Saturday, August 28, 2010
Sent to post as the 11-10 favorite, Kineticat Yankee responded with a wire-to-wire, 1 ¼-length victory in Saturday’s $40,000 Free Spirits Handicap at Ruidoso Downs.
Kineticat Yankee set fractions of :22.54 and :45.46 before stopping the timer in 1:10.63 for six furlongs. Juan Ochoa rode the 6-year-old stallion by Tale Of The Cat for owners Kim and Brad Bingham and trainer Weston Martin.
Kineticat Yankee was bred in California by Rider’s Up Racing Stable LLC, and he is one of 767 winners from 1,110 starters sired by Tale Of The Cat, a 16-year-old son of Storm Cat who won the 1997 King’s Bishop Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Racecourse. A Kentucky-bred stallion, Tale Of The Cat has sired the earners of more than $65.1 million from nine crops, including Gio Ponti, a five-time Grade 1 winner and last year’s Eclipse champion older horse. He stands for a $30,000 fee at Ashford Stud at Versailles, Kentucky.
Kineticat Yankee is also one of two starters from his winning dam, the 15-year-old Wavering Monarch mare Never Waver. The stallion’s third dam, Firgie’s Jule, is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Hatchet Man who won the 1987 Budweiser Handicap (G3) at Fairmount Park near St. Louis and ran third in the ’86 Black Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) at Pimlico Racecourse in Maryland.
Campaigned in California and New Mexico, Kineticat Yankee has won four of seven races, and the $24,000 winner’s share of the Free Spirits Handicap purse increased his bankroll to $85,540. The stallion broke his maiden going 6 furlongs at Santa Anita Park in March of his 4-year-old season.
Kineticat Yankee’s current three-race win streak began with his 6 ¼-length victory in a 6-furlong allowance sprint at Sunland Park on April 13.
Gentsfinishfirst finished second and was followed by Chicks A Flyin, Lumpy’s Ace, Sunny Topper, Mr. Golden Ruler, Ballistic Heat, Highest Humor, Guiding Hand, and Grand Tejas.
A 6-year-old gelding by the Montbrook stallion Snuck In racing for breeders Sam Stevens and Sammy Stevens of La Mesa, Texas, Gentsfinishfirst banked $8,800 to push his earnings to $156,424. Gentsfinishfirst ran third, four lengths behind winner Happy Humor, in last year’s 5 ½-furlong, $50,000 KLAQ Handicap at Sunland Park.
Chicks A Flyin was making his first start since April 21, when he won the 6-furlong, $60,000 Golden Circle Stakes on a sloppy track at Prairie Meadows near Des Moines, Iowa. A homebred 3-year-old gelding by Wimbledon campaigned by Steve Prather and Dwayne Taylor, Chicks A Flyin has earned $95,091 from three wins in nine outs. His stakes resume includes a fourth-place run in last year’s 6 ½-furlong Riley Allison Futurity at Sunland.