Eight New Mexico-bred fillies and mares, headed by morning-line favorite Count Them Again (pictured), are entered in Saturday’s 6 1/2-furlong, $40,000 Russell & Helen Foutz Distaff Stakes (R) at SunRay Park.
A 4-year-old daughter of the Afternoon Deelites stallion Premeditation owned by Lola L. Cuellar and Alexandria M. Cuellar, Count Them Again is coming off of a third-place finish, 4 1/4 lengths behind winner Harking, in the 6-furlong, $29,000 Jeff & Jack Coady Sr. Stakes at Turf Paradise on January 5. The filly has won seven of 11 starts, including four stakes, and she has earned $270,246.
Count Them Again drew post 3 and will be ridden by Aldo Arboleda for trainer Ever Olguin. Other contenders include Waltzing Attila and Mindofmyown. A homebred 7-year-old Attila’s Storm mare trained by Nancy Summers for owners Wesley and Glenda Gray, Waltzing Attila won all three of her starts last year, including the 6-furlong, $50,000 Lincoln Handicap at Ruidoso Downs, and the 6 1/2-furlong, $100,000 Carlos Salazar Stakes (R) at Albuquerque Downs.
Waltzing Attila drew post 4 and will be ridden by Duane Sterling.
Racing for Wesley Gray from the barn of trainer Nancy Summers, Mindofmyown drew post 5 and will be ridden by Kelsi Purcell. A homebred 5-year-old daughter of the Diligence stallion Diligent Prospect, Mindofmyown banked $82,234 from 11 outs last year, and her five wins included a half-length victory in the 6-furlong, $50,000 New Mexico Cup Distaff Sprint Championship (R) at Zia Park.
The complete lineup, in post position order including jockey assignments and morning-line odds:
Pink Sky (Alejandro Medellin), 8-1
Mcwend (Alfredo Sigala), 9-2
Count Them Again (Aldo Arboleda), 5-2
Waltzing Attila (Duane Sterling), 3-1
Mindofmyown (Kelsi Purcell), 7-2
Graceanne (Francisco Amparan), 12-1
Datils Native Lady (Christian Ramos), 20-1
Tutta Terlingua (Enrique P. Gomez), 10-1