Revenant Moon tries to stay perfect in first of 16 Ruidoso Futurity trial races
The undefeated filly Revenant Moon starts on Saturday in the first of 16 time trials for the Ruidoso Futurity on June 13.
Only the five fastest qualifying times will advance to the final, and it is possible Revenant Moon could deliver a 350-yard time difficult to beat through late morning and all of Saturday afternoon. First post time is 11 a.m. Mountain.
Trained by Trey Wood, Revenant Moon won a division of the Oklahoma Futurity trials at Remington Park on March 8 and the $477,200 final on March 20. Revenant Moon has had one workout since that win – 220 yards in 11.8 seconds at Ruidoso on May 8. Quarter Horses, particularly 2-year-olds, are given workouts far less frequently than their Thoroughbred counterparts.
Wood, who won the 2019 Ruidoso Futurity with Fernweh, is the lone trainer this weekend with at least one runner in all 32 trials for the Ruidoso Futurity. The track’s season begins on Friday with the first 16 time trials.
There are 152 horses entered on Saturday, including 12 winners from Remington Park or Turf Paradise. A majority of the runners are first-time starters.
Chris O’Dell, honored as the 2019 outstanding Quarter Horse trainer, has relocated his stable from Los Alamitos to Ruidoso this year. O’Dell has runners in five trials on Saturday, including Nuclear Core in the second race. A first-time starter, Nuclear Core, by Coronado Cartel, is out of Thermonuclear Energy, the winner of the prestigious Charger Bar Handicap for fillies and mares at Los Alamitos in 2019.
The 10th trial includes Stylish Flash, a filly by First Moonflash purchased for $125,000 at the Ruidoso yearling sale in Oklahoma last year. The event was moved to Oklahoma because of New Mexico’s pandemic audience limits at the time.
Famous Blueeyed Kisse, a colt by One Famous Eagle bought for $120,000 at the same sale, will debut in the fourth race.
In the 12th race, Wood starts Especially Jess, who was last of 10 in the $926,500 Remington Park Oklahoma-Bred Futurity on April 17, losing all chance in the 330-yard race after a troubled start. Especially Jess won his debut in a trial for that futurity on April 2.
The only other futurity winner in Saturday’s trials is BF Shes Outrageous, who won the $60,610 Desert Classic Futurity at 300 yards at Turf Paradise on April 28, a minor race.
The field for the final trial is led by the undefeated Whirlway Wagon, who won the $100,000 Remington Park Oklahoma-Bred Juvenile on April 17, the consolation for the Oklahoma-Bred Futurity.