Trainer Santos Carrizales, Jr. jockey Francisco Calderon have big weekend in Ruidoso

RUIDOSO, N.M. — The Rainbow Futurity, Rainbow Oaks and Rainbow Derby trials for quarter horses were held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Ruidoso Downs Race Track and Casino. Here is a look at at the highlights of the weekend.

Rainbow Futurity trials

Five horses qualified Friday and five horses qualified Saturday for the 400-yard final, which is the second leg of the Quarter Horse Triple Crown.

On Friday, trainer Santos Carrizales, Jr. and jockey Francisco Calderon had the biggest day, qualifying two, Dark Nme and Trane Station V. Dark Nme had the fastest qualifying time with a mark of 19.611 seconds.

The other three qualifiers were:

• Scream Mache for trainer Trey Wood and jockey Ricky Ramirez

• Wired 440 for trainer Eric Valenzuela and jockey Sergio Becerra, Jr.

• Mitey Relentless for trainer Jesus Rondan, Jr. and jockey Luis Martinez.

Wired 440 was second in last month's Ruidoso Futurity to Lets Leave, who skipped the Rainbow Futurity trials to prepare for the All American Futurity.

“This is a special filly,” said Calderon of Dark Nme. “After we got the lead it seemed like we were focused on the clock as much as the other horses. I was asking her for run but not pushing her. The filly has natural speed — we’ve seen what she can do thus far.”

She is undefeated in four career starts with earnings of nearly $350,000.

Saturday's five qualifiers were:

• One Valiant Love for trainer Monty Arrossa with Calderon aboard

• Midnight Politics for trainer Jason Olmstead and jockey Edwin Escobedo

• Rayenare for trainer Manuel R. Rodriguez and jockey Esgar Ramirez

• Asacher for trainer Marc Jungers and jockey Christian Ramos

• King Apache for trainer Christopher O'Dell and jockey Eduardo Nicasio

One Valiant Lover was the fastest qualifier with a time of 19.741 seconds.

Calderon will have to make an important decision about which horse he will ride in the finals of the Rainbow Futurity on July 16 having qualified three of the 10 finalists.

“My horse was fast from the start and kept rolling,” said Calderon of One Valiant Love. “He got a little tired and we gave him a ride back to the barn, but he was all-out today. I’ll be working with the trainers and connections and will be able to see how they all come back before making any decisions."

Rainbow Oaks trials

Trainer John Stinebaugh and jockey Sergio Becerra, Jr., combined for two of the 10 qualifiers for the finals in two weeks for the 3-year-old fillies, including the top qualifier Fearless Moon, who qualified in a time of 21.540 seconds.

The other Stinebacugh/Becerra, Jr. qualifiers was Sweet Emylou.

Also qualifying was Cartel Kisses, arguably the top filly in the trials. She earned the third fastest qualifying time with a time of 21.870 seconds for trainer Heath Taylor. Cartel Kisses owns nine wins in 13 starts.

Rainbow Derby trials

Eight of the 10 qualifiers came in the last two trials of the day. There were nine trials in total.

Sicario V was the top qualifier with a time of 21.338 seconds, is trained by Carrizales, was ridden by Calderon and qualified in the next to last trial.

Also qualifying in the next to last trial was Chasing AJ who qualified for all three futurities last summer as a 2-year-old and ran second last month in the Ruidoso Invitational. Chasing AJ is trained by Heath Taylor.

Taylor's HesJudegeandjury, who won last year's All American Futurity, ran well and won his trial but did not qualify for the July 15 final.

More: All American Futurity winner runs 2022 All American Futurity winner Hesjudgeandjury to make 2023 debut

Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on Twitter

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Finals for Rainbow Oaks, Rainbow Derby and Rainbow Futurity are set