Hialeah launches 40-day Quarter Horse meet
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
Quarter Horse racing returns to historic Hialeah Park in south Florida for a sixth season on Friday, kicking off a 40-day meet that runs through March 2.
Hialeah, which opened in 1925 and hosted its last Thoroughbred race in 2001, will race Friday through Monday with first post time of 12:35 p.m. Eastern.
The meet will feature 28 stakes, highlighted by four races worth $100,000 or more. The meet’s richest race, the $200,000 Hialeah Derby for 3-year-olds going 400 yards, will anchor a card on Sunday, Jan. 18 that includes the $100,000 Hialeah Maturity, a 440-yard race for 4-year-olds
The next-to-last program of the season on Sunday, March 1 is topped by a pair of $100,000 races at 440 yards, the South Florida Quarter Horse Derby for 3-year-olds and the Sam Abbey Memorial for older horses.
The stakes calendar includes a distance series that begins with Sunday’s Orange Blossom at 550 yards and concludes with the 1,000-yard Sailfish on March 1, plus a sprint series that launches with the 110-yard Speedball on Jan. 11 and winds up with the 250-yard Beautiful Prairie on March 1.
Friday’s eight-race opening day card features the $25,000 Bienvenido De Nuevo at 330 yards. The leading contender looks like 4-year-old gelding Dashin Beduino, who will be making his first start since winning the 440-yard Sawgrass and missing by a neck as the runner-up in the $100,000 Hialeah Invitational going 440 yards in back-to-back races at Hialeah last February.
The field also includes Ja Jess Elegance, a 3-year-old filly who won the 250-yard Biscayne locally last February as the 6-5 favorite. Jockey Rodrigo Vallejo and trainer Judd Kearl, who teamed up to win three stakes at last season’s meet, are the connections of Ja Jess Elegance.
Omar Reyes, the second leading rider last season with 44 wins, has mounts on all eight races Friday, including Miss Southern Dd, making her first start since a sixth-place finish in the $406,000 Hialeah Futurity last Dec. 29.
Saturday's card consists of eight 400-yard trials for the Hialeah Derby, followed by four trials fo the Hialeah Maturity on Sunday's program.
One certainty is someone new will finish atop the trainer standings. Brandon Muniz, who won trainer titles at the last two meets, was recently issued a 105-day suspension, effective Dec. 13, after a third horse he trained in 2014 tested positive for clenbuterol.