Scorewithcater shall return

Scorewithcater, a game winner over last year's Canadian 2-year-old champion Mine That Bird in last Saturday's $100,000 Borderland Derby at Sunland Park, will return for the $800,000 Sunland Park Derby, according to his trainer, Doug O'Neill. The Sunland Park Derby will anchor a seven-stakes program on March 29 that will also include the $200,000 Sunland Oaks.

"Yes, we are definitely going back," O'Neill said from his Southern California base on Tuesday. "We debated on whether or not to keep him over there, but I had one of my best hands with him and really did not want to do without the help here at the barn for three weeks, so we hauled him back. The colt seems to ship just fine."

Scorewithcater, a son of Even the Score, has been a Cinderella story of sorts since O'Neill claimed the colt for $40,000 out of a maiden race at Hollywood Park last November. The Borderland was the colt's third win in four starts since changing barns.

O'Neill is no stranger to Sunland, having won the WinStar Derby there with Excessivepleasure in 2003 and Thor's Echo in 2005.

"We are constantly looking over there for anything of ours that fits," O'Neill said. "The purses are great and so is the racetrack."

* Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino owner Stan Fulton was named the 2009 Jim Curry Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award winner at the recent annual New Mexico Horsemen's Association Awards Banquet.

Sunland Park horsemen won in three categories. H. Armando Orozco was named leading owner, leading jockey Alejandro Medellin won the Buffalo Wooten Memorial Award, and leading trainer Henry Dominguez collected the George Cosper Memorial Award.

In the Thoroughbred divisions, Cattleman Prospect was named both the horse of the year and top sprinter; Blue Eyed Bella was voted top 2-year-old filly; Lefty Who was named leading 2-year-old colt or gelding; Askmetodance took home the 3-year-old filly title; Cape Time was top 3-year-old colt or gelding; Goodbye Norma Jean was the leading older mare; and One Lucky Buck was named the best aged router.