Sunday, September 12, 2010
Outrunning his 19-1 odds, River Echo sprinted to a 1 ¾-length win in Sunday’s 6-furlong, $100,000 Premier Cup Handicap at Zia Park, the first stakes race of the track’s 53-day fall meet.
River Echo covered the distance in 1:09.29 under jockey Alejandro Medellin, missing by just three-fifths of a second the track record established by Ashby Hill in 2005. Henry Dominguez prepped the 6-year-old Swiss Yodeler gelding for owners J. Kirk and Judy Robison of El Paso, Texas.
Bred in California by Harris Farms Inc. near Coalinga, River Echo was claimed by the Robisons from his breeder for $25,000 at Hollywood Park in June. The gelding became the 13th stakes winner from 451 starters sired by Swiss Yodeler, a 16-year-old son of the Damascus stallion Eastern Echo whose five stakes victories in 1996 included the Grade 1, $580,850 Hollywood Futurity at Hollywood Park.
Swiss Yodeler’s nine crops have earned more than $20.7 million and include his top earner, 2006 TVG Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) winner Thor’s Echo. The stallion stands for a $6,000 fee at Harris Farms.
River Echo is also one of eight winners from nine starters produced by Isleo Bebe, a winning and stakes-placed 22-year-old daughter of Island Whirl. The gelding’s second dam, the Duck Dance mare She Can’t Miss, won 11 of 32 races from 1979-81, including four stakes.
A 1977 Florida-bred foal, She Can’t Miss also produced four winners from as many starters, including Horsafire, a filly by Hold Your Peace who won the 1988 Flower Bowl Handicap on the turf at Rockingham Park in New Hampshire, and For You A Wish, an Island Whirl gelding who ran second in the $150,000 Louisiana Downs Handicap (G3) in ’92.
River Echo traces back to his fourth dam, the Princequillo mare Royal Bride. Foaled in 1952, Royal Bride produced 10 winners from 11 starters, including Full Regalia, a colt by Middleground who won the 1963 Longacres Mile Stakes in Washington.
A winner of four of his 26 races, River Echo has earned $254,464, of which $61,120 has been banked since the Robison’s claim. In ’06, River Echo ran second in the 5 ½-furlong, $133,400 Graduation Stakes (R) for California-bred 2-year-olds at Del Mar. The Premier Cup marked the gelding’s first start in New Mexico.
EZ Dreamer ran second and was followed by Salt Alert, 6-5 choice Greeley’s Conquest, Lantana Mob, and Jonesboro.
EZ Dreamer, a homebred 5-year-old stallion by In Excess (IRE) racing for the Owens’ family Triple AAA Ranch, earned $22,000 to increase his bankroll to $516,765 from 28 starts. EZ Dreamer’s nine victories include the February 13, $75,000 Phoenix Gold Cup Stakes at Turf Paradise, and last year’s Premier Cup Handicap.
Salt Alert finished 5 ¼ lengths behind River Echo. The 4-year-old Salt Lake gelding banked $10,000 to boost his earnings to $47,040 for owner JT & B Racing.