Bridger rallies late and wins a thrilling $389,493 New Mexican Spring Futurity
Bridger rallied in the final strides under jockey Luis Angel Flores Garcia and prevailed narrowly in a thrilling conclusion of the 30th running of $389,493 (R-G2) New Mexican Spring Futurity, the first graded stakes of the year for state-breds.
The 2-year-old son of Eye Am King was a handful in the gate prior to the start, broke alertly but had to be called upon late to run down Bogarts Brown Sugar and jockey Luis Martinez, winning by a head in a time of 15.25 seconds for 300 yards.
Saddled by Sunland Park’s leading quarter horse trainer Eric Valenzuela, Bridger was purchased for $155,000 at last year’s Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale. He won his trial for the New Mexican Spring Futurity over this course in his debut last month and was the fastest qualifier for the finals. His win in the NM Spring Futurity improves his record to two wins from two starts with earnings of more than $189,000.
Bridger is out of the Blushing Bug mare Bridgette Bordeaux. The damsire was a stakes winner who earned more than $185,000 on the racetrack.
Owned by Tungsten Racing Partnership and Rancho El 48 LLC and bred in New Mexico by MJ Farms, Bridger paid back $4.40 to his winning backers as the 6-to-5 post time favorite. Bogarts Brown Sugar held the place and prompted a $30.80 exacta for the top two finishers. Big Ted, also trained by Valenzuela finished third with Bigg Twist rounding out the top four finishers.