Cappellucci holds strong hand with pair of starters in Petticoat Stakes
ALBUQUERQUE – At long last, thoroughbred racing returns to the state of New Mexico.
Thursday’s opening night program at Albuquerque Downs marks the first time a thoroughbred race in the state will be held since the closing day card May 25 at SunRay Park and Casino.
The opening weekend of the 37-day meet at Albuquerque Downs is headlined by Saturday’s $75,000 Petticoat Stakes, for New Mexico-bred fillies and mares scheduled to compete at 6½ furlongs.
A field of eight will head to the starting gate for the Petticoat Stakes, which will be run as the fourth race of a nine-race evening program with a scheduled post time of 7:20 p.m.
For trainer Dick Cappellucci, who will send out a pair of starters in the Petticoat Stakes, the return to live racing in the state of New Mexico couldn’t come at a better time.
Cappellucci finished atop the trainers standings with 31 winners at the Sunland Park season which wrapped up in April, but has won only 11 races since thoroughbred racing came to a halt in the Land of Enchantment last May. He currently has three winners at the current racing season at Remington Park in Oklahoma City.
Thoroughbred racing was impossible to implement at Ruidoso Downs during their most recent racing season after the track suffered significant damage due to flooding last year, causing the management at Ruidoso Downs to become an exclusive quarter horse facility during this most recent summer season.
Those plans again were stymied earlier this past summer when flooding once again shut down Ruidoso Downs, forcing the remainder of the season to be canceled last month. The only racing dates in the state were held earlier this month at Albuquerque Downs, which again hosted trials for the All American Futurity, which will be held for the second consecutive year at Albuquerque.
Thatsaterriblidea, owned by Centurion Racing Partners, LLC, is a 3-year-old filly by Proceed with only one win from six career starts and earnings of nearly $71,000.
Unraced since a third-place finish in the New Mexico Breeders’ Oaks on March 28 at Sunland Park, Thatsaterriblidea has been in steady training leading up to Saturday’s race. She will be ridden by Alejandro Medellin from post four and has been listed as the 5-to-2 early choice for the Petticoat.
Bred by Fred Alexander, Thatsaterriblidea is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Lawyer Ron, who earned nearly $2.8 million in his racing career highlighted by wins in the Whitney Handicap and Woodward Stakes at Saratoga in 2007.
Cappellucci will also send out Forty Five, who like her stablemate is also owned by Centurion Racing Partners and bred by Alexander. The daughter of Marking is listed as the 7-to-2 third choice on the morning line for the Petticoat Stakes. A two-time winner from six career starts, Forty Five is also unraced since a disappointing eighth-place finish as the post time favorite in the New Mexico Breeders’ Oaks.
Prior to that, Forty Five was a romping winner in the $90,000 Peppers Pride Stakes at Sunland Park on Feb. 16. She will break from post five in the Petticoat with Luis Fuentes slated to ride.
Forty Five is a half-sister to multiple stakes-placed Ghostly Moves, who earned more than $272,000 with his best efforts coming in a pair of graded stakes races in Florida in 1997.
Trainer Simon Buechler will send out Souped Up Wildcat and jockey Christian Ramos from the rail in the Petticoat for owners Asmussenequine.com, Gerald O. Thornton, Martin Riley, Frances Latimer and Chris Scott. The second choice on the morning line at odds of 3-to-1, Souped Up Wildcat is a daughter of Kentucky Wildcat with a pair of wins from seven lifetime starts.
Souped Up Wildcat lost by a neck to The Smooch in the New Mexico Breeders Oaks last March and is looking to snap a four-race losing streak. She has two wins from three starts at Albuquerque Downs and was second in last year’s New Mexico State Fair Thoroughbred Derby.
The field for Saturday’s 75,000 Petticoat Stakes with riders and morning line odds:
1- Souped Up Wildcat (Christian Ramos) 3-1
2- The Smooch IOscar Andrade, Jr.) 9-2
3- Ms Tres Morena (Jose Vazquez) 20-1
4- Thatsaterriblidea (Alejandro Medellin) 5-2
5- Forty Five (Luis Fuentes) 7-2
6- Matilda’s Mark (Luis Valenzuela) 12-1
7- Sapello Sonrisa (Luis Rodriguez) 10-1
8- Sensuous Woman (Tracy Hebert) 8-1