Mountain Top N.M. Bred Derby Trials highlight Saturday program
ALBUQUERQUE — A total of 54 registered New Mexico-bred 3-year-old quarter horses will compete for a total of 10 spots in the Mountain Top Quarter Horse Derby starting gate when trials are held Saturday at Albuquerque Downs.
Six trials, each run at the distance of 350 yards, will determine the 10 fastest qualifiers for the $150,000-estimated finals, which will be run Saturday, June 13. The trials will be run as the first six races of a 10-race card which also features the $75,000 Jess Burner Stakes.
Leading the charge of trial runners for the Mountain Top Derby is King of the Tide, last year’s All American Futurity winner. Owned by E. Gene Bradley, Tod Bradley and Ware Brown, King of the Tide is a four-time winner from six lifetime starts with earnings of more than $1.59 million. The son of Eye Am King bred by MJ Farms is a perfect 3-for-3 at Albuquerque Downs.
Trained by S. Trey Wood, King of the Tide will be making his first start as a 3-year-old when he reaches the starting gate for Saturday’s first trial heat as the 5-to-2 morning line favorite under regular pilot Ricky Ramirez, drawn in the outside post in the nine-horse field.
Luxurie, the 5-to-2 morning line favorite in the Saturday’s second trial is one of several starters for trainer James J. Gonzales III. The winner of last year’s Mountain Top Futurity, Luxurie is owned by Triple R Racing Stables LLC, Wallace Lynn Landrum, Ted Rushing and Rancho El 48 LLC and has four wins from six career starts and earnings over $233,000.
Bred by MJ Farms, Luxurie is a son of Big Daddy Cartel and was a $300,000 purchase at the 2024 Ruidoso New Mexico Bred QH Yearling Sale. He wil break from the rail under Joseph Belloc, Jr.
Gonzales will also have several contenders in the Mountain Top Derby trials, including the unbeaten Eddy Cartel, owned by Paul E. Blanchard and a winner in each of his first four career starts.
The son of Big Daddy Cartel captured last year’s New Mexico State Fair QH Futurity at Albuquerque Downs last October. Bred in New Mexico by Eduardo P Mendoza, Eddy Cartel has earned more than $639,000 and will be making his first start as a 3-year-old when he and Belloc, Jr. break from post eight as the 5-to-2 morning line favorite in the fourth trial heat of the day.