Ruidoso: Didericksen returns for Hall of Fame ceremony

Kip Didericksen, the retired jockey who won five national Quarter Horse riding titles between 1986 and 1992, is now a grandfather and real estate investor based in Idaho. But on Friday, he will be back at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico for the first time since 1995 to be inducted into the track’s Hall of Fame. Didericksen will be part of a 2012 class that is completed by trainer Heath Taylor, Four Sixes Ranch, and 2005 world champion DM Shicago.

Didericksen, 46, racked up the bulk of his wins in California, but had some memorable moments at Ruidoso. His successes included winning the 1990 All American Futurity with Refrigerator, a horse he also took the 1992 Champion of Champions aboard at Los Alamitos.

“Refrigerator put me on the map out there,” Didericksen said of Ruidoso. “He was a special horse. He ran good every time, gave you everything he had.”

Another memorable Ruidoso moment for Didericksen came in the 1980s.

“I won my first Grade 1 race ever at Ruidoso, the Rainbow Derby, on Corporate Bug,” he said. “It was really good for my career.”

Didericksen would go on to win multiple runnings of the Rainbow Derby. Other notable stakes scores included taking the 1990 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos with Dash For Speed. Didericksen was also the regular rider on Corona Chick, a multiple champion who became a foundation broodmare.

“She was a runner like no other and she was a broodmare like no other,” he said. “I think she was the fastest horse I ever rode. She was a little horse, but she was really fast.”

Didericksen makes the occasional trip to Los Alamitos, where there is a race named in his honor, but for the most part his time now revolves around family and the real estate business. Didericksen, who was born in Utah, grew up in Preston, Idaho.

“I buy and sell real estate,” he said. “I’ve been flipping houses for 11, 12 years now, in Idaho. Even when I was riding, I flipped a few houses.”

Didericksen said he became a grandfather in February, when his 29-year-old stepdaughter, Anni, gave birth to a son, Hudson. Friday at Ruidoso’s hall ceremonies, Didericksen will be joined by his wife, Stephanie; son Wyatt, 18; and daughter Quincy, 16.