Saturday, January 22, 2011
Outrunning his 19-1 odds, Beau Wizer won Saturday's $120,000 Pepsi Cola Stakes (R) for New Mexico-bred 3-year-olds at Sunland Park.
Beau Wizer covered 6 furlongs in 1:11.53 while posting his second victory in eight starts. Casey Lambert rode the chestnut gelding by Premeditation for owners Mike and Suzanne Carson and Leach Racing LLC and trainer H. Ray Ashford.
“We had a good trip,” said Lambert, who has ridden Beau Wizer in all eight of the gelding's races. “He broke really sharp and was cruising along. He took over nicely in the stretch.
“It got a little questionable late, but we had enough to hold them off,” he added.
Bred by the Carsons, Beau Wizer became the fourth stakes winner from 22 starters sired by Premeditation, a 12-year-old son of the Private Terms stallion Afternoon Deelites whose five crops have earned more than $1.17 million. A half brother to Grade 3 winner Real Dandy, Premeditation won four stakes from 2002-03, including the $100,000 Alysheba Breeders' Cup Stakes at Lone Star Park in '02, and the $50,000 Winsham Lad Handicap at Sunland Park the following season. The stallion is owned by William L. Clifton Jr., and he stands for a $3,000 fee at Fred and Linda Alexander's A & A Ranch in Anthony, New Mexico.
Beau Wizer is also one of three winners from as many starters foaled by Miss Einstein, a 13-year-old daughter of the Bold Ruckus stallion Beau Genius who won the 2000 Kachina Stakes at Ruidoso Downs and '01 Anchor Gaming Allowance Stakes at Sunland Park. Beau Wizer's full brother, Double Smart, won last year's $192,075 Rocky Gulch New Mexico Cup Championship (R) at Zia Park.
Beau Wizer's second dam, the unraced Tim The Tiger mare Clause, produced nine winners from 12 starters, including Z Lobo, a gelding by Key To The Mint who ran second in the 1994 Precisionist Stakes at Hollywood Park.
A 1986 Kentucky-bred foal, Clause is a half sister to three stakes winners: Air Worthy, an Air Forbes Won gelding who won the Grade 3, $113,700 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs in 1989; the late Cuttin A Rug, a filly by Blade who won the '85 Gay Dalton Stakes at The Downs at Albuquerque; and Parting Guest, a Peaks And Valleys colt who won the 2001 Borderland Derby at Sunland Park.
Beau Wizer's fourth dam, the Maryland-bred Northern Dancer mare Danceable, foaled Cozzy Grey, a gelding by Cozzene who won the 1993 Canadian Derby at Northlands Park in Edmonton, Alberta. Beau Wizer traces back to his fifth dam, Spicy Living, a daughter of Gallant Man who won six stakes from 1963-64, including the '63 Acorn and Mother Goose stakes at Belmont Park.
An earner of $151,749, Beau Wizer was coming off of a seventh-place finish in the one-mile, $120,000 Red Hedeman Mile Stakes (R) at Sunland Park on December 30. On April 17, the gelding ran third in the colts and geldings division of the $125,162 Copper Top Futurity (R) for state-bred 2-year-olds.
Beau Wizer's 2-year-old stakes resume also included a second-place finish in the one-mile, $120,000 Eddy County Stakes (R) at Zia Park.
“Backing him up to a sprint might have helped today,” said Ashford. “He's done everything we've asked of him. He's been competing steadily since the Copper Top Futurity last spring.”
It's Tera finished second, a neck behind Beau Wizer. Capitol Guy, Spartan Warrior, Texas Silver, Sapello Cantador, 9-10 favorite Russian Lane, Dodson, and Silent Sunday completed the order of finish.
It's Tera is a gray or roan colt by To Teras racing for Maria G. Gonzalez of Edgewood, New Mexico. The runner-up share of the Pepsi Cola Stakes purse increased It's Tera's bankroll to $45,970 from one win in four outs.
A chestnut colt by Dome, Capitol Guy banked $12,000 to push his earnings to $37,000 for owner James R. McClintic. Capitol Guy has won two of his three races, including a 6-furlong entry-level allowance sprint at Sunland on January 4.