Hotsempting one to catch in All American Derby

The Quarter Horse filly Hotsempting is so quick she has made a closer out of the gelding Cers Final Try in major derbies at Ruidoso Downs this year.

Hotsempting won the Ruidoso Derby at 400 yards by a length over Cers Final Try on June 6. In the Rainbow Derby at 440 yards on July 18, Cers Final Try trailed the ultra-quick Hotsempting for the first 300 yards and caught the filly in the final strides to win by a neck.

Fittingly, they meet for the third time this year in Sunday’s $1,077,688 All American Derby at 440 yards, the track’s leading race for 3-year-olds.

Tony Sedillo, who trains Cers Final Try for Christina Robinson, is confident his gelding can run well Sunday, but frank about his concern regarding Hotsempting.

“She’s solid,” he said earlier this week. “She doesn’t mess around. If she can break like she can break, it will be tough to catch her. My horse will chase somebody down.”

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Cers Final Try and Hotsempting are joined at the top of the All American Derby contenders by fastest qualifier Gold Heart Eagle V, who was third by a head in the Rainbow Derby.

Trained by Monty Arrossa, Gold Heart Eagle V won the first of nine divisions of the All American Derby trials by a remarkable four lengths on Aug. 23, running 440 yards in 21.10 seconds.

Cers Final Try won the third division in 21.43, while Hotsempting won the fifth division in 21.34. By comparison, the slowest qualifying time was 21.54.

Gold Heart Eagle V may be favored Sunday, though there is likely to be little difference in the odds of the three contenders. The Rainbow Derby was the first major stakes final for Gold Heart Eagle V.

Hotsempting, trained by Sergio Ibarra, is the only filly in the All American Derby field. This year, Ruidoso Downs created the All American Oaks for fillies, and the race will be run Sunday for the first time. Only five fillies were entered in the All American Derby trials.

The field of 10 in the All American Derby also includes Inaugurator, who won the Heritage Place Derby on May 30 at Remington Park and was second to Hotsempting in the All American Derby trials; Jess Sumokin Hot, who was fourth in the Rainbow Derby; and Elm Creek Khrome, who was ninth in the $3 million All American Futurity in 2019.

Love Is Everything V is a longshot who could play a surprising role. He won the Rainbow Invitational on July 18, the consolation race of the Rainbow Derby, and won a division of the All American Derby trials in 21.45 for trainer Eddie Willis.