West Texas Maturity headlines Saturday program
Saturday’s featured event at Sunland Park is the 37th running of the $98,598 West Texas Maturity, a 400-yard dash for older shortliners.
RC Corona King (pictured), a nine-time winner and one of the most prolific New Mexico-bred quarter horses in recent years, has been installed as the 3-to-1 morning line favorite for the race. The 6-year-old son of Eye Am King won his trial heat for the West Texas Maturity here earlier this month and raced to the wire in 19.42 seconds, earning the role as fastest qualifier for the finals.
Owned by Jose Riojas and trained by Gerardo Quinonez, RC Corona King is a five-time stakes winner. He won the West Texas Maturity in 2024 before finishing fourth in the race last year. He has amassed earnings of more than $711,000 with a pair of stakes wins in 2025 including the Fall Championship Stakes (Gr. 1) at Albuquerque Downs and the Red or Green Stakes over this course.
RC Corona King will be ridden by Sergio Dominguez in the West Texas Maturity and will break from post nine in the 10-horse field.
Trainer Wes Giles will send another New Mexico-bred to the gate as the 7-to-2 second choice on the morning line. Bigg Picture finished a half-length behind RC Corona King in the same trial heat with Noe Garcia, Jr. in the irons.
The son of Big Daddy Cartel has six wins from 23 starts with more than $458,000 in career earnings. Bigg Picture capped off a strong campaign at Zia Park last fall with a pair of stakes wins, including the Zia Park Championship and the New Mexico Classic Championship.
Boot Scoots, owned by CHR Racing and trained by Tony Sedillo, is also slated to start in the West Texas Maturity. A five-time winner from 18 starts with earnings topping $152,000, Boot Scoots will be piloted by Oscar Andrade, Jr. and will break from post eight in the field. The 4-year-old son of Jess a Chicks scored a stakes win here earlier this season in the Red or Green Stakes. Bred in New Mexico by Jaime Cervantes, Boot Scoots is listed at 8-to-1 on the morning line for the West Texas Maturity.
Post time for the West Texas Maturity, which will be run as the ninth race on Saturday’s card, is scheduled for 4 p.m.