Antonios Mark faces five rivals in Saturday’s O.D. McDonald Handicap
ALBUQUERQUE – Antonios Mark will face five rivals in Saturday’s $75,000 O.D. McDonald Handicap, the fifth race of a 10-race card at Albuquerque Downs.
The 5-year-old son of Marking drew post five in the O.D. McDonald Handicap, which will be run at a distance of seven furlongs. Owned by Andy Banegas and trained by Dominic Duree, Antonios Mark enters the contest having won each of his last two starts including a 3 3/4 length score last time out over this course in the $75,000 Casey Darnell Stakes.
Antonios Mark has seven career wins from 28 starts and has amassed earnings of more than $370,000. He has finished no worse than third in five starts at Albuquerque Downs and was a narrow second in last year’s edition of the O.D. McDonald Handicap, just missing by a neck to one of his rivals in this year’s edition Dave’s Enchantment.
Antonios Mark will be ridden once again by Alfredo Juarez, Jr. in the O.D. McDonald Handicap, which has a scheduled post time of 7:45 p.m.
Bred by Fred Alexander, Antonios Mark is out of the Lawyer Ron mare Bekat Bekat, a two-time winner from 29 lifetime starts. The damsire, a 2007 Eclipse Award winner for best older horse, earned nearly $2.8 million while winning 12 times from 26 starts including Grade 1 scores in the 2007 Woodward Stakes and Whitney Handicap at Saratoga.
Marking, a son of Bernardini, has been one of the state’s leading sires in the state in recent years. Among his leading progeny are multiple stakes winners Slammed, Marking Canyon, I Think I’m Here and Speed Merchant.
Dave’s Enchantment (pictured above), a 5-year-old son of Attila’s Storm, drew the six post in the O.D. McDonald Handicap and will be ridden by Francisco Amparan for owner Allen Kincaid and trainer Alberto Amparan.
A five-time winner from 18 starts with earnings of more than $161,000, Dave’s Enchantment is coming off an allowance win here on Oct. 4. That win snapped a six-race losing streak. He will be looking to capture back-to-back runnings of the O.D. McDonald Handicap over a course where he has earned three of his career victories.
Bred by Mr. and Mrs. Allen Kincaid, Dave’s Enchantment is out of the Mr. Groush mare Crafty Joi, a two-time winner from 14 career starts. The damsire earned more than $516,000 on the racetrack, with his signature win coming in the 1997 Alabama Derby (Grade 3) at Louisiana Downs.
The field for Saturday’s $75,000 O.D. McDonald Handicap:
1- ATTILIANNO (Fausto Da Silva)
2- AR YA WEEGEE (Tracy Hebert)
3- SPINNING BLACK (Enrique Gomez)
4- MARKING CANYON (Aldo Arboleda)
5- ANTONIOS MARK (Alfredo Juarez, Jr.)
6- DAVE’S ENCHANTMENT (Francisco Amparan)
Photo of Dave’s Enchantment edging Antonios Mark in last year’s O.D. McDonald Handicap courtesy Coady Media