Gold Heart Eagle V sets quick time in All American Derby trials

Gold Heart Eagle V won the first of nine divisions of the All American Derby trials on Sunday at Ruidoso Downs with a 440-yard time of 21.10 seconds

Eight races later, at the end of the afternoon, Gold Heart Eagle V was still the fastest qualifier for the $1,077,688 All American Derby on Sept. 6.

Trained by Monty Arrossa for Sammy Valeriano, Gold Heart Eagle V won a time trial under jockey James Flores for his second win in six career starts.

Gold Heart Eagle V has yet to win a stakes. He was third by a head in the Rainbow Derby on July 18 at Ruidoso Downs, finishing behind the gelding Cers Final Try and the filly Hotsempting.

Cers Final Try and Hotsempting won divisions of Sunday’s All American Derby trials, recording times quick enough to gain berths in the final. The 10 fastest runners, regardless of finishing positions, qualified for the All American Derby.

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Hotsempting ran 21.34 to set the second-fastest qualifying time, while Cers Final Try is the fourth-fastest qualifier with a time of 21.43. Jess Sumokin Hot, fourth in the Rainbow Derby, won the final trial on Sunday in 21.36 for the third-fastest time.

Other qualifiers are Love Is Everything V, Inaugurator, KJ Mucho Macho Man, Elm Creek Khrome, and Hes Back.

Kleptomaniac, second to Cers Final Try, and Perrys Double Down, third behind Love Is Everything V, were both timed in 21.549. A random draw will be held Monday to determine which of those runners advances to the final.

Earlier on Sunday’s program, Ratification was the emphatic winner of the second of four divisions of time trials for the $421,165 All American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies, which also will be run Sept. 6.

Ridden by Francisco Calderon, Ratification won her trial by five lengths, finishing 440 yards in 21.26. Trial race winner Kieva is the second-fastest qualifier with a time of 21.533.

Ratification, owned by Bobby Cox and trained by John Buchahan, won the inaugural Rainbow Oaks in July and has won 6 of 12 starts in her career.

The other qualifiers for the Rainbow Oaks are Kiss Thru Fire, Kylee Joy, Kiss My Lassie, Foxys First Kiss, BV Sheslikesthewind, Valiant Astica, Amethyst, and Apollitical Snow.

This is the first year Ruidoso Downs has run the All American Oaks. Owners and trainers chose at entry time whether to start fillies in the All American Oaks trials or against males in the All American Derby trials.

There were five fillies entered in the All American Derby trials. Aside from Hotsempting, the only other filly to win an All American Derby trial was Fernweh, who won the second division in 21.59. The time was not quite quick enough to make the final field.

Fernweh is best known for winning the $1 million Ruidoso Futurity in June 2019.