The field is set for this year’s New Mexico Cup Derby (RG2), and Classy Moon is the fastest qualifier to the October 30, $225,000-est. final at Zia Park.
Trained by Fred Danley for owners Bob and Sissie McClure and aided by a reported 10-mph tail wind, Classy Moon on October 9 won the second of three 400-yard trials by one length in :19.570. Noe Garcia Jr. rode the homebred First Moonflash gelding.
Classy Moon was coming off of a seventh-place finish in a 400-yard New Mexico State Fair Derby (R) trial at Albuquerque Downs on September 10. The gelding is out of Shez Classy Now, a multiple graded stakes winning daughter of champion Now I Know, and he is a half brother to Heza Classy Now, the winner of the 870-yard, $50,000 Bill Reed Memorial Stakes at Ruidoso Downs on September 3.
Classy Moon has won four of 15 races — including two of four at Zia Park — and he has earned $99,824, of which $70,589 has been been banked from nine outs this season. The gelding’s record includes second-place finishes in last year’s Southwest Juvenile Championship Stakes (G2) at Zia Park, and the August 6, $174,000 Zia Derby (RG2) at Ruidoso Downs.
Second-fastest qualifier Wine Dont Lie won the third heat by a head in :19.637. Francisco Calderon rode the Big Daddy Cartel filly for owners Haskell E. Rich and Jacque M. Rich, and trainer Casey Lambert.
Wine Dont Lie was bred by Mac and Janis Murray’s MJ Farms at Veguita, New Mexico, and he was purchased as a yearling for $24,000 at the 2020 New Mexico-Bred Sale at Ruidoso Downs. The filly has won three of 11 races and has earned $57,252.
JC New Dawn, the third-fastest qualifier, won the first trial by a half of a length. Prepped by Edgar Moreno for owners Telma Meraz and Federico Gonzalez and aided by a reported 10-mph tail wind, the gelded son of the Dash Ta Fame stallion Woodbridge tripped the timer in :19.641. Daniel Torres rode JC New Dawn.
JC New Dawn was bred by Cynthia Guadalupe Gonzalez, and he was coming off of a second-place finish, a neck behind winner River Flash, in the 400-yard, $288,000 New Mexico State Fair Derby (R) at Albuquerque Downs on September 25. The gelding has won four of 12 races and has banked $165,907, and his record includes a third-place finish in the Januarry 29, 400-yard Shue Fly Stakes (RG2) at Sunland Park.
The complete list of qualifiers appears below:
| Horse (Sex, Pedigree) | Owner | Breeder (State) | Trainer | Time |
| CLASSY MOON G, First Moonflash-Shez Classy Now by Now I Know | Bob & Sissie McClure | Bob & Sissie McClure (NM) | Fred Danley | :19.570 |
| WINE DONT LIE F, Big Daddy Cartel-Fine Wines by First Down Dash | Haskell E. Rich and Jacque M. Rich | MJ Farms (NM) | Casey Lambert | :19.637 |
| JC NEW DAWN G, Woodbridge-Fly Stolis Chick by Stoli | Telma Meraz and Federico Gonzalez | Cynthia Guadalupe Gonzalez (NM) | Edgar Moreno | :19.641 |
| DADDYS MONY F, Big Daddy Cartel-Jenna James by Jesse James Jr | Julie Schoenhofer and Maricela Vasquez | MJ Farms (NM) | Eric Valenzuela | :19.655 |
| COWBOY ZULU G, Zulu Dragon-First Cowgirl Flash by First Moonflash | Fred Danley and Chuck Sonnenberg | Fred Danley (NM) | Fred Danley | :19.708 |
| RUN TIME F, Big Daddy Cartel-First Prize Amanda by DMNV Mountable | Ezra Lee | Ezra Lee (NM) | Wes Giles | :19.723 |
| HUNKY MCGOO G, Big Daddy Cartel-Physical Touch by Heza Fast Dash | William R. Robertson and Mary Robertson | William or Mary Robertson (NM) | Jackie Riddle | :19.730 |
| CHICKSBABYCARTEL F, Big Daddy Cartel-Hot Indy Chick by Jess A Chicks | Aldai Transport and Samuel Leon | Jacob J. Simmons III (NM) | Marc Jungers | :19.804 |
| Z YA G, First Moonflash-Zoobie Cartel by Corona Cartel | Curtis Crenwelge, Jim Laird, and Jose R. Espinosa | Crenwelge, Laird and Espinosa | Wes Giles | :19.816 |
| PASSEANNA F, Big Daddy Cartel-Woodys All Star by Woodbridge | Denis & Julie Schoenhofer | MJ Farms (NM) | Eric Valenzuela | :19.859 |