Jesstifiably Stoli won the first of two Merial New Mexico Distaff Challenge trials on Thursday and posted the fastest qualifying time for the August 29, $22,500-added final at Ruidoso Downs.

Racing for M.C. and Cendy Stucks and saddled by Russell Harris, Jesstifiably Stoli covered 400 yards in :19.716 under jockey David Pinon. The sorrel 4-year-old daughter of champion Stoli earned a 91 speed index, and her margin of victory was a half of a length from third-fastest qualifier Quic Jess.

Jesstifiably Stoli was bred in Oklahoma by James and Debbie Glover, and the mare has earned $37,887 from three wins in 10 starts. She ran third, a neck behind winner Rarely Makes It Home, in the May 9 Merial Oklahoma Distaff Challenge (G3) at Remington Park, and she was a finalist in last year’s Heritage Place Derby (G2).

Jesstifiably Stoli is also one of 243 winners from 430 starters sired by Stoli, a two-time Grade 1 winner and the sport’s champion 3-year-old in 2001. Now 12, Stoli has sired six crops and the earners of more than $9.3 million.

Jesstifiably Stoli is a half sister to Pay It Back, a filly by Sixes Royal who was a finalist in last year’s New Mexico State Fair Senorita Futurity (RG3). The mare’s third dam, the First Down Dash mare Down With Debt, won three Grade 1 stakes in 1994 and was that season’s AQHA world champion.

The winner of the Merial New Mexico Distaff Challenge will earn a berth in the Grade 1, $125,000 Merial Distaff Challenge Championship at Fair Grounds Racecourse in New Orleans in November.

The complete list of qualifiers: