Sunland: Hennesey Smash goes for six in a row in Peppers Pride Handicap

Coady Photography

Hennesey Smash passed her first test against open company in the Bold Ego.

Hennesey Smash will be putting a five-race win streak on the line Saturday when she makes her two-turn debut in the $85,000 Peppers Pride Handicap at Sunland Park. She is part of a seven-horse field in the one-mile race restricted to fillies and mares bred in New Mexico.

Hennesey Smash began her streak last August, when she won the second race of her career in the $50,000 Chief Narbona for New Mexico-breds at the Downs at Albuquerque. She proceeded to win three more races for statebreds, all at Zia Park, before taking on open company in her last start Dec. 22 at Sunland and winning the $50,000 Bold Ego.

For the move to two turns, Hennesey Smash gets pedigree support. While her sire, Roll Hennessy Roll, was a Grade 3-winning sprinter, her dam has produced a number of route winners. They include Some Ghost, a multiple stakes winner who is 12 for 38 in routes, and Star Smasher, another multiple stakes winner who is 3 for 7 in routes.

Alfredo Juarez Jr. has the mount on Hennesey Smash for owner-breeder Barbara M. Coleman and trainer Todd Fincher.

The chief threat is Rose’s Desert, the 123-pound highweight who is making her first start since rolling to a five-length win in the $85,000 New Mexico Racing Commission Handicap at Sunland on Dec. 9. Since the race she has been flattered, with the runner-up and fourth-place finisher both returning to win $20,000 optional claimers at Sunland.

Fincher also trains Rose’s Desert, who races for her breeder, Joe Peacock, and who is to be ridden by Casey Lambert.