Thursday, April 21, 2011
SunRay Park in Farmington, New Mexico, opens its 48-day meet with a 10-race program on Saturday. Post time for the first race is 1 p.m. (MDT).
SunRay's opening day feature is the 6 1/2-furlong, $50,000 Inaugural Handicap, which drew a field of nine older runners. Arthur C. Olivier's Tactful, a 5-year-old gelding by Grade 1 winner Bertrando trained by David Wolochuk, is the 123-pound high weight and 5-2 morning-line favorite.
Tactful drew post 2 in the Inaugural and will be ridden by Miguel Hernandez. The gelding will be making his first career start on SunRay's 6-furlong oval, and his 2011 record includes a third-place finish as a 20-1 longshot in the 6 1/2-furlong, $50,000 Bill Thomas Memorial Stakes at Sunland Park on March 12.
Major Billy, the 3-1 morning-line second choice, is a 5-year-old gelding who races for Maria G. Gonzalez of Edgewood, New Mexico. Major Billy won three races at the recently concluded Sunland meet, including a 6-furlong allowance sprint as the 11-10 favorite on February 22.
The complete lineup in the Inaugural, in post position order including jockey and weight assignments and morning-line odds – Major Billy (Alejandro Medellin, 122), 3-1; Tactful (Miguel Hernandez, 123), 5-2; Evansville Van (Casey Lambert, 116), 15-1; Vamoose (Enrique Gomez, 121), 4-1; All Man (J. Martin Bourdieu, 118), 10-1; Red Hot Racer (Adam Martinez, 112), 20-1; Miller's Time (Kelly Bridges, 120), 8-1; Talk Circuit (Dennis Collins, 119), 10-1; and Shivers Me (Vernon Scantling, 121), 6-1.
SunRay Park will conduct racing on a Saturday-Tuesday schedule through closing day, July 12. Sunday's 10-race program includes the 6 1/2-furlong, $85,000 Russell & Helen Foutz Distaff Handicap (R), which drew a field of nine New Mexico-bred fillies and mares. Rita Danley's Happy Me, a homebred 5-year-old daughter of the Cee's Tizzy stallion Lesters Boy, is the 123-pound high weight.
Post time every day will be 1 p.m. For more information, including a condition book and complete stakes schedule, visit the track's website at www.sunraygaming.com.