Baby Daddy Cartel rallies for dramatic score in Mountain Top Futurity
ALBUQUERQUE – Jockey Noe Garcia Jr. rallied Baby Daddy Cartel on the outside part of the course to a thrilling win in Sunday’s $309,521 Mountain Top New Mexico-Bred QH Futurity at Albuquerque Downs.
Owned by Tungsten Racing Partnership and trained by Omar Vargas, Baby Daddy Cartel broke a bit awkwardly from the gate, spotting the early leaders Bridger and Sand and Sea as the field raced down the stretch.
Garcia found another gear aboard the son of Big Daddy Cartel and got to the wire a neck in front of another fast-closing finisher, Imma Dandy, to earn the win in 16.89 seconds. The time was just a hundredth of a second off the track record for 350 yards.
Bred in New Mexico by Paul Cervantes, Baby Daddy Cartel has won three of four starts with earnings of nearly $184,000. It was the second stakes win of his career after taking the $100,000 New Mexican Spring Fling Stakes on April 4 at Sunland Park.
Baby Daddy Cartel earned his way into the starting gate as the fourth-fastest qualifier for the Mountain Top Futurity when he won his trial over the course May 29.
Sent off as the second choice on the toteboard at odds of 2.70-1, Baby Daddy Cartel paid $7.40 to win. Longshot Imma Dandy, ridden by Oscar Andrade Jr., completed the $2 exacta, which returned $164. Sand and Sea held on for third, with Bridger rounding out the top four.
Post time favorite Shafer, the fastest qualifier for the Futurity, broke awkwardly from the inside post and beat only one in the 10-horse field.