Saturday, September 25, 2010
Ridden by Freddy Fong Jr. for the first time in a race, Spinning Touch came from off the pace to win Saturday’s $40,000 New Mexico State Fair Breeders’ Stakes (R) for state-bred sophomores at The Downs at Albuquerque.
Spinning Touch went 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.48 after closing on the fractions of :25.79, :50.41, and 1:15.27 set by Chief Laz. Arturo Chavez saddled the homebred colt by Touchdown Ky for owners Michael and Jeanne Fuhs of Fort Wingate, New Mexico.
Spinning Touch is one of four winners from 11 starters sired by Touchdown Ky, an 11-year-old son the Storm Cat stallion Hennessy and a half brother to five stakes winners, including Prized, a colt by Kris S. who won the 1989 Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) at Gulfstream Park, and the Grade 2-winning Storm Cat colt Exploit. Touchdown Ky was bred in Kentucky by John R. Gaines and John G. Sikura, and he is currently owned by the Fuhses and stands at the Z Lazy B Ranch at Fort Wingate.
Spinning Touch is also the first starter foaled by Shimmering Sand, a winning 13-year-old daughter of the Mr. Prospector stallion Line In The Sand who ran third in the 2001 Chamisa Handicap at Albuquerque. The colt’s second dam, the Torsion mare Torrify, won the 1985 B.K. Yousif Handicap for Alberta-breds at Stampede Park in Calgary, and she foaled seven winners from eight starters, including Torrid Sand, a full brother to Shimmering Sand who ran second in the 1999 Arkansas Derby (G2) at Oaklawn Park.
A 1982 foal, Torrify was a half sister to Dance Bayou, a colt by Nain Bleu (FR) who won two stakes at Stampede Park in 1987, including the listed $50,000 Herald Gold Plate Stakes.
Spinning Touch has been campaigned exclusively in New Mexico, and he has won two of 11 races and earned $48,738. The colt broke his maiden at SunRay Park on May 28, winning a one-mile maiden special weight route by two lengths.
Train Rider Blues, the 1-5 choice, ran second, a head behind Spinning Touch. Chief Laz, Go Barney Go, Jaded Dreams and Get Up Taylor completed the order of finish.
Train Rider Blues races for Freda McSwane and Joe Walters, who acquired the bay Desert God colt for $5,000 at the 2008 New Mexico-Bred Yearling Sale at Ruidoso Downs. Train Rider Blues earned $8,000 to boost his bankroll to $299,663, and his five wins in 17 starts include four stakes.
A maiden chestnut gelding by the Montbrook stallion Source owned by Richard H. Hall Jr., Chief Laz banked $4,000 to push his earnings to $9,106. Chief Laz finished 4 ½ lengths behind Spinning Touch.