Caprock Cutie edges clear in adventurous Lea County Stakes
HOBBS — Jockey Elvin Gonzalez guided Caprock Cutie to an authoritative 4 1/2 length victory in Tuesday’s $100,000 Lea County Stakes at Zia Park.
Owned by Glen Robertson and Bobby McQueen and bred in New Mexico by Glen Robertson, the daughter of Marking dueled for the lead to the inside of American Prada and jockey Luis Valenzuela. That pair raced down the backstretch alongside heavily favored Mark’s Sassy Girl, who veered inward shortly after breaking from the gate, dropping rider Floyd Wethey, Jr.
Caprock Cutie found herself on the lead at the head of the lane and inched clear inside the final furlong, stopping the clock in a time of 1 minute, 17.28 seconds for 6 1/2 furlongs on a fast track.
Trained by Dick Cappellucci, Caprock Cutie has now won twice from five starts. She was third best last time out in the New Mexico Classic Lassie Stakes after breaking her maiden over this course in her third career start last month. Her win in the Lea County Stakes brings her lifetime earnings to more than $112,000.
Sent off as the third choice on the tote board at odds of 2.80-to-1, Caprock Cutie returned $7.60 to her winning backers. The $2 exacta with American Prada paid back $119.80. Country Club Crush finished third with Who Said It’s Easy rounding out the top four finishers.