Let Him Be looms large in Rocky Gulch New Mexico Classic
HOBBS – V Bar V Racing, LLC.’s Let Him Be has been established as the prohibitive 4-to-5 morning line favorite in Monday’s 21st running of the $200,000 Rocky Gulch New Mexico Classic, one of seven stakes races showcasing the best thoroughbreds bred in the state.
Bred in New Mexico by Jim Volk and trained by Joel Marr, Let Him Be has the model of consistency on the racetrack, having won 13 of 16 career starts with earnings topping $652,000. The 5-year-old son of Sway Away is coming off a hard-fought victory over this course Nov. 3, his first trip to the races since finishing second in a turf route at Lone Star Park in Texas last August.
Let Him Be has finished no worse than third in each of his career starts, with his most recent stakes wins coming in the Mt Cristo Rey Handicap as well as Jamison Memorial earlier this year at Sunland Park, and the New Mexico Classic Sprint Stakes over this course last year. Let Him Be has won four times from five trips to the starting gate at Zia Park.
This will be the first time Let Him Be will tackle the 1 1/16 mile distance of the Rocky Gulch New Mexico Classic. He will be ridden by Miguel Fuentes and will break from post four in the seven-horse field.
Antonios Mark, in search of his fourth straight win for trainer Dominic Duree, has been posted as the 3-to-1 second choice on the morning line. The 5-year-old son of Marking, bred in New Mexico by Fred Alexander, has won eight times from 29 career starts with more than $415,000 in earnings. He was victorious in a pair of stakes races at Albuquerque Downs this fall, most recently the O.D. McDonald Stakes and the Casey Darnell Stakes.
Owned by Andy A. Banegas, Antonios Mark will be ridden by Alfredo Juarez, Jr., and will break from post one in the Rocky Gulch New Mexico Classic.
Scheduled as the fifth race on the Monday card, the Rocky Gulch New Mexico Classic has a post time of 1:53 p.m.
The field, with morning line odds and jockeys, for the $200,000 Rocky Gulch New Mexico Classic:
1 Antonios Mark 3-1 (Alfredo Juarez, Jr.)
2 George Who 20-1 (Ken Tohill)
3 Ancient Land 20-1 (Stewart Elliott)
4 Let Him Be 4-5 (Miguel Fuentes, Jr.)
5 Sapello Riddler 20-1 (Erick Medellin)
6 Marking Canyon 9-2 (Aldo Arboleda)
7 Ar Ya Weegee 8-1 (Tracy Hebert)
Photo of Let Him Be courtesy Coady Media