Kell Paso impresses in Bold Ego Handicap win

Kell Paso ran a huge race on the cutback to one turn Sunday, running 5 1/2 furlongs in a blazing 1:02.22 to defeat older rivals in the $65,000 Bold Ego Handicap at Sunland Park. Kell Paso was turning back from the 1 1/16-mile Zia Park Oaks.

The Bold Ego was one of four stakes on the card. The track was rated fast. The Grade 1, $350,000 Championship for Quarter Horses was won in an upset by Tf Im That Guy ($17.40), who defeated a field that included reigning world champion Jessies First Down. The other Thoroughbred stakes on the card, the $85,000 Four Rivers John Deere, went to Blazing Navarone ($17.60).

Kell Paso ($13.20), who set the pace in the Zia Oaks before finishing sixth, was content to stalk the leaders in the Bold Ego, with Mighty Nice putting up fractions of 21.52 seconds for the opening quarter and 44.15 for the half-mile. Kell Paso took the lead in the stretch and was a one-length winner over favorite Diabolical Dame. (The track record for 5 1/2 furlongs is 1:01.60.)

Aldo Arboleda was aboard Kell Paso for trainer Danny Morales.

Kell Paso was winning the second stakes race of her career, following the El Paso Times at Sunland in January. She is a daughter of Divine Park and races for William K. Goode. Kell Paso was bred by Brereton Jones.

• Trainer Henry Dominguez completed a sweep of the 2-year-old Thoroughbred stakes run over the weekend at Sunland when Blazing Navarone closed from next to last for a 3 3/4-length win over Del Mar Summer in the Four Rivers John Deere. Dominguez on Saturday sent out Fast Gator to capture the $85,000 Senora. Both races were restricted to New Mexico-breds.

Blazing Navarone covered the distance in 1:09.46. There were no fractional times available. Enrique Gomez was aboard for Dominguez, who co-owns Blazing Navarone with George E. Coleman. Blazing Navarone is a son of Song of Navarone.

• Tf Im That Guy turned the tables on Jessies First Down, winning the Championship one start after finishing second to that rival in the Grade 1 Zia Park Distance Championship. Jessies First Down, who broke next to last, rallied for third Sunday.

Tf Im That Guy sat just off the pace and drove to a neck win over Once Over, while it was another neck back to Jessies First Down. The winner covered 440 yards in 21.49 seconds. Manuel Gutierrez was aboard for Victor Diaz and trainer Lorenzo Vega.

• Despain GI ($25.80) was always prominent for a neck win in the $200,000 Winter Juvenile for 2-year-old Quarter Horses. He covered 400 yards in 19.67 seconds.