King Of The Tide reigns supreme after opening day of All American Futurity Trials
ALBUQUERQUE – King Of The Tide, a New Mexico-bred gelded son of Eye Am King, ran his way into the starting gate for the $3 million All American Futurity in emphatic fashion Monday at Albuquerque Downs, winning his trial heat in a time of 21.001 seconds, the fastest of 16 trial heats of the afternoon.
King Of The Tide, a two-time winner from four career starts and most recently, a second-place finisher in the $346,000 Mountain Top Futurity at Ruidoso Downs on June 15, was ridden to victory by Ricky Ramirez for trainer S. Trey Wood and owners E. Gene Bradley, Tod Bradley and Ware Brown.
Bred by MJ Farms, King Of The Tide was purchased for $130,000 at the 2024 Ruidoso New Mexico Bred Quarter Horse Yearling Sale. He broke his maiden last March at Sunland Park, then qualified for the Mountain Top Futurity on May 30 with a third place finish behind Luxurie.
Sent off as the second choice in Monday’s trial heat, King Of The Tide returned $6 to his winning backers. Second place finisher Dragon Link, who also earned a spot in the starting gate for the world’s richest quarter horse race, to be held on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 1, prompted a $2 exacta payout of $52.80.
Dragon Link, who finished Monday’s trial session as the third fastest qualifier, will be joined in the All American Futurity starting gate by Political Twist, who finished the day as the second fastest qualifier, as well as Ajs Wingman and Envestor after Monday’s 16-race program. Tuesday, another 16 trials will be held, with the five fastest qualifiers from that day also getting a chance to compete in the sport’s richest race.
King Of The Tide is the latest in a growing list of impressive runners sired by Eye Am King which includes graded stakes winners like Bella De Ball, winner of the New Mexico State Fair Futurity, as well as Just En King, and RC Corona King.
Trials for the All American Futurity, Derby and Oaks will continue this week through Wednesday at Albuquerque Downs for the second consecutive year after flood damage again forced the closure of Ruidoso Downs.
