ALBUQUERQUE – Completing a career sweep of two of the biggest stakes races for New Mexico-bred quarter horses, KJ Bad Moon Rising earned the seventh win of his career Sunday at Albuquerque Downs, scoring a hard-fought decision in the $419,753 New Mexico State Quarter Horse Derby.
Trained by Wes Giles for owners/breeders John and Kathy Lee, KJ Bad Moon Rising sprinted to the lead under Noe Garcia, Jr. in the shadow of the finish line, racing 400 yards in a final time of 19.315 seconds, defeating Row By Row by a head at the wire and earning a 97 Equibase Speed Index.
KJ Bad Moon Rising, a 3-year-old gelded son of KJ Mucho Macho Man, earned more than $209,000 with his win in the NM State Fair QH Derby, bringing his career bankroll to more than $1.32 million.
Last year, KJ Bad Moon Rising scored the biggest win of his career when he won the NM State QH Derby giving him a sweep of two of the state’s most prestigious statebred races. In addition to those wins, KJ Bad Moon Rising also finished second in last year’s All American Futurity.
All told, KJ Bad Moon Rising has won five times from eight starts at Albuquerque Downs.
Sire KJ Mucho Macho Man, a multiple stakes placed earner on the racetrack, has produced several stakes winners including Ivory Macho Man, recent winner of the Dash For Cash Futurity earlier this month at Lone Star Park. He also sired Two Macho For You, who qualified for the NM State Fair Derby and finished eighth.
KJ Bad Moon Rising is out of the First Moonflash mare KJ Kiss Me Goodbye, who was winless in four starts on the track. The damsire was a 14-time winner on the track with earnings of nearly $1 million with seven Grade 1 wins under his belt including back-to-back editions of the Jess Burner Memorial Handicap and the Championship at Sunland Park.
First Moonflash has also produced notable stakes winners including millionaires Handsome Jack Flash, Too Flash for You and Flash N Roll, as well as Ryansmanonthemoon and Running To The Moon. KJ Bad Moon Rising, sent off as the post time favorite at odds of 3-to-5, paid back $3.20 to his winning backers. The $2 exacta with Row By Row and jockey Sergio Becerra, Jr. returned $32.20. Eye Im Flashin finished third with Woody Rocks rounding out the top four finishers.