Sunday, December 05, 2010
Imco Spirit (IRE) outran his 9-1 odds to win the 1 1/8-mile, $218,000 Zia Park Distance Championship Handicap at Zia Park on Sunday.
Ridden by Alejandro Medellin for co-owners J. Kirk Robison and Henry Dominguez, Imco Spirit defeated 15-1 longshot Schramsberg by a half of a length in a track-record 1:49.36. Imco Spirit rallied off of the :24.77, :48.71, and 1:12.38 fractions set by Schramsberg, and he scored his first stakes victory and fourth win in his last five outs.
“He ran a huge race – I didn’t expect it,” said Dominguez, who also trains Imco Spirit. “There was nothing else to run him in, so we had to throw him in and take a shot at it.”
Imco Spirit was bred in Ireland, and the 4-year-old bay gelding became the 42nd stakes winner from five crops sired by Invincible Spirit (IRE), a 13-year-old son of the Danzig stallion Green Desert and a Group 1 winner in England in 2002. Invincible Spirit has sired the earners of more than $24.1 million from 578 starters, including ’07 French Derby (G1) winner Lawman (FR). He stands at Irish National Stud at Kildare, Ireland.
Imco Spirit is also one of five winners from nine starters produced by Treasure Hope (IRE), a 21-year-old daughter of Treasure Kay (GB) who won a Group 2 stakes at Rome, Italy, in 1992.
Robison and Dominguez claimed Imco Spirit for $12,500 at Del Mar on August 29. The gelding has since earned $171,616 from four starts.
All told, Imco Spirit has won five of 20 races, and the $126,876 from the Zia Park Distance Championship purse pushed his bankroll to $214,167. The gelding was coming off of a second-place finish to Sunday Sunrise in the 1 1/16-mile Veterans Stakes at Zia Park on November 6.
Quindici Man, the 2-1 favorite, ran third, five lengths behind Imco Spirit. Double Shuffle, Andiotis, Jardim (BRZ), Tricky Causeway, Sunday Sunrise, and Soul Warrior completed the order of finish.
Runner-up Schramsberg is a chestnut 4-year-old Storm Cat colt racing for Bobby J. Hammer. One of five stakes winners foaled by Serena’s Song, the 1995 champion 3-year-old filly, Schramsberg picked up $46,521 to increase his earnings to $206,126 from 15 starts. The colt’s four wins include the October 10, $150,000 Remington Green Stakes on the turf at Remington Park.
Quindici Man banked $21,146 to boost his earnings to $366,316 for owner Six-S Racing Stable. A $12,000 buy at the 2007 September Yearling Sale at Keeneland, the 4-year-old colt by Came Home has scored four stakes victories during his last two seasons, including last year’s $150,000 Zia Park Derby.