Bridger tops impressive cast of starters for Mountain Top Futurity Trials
ALBUQUERQUE — A total of 106 New Mexico-bred Quarter Horses will head to the starting gate Friday at Albuquerque Downs to compete in 11 trial heats for the estimated $350,000 Mountain Top New Mexico-bred Quarter Horse Futurity.
The 350-yard sprint trials will determine the field for the finals on Sunday, June 14. The 10 fastest runners will automatically qualify for the finals, while the next 10 fastest qualifiers will enter the $50,000 Mountain Top Juvenile, which will be run that same day.
Bridger (pictured), unbeaten in two career starts including the New Mexican Spring Futurity at Sunland Park in April, is the morning-line favorite in the seventh trial heat. Trained by Eric Valenzuela and slated to be ridden by Jose Ortiz, Bridger has amassed earnings of more than $189,000 for Tungsten Racing Partnership LLC.
Valenzuela, who captured the Quarter Horse training title at Sunland Park, will send out 15 starters on trial day. In addition to Bridger, Valenzuela will have at least one starter in each of the 11 races on the Friday card, which has a scheduled first post time of 1:30 p.m.
Trainer James J. Gonzales III will also send out at least one starter in each of the 11 trials. Gonzales saddled Luxurie to victory in last year’s edition of the race.
Among the notable starters trained by Gonzales is first-time starter Shafer, a $350,000 purchase at last year’s Ruidoso New Mexico bred Yearling Sale by Triple R Racing Stables LLC, Tye Baca, Tungsten Racing Partnership and Ted Rushing. Bred by MJ Farms, Shafer will make his debut in the second trial heat under jockey Christian Cardenas.
Another expensive yearling purchase, Out Post, will head to the starting gate for Gonzales in the sixth trial heat. Rancho El 48 LLC, Denis Schoenhofer, Julie A. Schoenhofer and Wallace Lynn Landrum purchased Out Post for $400,000 at the 2025 Ruidoso New Mexico bred Yearling Sale. The son of Eye Am King was bred by MJ Farms and will be ridden by Joseph Belloc, Jr.
In the ninth trial, Gonzales will be represented by Keenan, the 3-1 morning-line favorite owned by Kim Middleton and Nove Racing LLC. The 2-year-old filly by Big Daddy Cartel finished off the board in the New Mexico Spring Fling in her last outing and is looking for her second win in three career starts.
Trainer Wes Giles, who topped the standings at the recently completed SunRay Park racing season, will send out six starters Friday, including Wheelz, an impressive winner on May 1 at SunRay in her only career start. Owned by Curtis Crenwelge and Jim Laird, the daughter of Jess a Chicks is the 7-to-2 second choice on the morning line in Friday’s third trial heat. Trainer Xavier Rodriguez will saddle morning-line favorite Bigg Twist in that same heat, coming off a fourth-place finish in the New Mexican Spring Futurity at Sunland Park.