Cruzin For Chicks Leads the Qualifiers to the July 22, $205,419 Zia Derby

Cruzin For Chickz (pictured), a homebred son of Jess A Chicks racing for Curtis Crenwelge, Jim Laird, and Jose R. Espinosa, is the fastest qualifier to the July 22, $205,419 Zia Derby (RG1) for New Mexico-bred sophomore Quarter Horses at Ruidoso Downs.

Racing in the last of six trials on July 8, Cruzin For Chickz defeated fourth-fastest qualifier Doing Something Good by a neck while going 400 yards in :19.781. Adrian Ramos rode the bay gelding for trainer Wes Giles.

Cruzin For Chickz boasts a four-race win streak that includes a head victory in the 350-yard, $205,265 Mountain Top Derby (R) on June 17 at Ruidoso Downs. The gelding is out of Zoobie Cartel, a winning homebred 10-year-old Corona Cartel mare. His second dam, the Dashin Bye mare Zoobilee, won three graded stakes in Louisiana from 2009-11, including the 2010 Louisiana Champions Day Derby (RG2) at Fair Grounds Racecourse in New Orleans.

Cruzin For Chicks has won four of his seven races and has earned $176,836.

Jose Moreno’s White Knight, the second-fastest qualifier, won the third heat by three-quarters of a length from eighth-fastest qualifier Talbott. Ridden by Ricky Ramirez for trainer James Gonzales II, the sorrel son of Eye Am King covered 400 yards in :19.802 while scoring his second win in six outs and increasing his bankroll to $26,380, of which $26,200 has been pocketed from three races this season.

White Knight was bred by Mac and Janis Murray’s MJ Farms at Veguita, New Mexico, and he was purchased by Moreno for $45,000 at the 2021 Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale. The gelding is out of Alice K White, a homebred daughter of First Down Dash and the sport’s champion 3-year-old filly in ’09, and he is a half sister to 2015 champion sophomore filly Astica.

Third-fastest qualifier Pick Your Pour won the fifth trial by a clear 2 1/2 lengths in :19.813. James Gonzales II trained and Ricky Ramirez rode the Jesse James Jr gelding for owners Orlando Granillo, Azucena Mendoza, and Rene Mendoza.

Pick Your Pour was bred by MJ Farms, and he was a $25,000 buy at the 2021 Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale. The sorrel gelding is out of Tangled Vines, a homebred winning daughter of the First Down Dash stallion Dash Ta Fame. His second dam, the homebred Streakin Dash mare Dashin Sandy, won the ’92 Diamond Classic Futurity (RG2) at Casper, Wyoming, and was a finalist in that season’s Golden State Futurity (G1) at Los Alamitos.

Pick Your Pour has won four of six races — including last year’s Mountain Top Futurity (RG2) — and he has banked $228,774.

The complete list of Zia Derby qualifiers appears below: