Jessies First Down enters Albuquerque Fall Quarter Horse Championship

Jessies First Down will attempt to secure a berth in the prestigious Champion of Champions on Sunday, when he runs in the $250,000 Albuquerque Fall Quarter Horse Championship.

The 440-yard race highlights a card of four stakes at The Downs at Albuquerque. There are three rich races for Quarter Horses, while Thoroughbreds will be featured in the $187,794 New Mexico State Fair Futurity.

The winner of the Fall Quarter Horse Championship will earn a berth in the Grade 1, $750,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 16 at Los Alamitos. That race is a goal for Jessies First Down, trainer Jimmy Padgett said. The horse is the reigning World Champion Quarter Horse and won the Grade 1 All American Gold Cup in his most recent start Sept. 3 at Ruidoso Downs.

Jessies First Down ran one of the best races of his career in the All American Gold Cup, darting to a 2 1/2-length win over Grade 1 winner Zoomin Effortlessly. Jessies First Down covered 440 yards in 21.13 seconds in what was his first start since a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Remington Park Invitational on June 3.

“I think the biggest thing is he was fresh,” Padgett said of the performance in the All American Gold Cup. “The horse runs better off a layoff.”

Others set to start include First Valiant Sign, winner of last year’s Texas Classic Derby at Lone Star Park, and Dutcher, who was second in the Grade 2 Sam Houston Classic in his most recent start May 13.

◗ The New Mexico State Fair Futurity drew an overflow field of 14, with the gate limited to 12. The six-furlong race is restricted to 2-year-olds bred in New Mexico. Storm the Beach will get support as the winner of the $50,000 Manzano over open company Aug. 12 at Albuquerque.

Other leading contenders include Golden Band, who is undefeated in two starts for trainer Todd Fincher. Both of his wins came at Albuquerque, his latest over Storm the Beach. Kris Who, another Fincher trainee, owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, a 59 earned in winning a trial for the New Mexico State Futurity.

◗ The other stakes on the card are the $167,166 New Mexico State Fair Quarter Horse Derby, featuring fastest qualifier Sophie Garcia, and the $224,558 La Fiesta Futurity, which drew fastest qualifier Stryker Force.