ZIA PARK RACING STARTS SEPTEMBER 22ND

COURTESY OF STALLIONESEARCH.COM




Superb Racing Is Back For Zia Park Autumn Season


HOBBS, NM—AUGUST 26, 2007—A recently graded Quarter Horse stakes schedule with six Grade 1 races and Thoroughbred stakes that will attract top horses from throughout the western United States promise to make the third annual Zia Park meet starting on Sept. 22 an historic season in the annals of New Mexico racing.
The 45-date season runs through Dec. 11 with racing on a Saturday through Tuesday schedule. There is also racing on Friday, Nov. 23, the day after Thanksgiving. First post time is 1:15 p.m. daily until Mountain Standard Time starts on Nov. 5. First post time will then be 12:15 p.m.

A festive celebration of New Mexico racing takes center stage on Nov. 11 when the stakes-filled New Mexico Cup program is held with more than $2 million in purses paid to Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse horsemen.

The richest race on the New Mexico Cup program will be the Grade 1 New Mexico Classic Futurity for Quarter Horses with an estimated purse that could reach $400,000. Sophomore Quarter Horses will also be racing for a substantial purse — an estimated $200,000 — in the Grade 1 New Mexico Classic Derby. All Quarter Horse stakes at Zia Park that will have their third running became eligible for grading by the American Quarter Horse Association this year. Older Quarter Horses also race for a rich purse and Grade 1 New Mexico Classic Cup Championship with $170,000 in added money at a distance of 440 yards. Last year’s winner, Gotta Get, was honored as the 2006 champion aged gelding. Open older Quarter Horses can gain Grade 1 recognition in the $175,000-added Zia Park Quarter Horse Championship.

The $305,000 Southwest Juvenile Championship will have its second running after an incredible debut in 2006 when each of the 10 competitors either won or placed in a Grade 1 futurity. It is virtually assured of Grade 1 ranking next year when it becomes eligible to be graded in its third running. Remember Me Rose, the 2006 winner, was the runner-up in the champion 2-year-old filly voting.

Topping the Thoroughbred action on New Mexico Cup Day is the $180,000-added New Mexico Cup Classic Championship at a mile, a race that has grown to become an important late-season stakes for the best New Mexico-breds in training. Also on the card are the New Mexico Sprint Championship and the New Mexico Cup Filly & Mare Championship, each with $170,000 in added money.