Bokeelia Island, Pendleton target Land of Enchantment stakes

Bokeelia Island and Pendleton, a pair of multiple stakes winners trained by Justin Evans, are targeting stakes on the Land of Enchantment card Nov. 27 at Zia Park.

Evans said Bokeelia Island is being pointed for the $150,000 Zia Park Championship for 3-year-olds and up over a mile and an eighth, while Pendleton is a candidate for the $100,000 Zia Park Sprint at six furlongs.

Bokeelia Island is coming off a 1 3/4-length win in the $50,000 Veterans at a mile and a sixteenth Oct. 28 at Zia. He earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 90.

“It was a tough bunch of horses, some of them coming in from Remington,” Evans said. “It was no easy race. I was really happy with his effort.”

Bokeelia Island is a half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winners Point of Entry and Pine Island. He races for Vanessa Evans and Cindy Perez.

Pendleton, who won four consecutive races from March through June, was freshened following a third-place finish in the $200,000 Downs at Albuquerque Handicap on Aug. 3. Evans said he and owners Bill and Susan Tomasic decided to target the Zia Sprint rather than the Championship with Pendleton.

“He’s not cranked up for the mile and an eighth,” Evans said. “He can sprint, so we’ll take a shot in the six-furlong stakes the same day.”

Pendleton worked a bullet five-eighths in 1:01 on Wednesday at Zia. Down the line, Evans said Pendleton would stretch back out around two turns for the handicap series at Sunland Park.

Evans, a perennial leading trainer in New Mexico, has other horses pointing for Land of Enchantment Day races, including Best of Me for the $100,000 Zia Park Distaff and Showmethemagic for the $75,000 Zia Park Princess.