Cash 123 went 400 yards in :18.733 to earn a 103 speed index and break by just 2/1000ths of a second the previous stakes record set by 2009 AQHA champion aged stallion First Moonflash in '08.
Cold Cash 123 is known as a 440-yard specialist; the gelding was winless in three starts at the 400-yard distance prior to Saturday.
“He left better today than he has all year,” said jockey Roy Baldillez. “He cruised on home. I wasn't worried about the 400 yards.”
“He's pretty powerful,” added the rider. “He could have won going 250 today, it didn't matter. He ran a super race.”
Cold Cash 123's sire, Oak Tree Special, was the AQHA world champion in 2003. Cold Cash 123 entered the Sunland Championship ranked number one on the AQHA Racing-Horseplayernow.com older horse poll.
Cold Cash 123 was coming off of a three-quarter length victory in the 440-yard, $373,549 Texas Classic Derby (G1) at Lone Star Park on November 12. The $157,000 winner's share of the Championship at Sunland Park purse boosted Cold Cash 123's earnings to $979,471, of which $818,447 was banked in 2011.
Cold Cash 123 has won nine of 14 races, including five stakes.
Sent to post as the 19-10 favorite, Cold Cash 123 returned a $5.80 win mutuel and teamed with runner-up Bodacious Dash, a 17-1 longshot, for a $53.40 ($1) exacta. Rylees Boy, the 3-1 second choice, ran third to complete a $1 trifecta payoff of $292.10.
Louisiana Senator, New Mexico-bred Here Kittykittykitty, Celtic Classic, Prospect To The Top, Sir Seth, Time For A Cigar, and Favorite Cartel completed the order of finish.