Sunday, January 23, 2011
Enrique Gomez rode 9-10 favorite Angel At Home to a come-from-behind victory in the $50,000 El Paso Times Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Sunland Park on Sunday.
Trained by Johnnie Nall for owners Bonnie and Larry Spraberry and Carol Chappell, Angel At Home covered 6 ½ furlongs in 1:18.33, and her margin of victory was a neck from 7-2 third choice Paloma Mesa. Her win was her third in four starts, and the $30,000 winner's share of
the purse increased her earnings to $71,080.
Angel At Home was bred in Texas by Bonnie Spraberry, and the filly became the third stakes winner from 51 starters sired by Seeking A Home, an unraced stallion by Seeking The Gold and full brother to 2005 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner Pleasant Home and Grade 2 winner Country Hideaway. Now 13, Seeking A Home has sired seven crops and the earners of more than $1.6 million, including his top earner, seven-time stakes winner Smitty's Sunshine.
Angel At Home is also one of three winners from five starters foaled by the winning Corwyn Bay (IRE) mare Missy Cherub. The filly's half brother, Hi Teck Man, won the $68,731 Ruidoso Thoroughbred Futurity in 2003 and the following season's $500,000 WinStar Derby at Sunland Park.
Angel At Home was seven weeks removed from a neck victory in a 6-furlong entry-level allowance sprint at Zia Park. The filly's stakes resume includes a second-place finish in the 6-furlong, $55,000 Permian Basin Stakes at Zia on October 17.
R Bling ran third and was followed by Yankee Tori, Oflee Wicked, and Texas Tempest.
Runner-up Paloma Mesa banked $11,000 to bring her earnings to $31,460 for owner Running Horse Farm LLC of Albuquerque. A $37,000 buy at the 2009 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Paloma Mesa has won two of her three starts.
A bay daughter of Sky Mesa racing for Donald Green, R Bling has banked $50,480 from two wins in seven outs. R Bling was claimed for $20,000 twice last fall at Monmouth Park and Delaware Park. The filly was coming off of a 2 1/4-length victory in an entry-level 5 1/2-furlong allowance race at Sunland on January 9.