Breeder has strong rooting interest in Ruidoso's two biggest races

Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico is offering an All American Double on Sunday, a bet that links its two biggest races for Quarter Horses. But in some respects, Sarah Donaldson-Rioux has already hit it. Donaldson-Rioux, 37, is the breeder of starters in both the $1.9 million All American Derby on Sunday and the $2.6 million All American Futurity on Monday.

The multiple Grade 2 winner Too Flash For You will be seeking his fourth straight win when he runs in the All American Derby, and Donaldson-Rioux will be on hand to watch the horse she bred compete for owners Jose Espinosa and Jim and Michele Laird. The next afternoon, for the All American Futurity, she will be rooting for the David Valdez-owned Mad About the Moon, whom she co-bred with Larry Hughes and his son, Britt.

“I raised both of them,” Donaldson-Rioux said. “It’s all very emotional. These are my babies!”

Donaldson-Rioux holds an equine science degree from Colorado State University and after working for breeding farms and the Equine Orthopedic Research Center at CSU, she decided to launch her own operation. She purchased a farm in her hometown of Deming, N.M., in 2004. Born Running Ranch is the home to the Thoroughbred stallions Delhomme and Red Sky Dubai and the Quarter Horse stallion Coronas Blackdiamond. It’s an establishment that was a natural step for Donaldson-Rioux.

“I got my first broodmare when I was 12,” she said. “I wasn’t breeding racehorses then. I was just breeding performance horses.”

She was introduced to racing by a family friend, knew it was the industry she wanted to be involved in, and has come to forge her own place in the sport. Donaldson-Rioux breeds, raises, and sells about 10 horses each season, in partnership with Larry Hughes. She also foals out mares and preps yearlings for auctions for outside clients, taking on both Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds.

“Coming from a family that wasn’t really horse-oriented, I tried to figure out what avenue I could make a living off of it,” she said of the industry. “I put everything into it. Blood, sweat, and tears. Some days things seem impossible. Then things like this happen.”

Mad About the Moon beat out about 270 horses for one of 10 spots in the gate for the Grade 1 All American. He is 20-1 on the morning-line with just a maiden score to his name, but he shares similarities to last year’s winner, Handsome Jack Flash, in that both are New Mexico-breds by First Moonflash. Mad About the Moon’s dam, Streaking Power, was one of the first mares to take up residence at Born Running Ranch.

“Mad About the Moon was kind of a small horse, but he had the best attitude,” Donaldson-Rioux said. “He went everywhere with a purpose. He was easy to work with. Whatever I taught him, he was willing and able.”

Mad About the Moon was sold at a yearling auction at Ruidoso for $5,000.

“I’d pull him out of the stall at the sale and people would look at him and say, ‘He’s pretty small,’ ” Donaldson-Rioux said. “We thought he’d sell better than that. We thought a lot of him.

“It’s kind of cool to see him doing this.”

Too Flash for You, meanwhile, has won all three of his starts this year, including back-to-back restricted Grade 2 races, between Sunland Park and SunRay Park. Last year, he qualified for four different futurities, noted Donaldson-Rioux. Too Flash for You, a $20,000 yearling who is also a New Mexico-bred by First Moonflash, will be making the most prestigious start of his career in the Grade 1 All American Derby.

Donaldson-Rioux and her husband, Adam, will be savoring the experience all weekend long at Ruidoso.

“We’ll probably be the last ones to leave the track,” she said.