Martinez wins five at Sunland

Three-time Sunland riding champ Joe Martinez took the old saying "Thank God. It's Friday" to heart last week, winning five races on the 11-race program.

Martinez got his day off to a fine start with Cm Now in the day's fourth race ($4.60). He followed that up by winning on Eye Opened Expert ($7) in race 5, This Snow Is Blazin ($12) in race 6, Trojan's Gold ($5) in race 7, and Seminar ($6.20) in race 9.

The day's accomplishments pushed Martinez to the top of the riding standings for all breeds. His 33 wins through Tuesday put him one ahead of Ken Tohill and two clear of Alfredo Juarez Jr. Martinez ranks fourth in the Thoroughbred standings, with 25 wins, behind Tohill (32), Juarez (30), and Casey Lambert (26).

* Fearless Anthony established a 5 1/2-furlong track record of 1:01.62 at Sunland Park on Tuesday. It marked the second time this meet that a record was set here for that distance. Love Bonus held the previous mark of 1:02.20, set Jan. 2.