Lucky Jeremy edges away in stretch to win Riley Allison Derby

Lucky Jeremy won both his two-turn and stakes debut Friday, when he put in a strong stretch bid to capture the $100,000 Riley Allison Derby by two lengths over Alotaluck in what was the local prep for next month’s Grade 3, $400,000 Sunland Park Derby.

Christian Ramos was aboard the winner for his third stakes win on the card and fourth victory on the day.

The Riley Allison, which was run at a mile, was one of four stakes on the card. It’s also is this year’s lone stepping-stone to the Sunland Derby. The meet’s signature race is being run about five weeks earlier than usual, on Feb. 18. The Sunland Derby’s distance has been shortened from 1 1/8 miles to 1 1/16 miles. It will again share a card with the $250,000 Sunland Park Oaks, with this year’s lone local prep, the $65,000 Borderplex, won Friday by Candy Aisle.

Lucky Jeremy ($3.80) settled in third behind dueling leaders, advanced three wide on the turn, and went on to cover the distance on a fast track in 1:36.54. There were no fractional times available for the Riley Allison.

Lucky Jeremy came into the race off a maiden special weight win over 6 1/2 furlongs on Oct. 29 at Churchill Downs.

William Morey trains Lucky Jeremy for Jeremy Ramsland, who also owns the race’s third-place finisher, Surroundedbyangels.

Lucky Jeremy is a son of Lookin At Lucky. He has now won 2 of 3 starts for earnings of $115,080.

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Surroundedbyangels was a debut winner Jan. 5 at Sunland for trainer Bart Hone.

Ham Sandwich and Norwegian Callum were scratched from the Riley Allison.

Ramos started the card with a win in the opener, aboard Henry On the Run ($4.60). He then won both of the card’s sprint stakes for older horses, when he guided Chesterette to a clear win in the $65,000 Bold Ego and Espionage to a fast-closing victory in the $75,000 Fort Bliss.

Chesterette ($5.80) settled just off fractions of 22.01 seconds for the opening quarter and 44.73 for the half-mile before going on to cover 5 1/2 furlongs for fillies and mares in a rapid 1:02.91. Hone trains the daughter of Practical Joke for Holly Wilson and David Wilson.

Espionage surged to a length win over Good With People in the Fort Bliss, winning the six-furlong race in a hand-timed 1:09.40. The son of Into Mischief races for Doug Gourley, Maureen Fincher, and his trainer, Leroy Fincher.

Borderplex Stakes

Candy Aisle waited and accelerated for a length win over Illusive Star in the Borderplex, a 6 1/2-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies that served as the local prep for the Sunland Park Oaks. It was another 1 3/4 lengths back in third to Raspberry Wine.

Candy Aisle ($2.80) had one horse beat early as Illusive Star and Raspberry Wine disputed the pace. Candy Aisle attempted to advance down the backside but was unable to find room and also had to wait on the turn and into the stretch. She was angled out from there and dug in to get past Illusive Star, covering the distance on a fast track in a hand-timed 1:16.90.

Felipe Valdez was aboard for trainer Todd Fincher.

Candy Aisle was winning her third straight race, with her victories all coming in stakes. She defeated males when winning her maiden in the $75,000 Manzano in October at the Downs at Albuquerque and came back and won the $100,000 Zia Park Princess on Nov. 28 at Zia.

Candy Aisle is a daughter of Gun Runner and a half-sister to Offering Plan, a multiple stakes winner of $891,573. She races for the partnership of Randy Andrews, Jim Cone, Brad King, and Lee Lewis.

The Sunland Park Oaks will be run at a mile this year because of its earlier date. In the past, the race had been run over 1 1/16 miles toward the end of March.

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