Ruidoso: Wicked Courage seeks 10th straight win in trials for All American Derby

Wicked Courage will be seeking to win his 10th consecutive race when he starts in Saturday’s trials for the Grade 1, $2.8 million All American Derby at Ruidoso Downs. He is in the 10th race on a program of 10 trials.

Others set to start include champion Pj Chick in Black, who has overcome a shipping accident that forced her to scratch from last month’s Grade 1, $1 million Rainbow Derby. She goes in the fourth race Saturday.

Wicked Courage won the Rainbow Derby by a dominant length to continue a streak that began last September at Will Rogers Downs. His string of victories include the Grade 1, $822,000 Ruidoso Derby. Overall, Wicked Courage has won 9 of 14 starts and $1 million. Cody Jensen has the mount for Andrew T. Smith and trainer Luis Villafranco. Wicked Courage will break from post 6 in the field of 10.

The All American Derby, which has a record purse for 2013, will be run Sept. 1. The horses with the 10 fastest qualifying times from Saturday will advance to the finale.

◗ Ruidoso puts on its second day of trials for the Grade 1, $2.6 million All American Futurity on Friday. The finale is Sept. 2. The five fastest qualifiers from Friday will join the runners with the five fastest times from Thursday in the finale. There are 28 total trials being run, with 14 set for Friday.

◗ The annual New Mexico-bred yearling auction put on by the Ruidoso Horse Sale Company will be held Friday and Saturday. There are 226 yearling Quarter Horses scheduled to sell Friday, and 156 yearling Thoroughbreds in the sale Saturday. Both sessions follow the races at Ruidoso.