Stormin the Jewels in position for first win in Camino Real

The maiden Stormin the Jewels will bring the best company lines and best collection of Beyer Speed Figures into the $205,185 Camino Real Thoroughbred Futurity on Sunday at the Downs at Albuquerque. His chief rivals appear to be Naevussquall, the lone stakes winner in the field, and Gold Boundry.

The Camino Real, a six-furlong race for 2-year-olds bred in New Mexico, is one of four stakes on the final card of the fall meet at Albuquerque. Purses for the card, when combined with Saturday’s distribution, will reach a track-record $1 million.

“This weekend will be the richest in the history of racing here in Albuquerque, and our history dates back to 1938,” said Don Cook, the track’s director of racing.

Among the other stakes on the card is the $60,000 New Mexico Breeders’ Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile race for statebreds that matches older stakes winners Vic Tories, Thunder Agard, Mays or Mantle, and Mr. Wizard.

The $200,000 Downs at Albuquerque Fall Quarter Horse Championship at 440 yards drew the reigning world champion Jrc Callas First, as well as fellow Grade 1 winners Too Flash For You, the winner of last year’s All American Derby, and Handsome Jack Flash, who captured the 2013 edition of the All American Futurity. The winner Sunday earns a berth in the Grade 1, $350,000 Championship at Sunland Park on Dec. 27.

Key contenders

Stormin the Jewels (Last 3 Beyers: 57-65-66)

* He has not yet won a race, but not for lack of trying. In his debut, he hooked eventual stakes winner Diabolical King, finishing second by a head to that one July 11 in a Ruidoso Downs maiden special weight. Stormin the Jewels earned a 66 Beyer Speed Figure, the best career number in the Camino Real.

* Stormin the Jewels was stakes placed in his second career start, which came July 26 in the Rio Grande Futurity at Ruidoso. He then was freshened, and on Sept. 12, in his first start in six weeks, he ran second to Gold Boundry in a trial for the Camino Real.

* Alfredo Juarez Jr. has the mount for trainer Fred Danley.

Naevussquall (Last 3 Beyers: 48-29-49)

* He’s the most accomplished member of the field as a winner of a division of the Copper Top Futurity in April at Sunland Park. His other career win came last out, when he won one of three trials for the Camino Real by a neck Sept. 12.

* Naevussquall, like Stormin the Jewels, is trained by Danley.