Untraveled, Lady Vidalia meet in First Lady Handicap
Untraveled could prove to be the controlling speed Monday in the $50,000 First Lady Handicap at Ruidoso Downs. She will be stretching out from 4 1/2 furlongs to six panels, while her chief rival, Little Vidalia, will be cutting back in distance.
The First Lady, for fillies and mares, is the first Thoroughbred stakes of the Ruidoso mixed meet that opened Friday.
Untraveled is the 121-pound highweight in a seven-horse field that also includes Popalicious, who finished in a dead heat for third in last year’s First Lady, and Perfecta, who earlier in her career was based in Southern California.
First Lady Handicap (Race 8)
KEY CONTENDERS
Untraveled, by Canadian Frontier
Last 3 Beyers: 71-70-64
◗ She is a two-time stakes winner, with one of those victories coming at the same distance as the First Lady in last year’s $40,000 George Wafer Memorial at Arapahoe Park. In that race, Untraveled was on the pace and won by three lengths.
◗ Untraveled enters Monday’s race off a runner-up finish in the $34,000 Budweiser at SunRay Park. The winner of the race, Cassy Sue, came back in her next start to take an optional claimer at SunRay by 8 3/4 lengths, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 84.
◗ Norberto Arroyo Jr. has the mount for co-owner and trainer Greg Green.
Little Vidalia, by Attila’s Storm
Last 3 Beyers: 61-64-63
◗ She is a two-time stakes winner who will be cutting back to one turn following a third-place finish in the $44,000 Foutz Distaff at SunRay. That 6 1/2-furlong race was run around two turns April 25.
◗ Little Vidalia, who leads the field in earnings with $366,793, figures to close from off the pace. She will break from post 5 under Francisco Giles, who has the mount for trainer Jimmie Collier.