COVER 1 - NMHBA SUMMER 2017 low res

By Michael Cusortelli
DINE STAKES (R)
Go Fo r A Strol l
Attila’s Storm
Garter
Forest Wildcat
Sweet Symmetry
Bernardini
Fire The Groom
R.D. Hubbard’s Go For A Stroll, the
3-5 favorite in a field of eight New Mexicobred
3-year-olds, rallied to win the $40,000
Dine Stakes (R) at SunRay Park on June 5.
Prepped by Todd Fincher and ridden by
Tracy Hebert, Go For A Stroll closed on the
fractions of :24.32 and :47.97 established
by pacesetter Waitingonasunnyday. The
homebred dark bay or brown gelding covered
6 1/2 furlongs in 1:19.32, and his margin of
victory was three-quarters of a length from
4-1 second choice Thunder Dome.
Go For A Stroll is one of 85 winners
from 122 starters sired by Attila’s Storm, a
15-year-old son of Forest Wildcat who has
sired the earners of $6.8 million from seven
crops. Racing from 2004-07, Attila’s Storm
won five of 18 starts, including the 2007
Toboggan Handicap (G3) at Aqueduct,
and earned $534,983.
Attila’s Storm has sired 16 official blacktype
stakes winners, including multiple
stakes winners Thermal, Dashkova, and
Reaper, and Hermano, the $100,000 saletopper
at last year’s New Mexico-Bred Sale
at Ruidoso Downs. The stallion is owned
by R.D. Hubbard and stands for a $4,000
fee at Fred and Linda Alexander’s A & A
Ranch at Anthony, New Mexico.
Go For A Stroll’s dam, the unraced
9-year-old Bernardini mare Garter, has
foaled three winners from as many starters.
Stormy Day, a full sister to the gelding,
won last year’s 6-furlong Lincoln Handicap
(R) at Ruidoso Downs.
Go For A Stroll was shortening in
distance off of his come-from-behind, neck
victory in the 1 1/16-mile, $100,000 New
Mexico Breeders’ Derby (R) at Sunland
Park on March 26. All told, the gelding
has won three of six races, and the $24,000
winner’s share of the Dine Stakes purse
bumped his bankroll to $128,418, of which
$113,118 has been pocketed this season.
Waitingonasunnyday finished third, 4
1/4 lengths behind Go For A Stroll, and
was followed by C K Charlie, Go Gotta Go,
Smashed, Blazing Away, and Que Pasa.
Runner-up Thunder Dome was making
his season debut in the Dine for owners
W.D. Carson Sr., M.H. Carson, and Leach
Racing LLC. A chestnut son of the Storm
Cat stallion Dome, the gelding has won
two of eight starts, including last year’s 5
1/2-furlong, $152,986 Rio Grande Senor
Futurity (R) at Ruidoso Downs, and he has
banked $144,283.
Waitingonasunnyday is a bay son of
Weather Warning campaigned by Orville L.
Blades. The gelding has won one of eight
outs, and the $4,000 third-place share
of the Dine purse pushed his earnings to
$29,106.
Coady Photography
TO TAH Stakes (R)
PJ’s Gol d
Mr. Gold Mover
Shes A Looker Rf
Mr. Greeley
Gold Mover
Silver Season
Smooching
PJ’s Gold led at every call en route to
a 5 1/4-length victory on June 12 in the
$45,000 Totah Stakes (R) for New Mexicobred
2-year-olds at SunRay Park.
Ridden by Enrique Gomez, PJ’s Gold
covered 4 1/2 furlongs in :52.19. Henry
Dominguez prepped the homebred colt for
owner Paul W. Jenson.
PJ’s Gold is one of four winners from
nine starters sired by Mr. Gold Mover. An
unraced 9-year-old Virginia-bred son of
Mr. Greeley and the Grade 2-winning Gold
Fever mare Gold Mover, Mr. Gold Mover
is a half brother to stakes winners Maleeh
and Giant Mover.
Mr. Gold Mover has sired the earners
of more than $163,000 from two crops,
including M G M’s Valentine, the runnerup
to Sippin in last year’s New Mexico
Cup Lassie Championship (R) at Zia Park.
The stallion is owned by JT & B Racing
and stands at Bar Y Equine at Berino, New
Mexico.
PJ’s Gold is also the first starter foaled
by Shes A Looker RF, a winning 8-year-old
daughter of Silver Season. His second dam,
the Sunday Minister mare Smooching, is
a half sister to Ciento, a gelding who won
14 New Mexico-bred stakes and earned
$816,244 from 2000-08.
PJ’s Gold traces back to his fourth dam,
Maybe A Kiss. A winning daughter of
1967 horse of the year Damascus, Maybe
A Kiss was a full sister to Drachma, the
winner of the 1987 Gallant Man Stakes
(G3) at Saratoga, and she was a half
sister to ’91 Travers Stakes (G1) winner
Corporate Report.
Raced exclusively in New Mexico, PJ’s
Gold has won two of three starts, and the
$27,000 winner’s share of the Totah Stakes
purse bumped his bankroll to $34,548. The
gelding was a finalist in the Copper Top
Futurity (R) at Sunland Park on April 16.
PJ’s Gold was sent to post as the 1-2
favorite and returned a $3 win mutuel.
Hollywood Henry, the 7-1 third choice,
finished second to complete a $13.80 ($2)
exacta.
Gabby Who, Personal Guarantee,
Smooth Talkin Red, and Jeremiah Who
completed the order of finish.
A son of Roll Hennessy Roll,
Hollywood Henry was making his debut
for owner Bennie A. Vanecek. The colt was
purchased as a yearling for $17,500 at last
year’s New Mexico-Bred Sale at Ruidoso
Downs, and he banked $9,900 for his
second-place run in the Totah.
Gabby Who finished 10 1/2 lengths
behind PJ’s Gold. The gelded son of The
Way Home has earned $4,936 from three
starts for his owner, Thomas Ciaccio.
Coady Photography
SUMMER SPRING 2017 69