Zia Park: Prospect to the Top seeks fifth straight - and a Champion of Champions berth

Prospect to the Top will attempt to win his fifth consecutive race on Saturday when he defends his title in the Grade 1, $150,000 Zia Park Distance Championship for Quarter Horses. He is part of a field of 10 for the 440-yard race, which for the first time awards its winner a berth into the Grade 1, $750,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 14.

The Distance Championship helps open a significant weekend of racing at Zia. It will share a program with the $140,000 New Mexico Filly and Mare Championship on an all-Quarter Horse card Saturday. The program Sunday will be for Thoroughbreds, with five stakes led by the inaugural running of the $300,000 Zia Park Oaks.

Prospect to the Top has built a 5-for-7 record at Zia while accounting for some of the track’s most important stakes, including the Hobbs America Futurity in 2010 and the Hobbs America Derby in 2011. His current win streak started in last year’s Distance Championship, when he cruised by 1 3/4 lengths. Prospect to the Top proceeded to win the Grade 1 Championship at Sunland Park in December, then was not seen again until this past September, when he won the $40,000 All American Gold Cup at Ruidoso and the Grade 2 James Isaac at Zia.

“The horse is better than ever,” said Brandon Muniz, who trains Prospect to the Top for Joel Tavarez. “It’s his second year coming back from the breeding shed and he comes back training like a monster.”

Prospect to the Top, who is closing in on $1 million in earnings with a bankroll of $981,150, will break from post 7 under Cody Jensen.

Others making up the 10-horse field include Feature Mr Bojangles, the winner of the Hobbs Futurity in 2011 who missed by a neck to fellow Saturday entrant Jess Cuervo in the Grade 2 Lovington at Zia on Nov. 3, and First in Class Dbs, winner of the Grade 1 Leo at Remington Park.

** Ofashionsoutherngirl will be seeking her fifth straight win when she takes on $500,000 earner Call Me a Blazn Chic in the Fillies and Mares Championship at 400 yards. The race is restricted to horses bred in New Mexico.

** Jennifer Hancock, part of the fan education team for the American Quarter Horse Association, will have a table onsite Saturday. First post is 12 p.m. Mountain.