RUIDOSO, N.M. — There will be a chance for a Triple Crown winner this year in quarter horse racing for 2-year-olds.
Hezgothelook Z proved much the best Sunday afternoon in winning the second leg of the Triple Crown, the $1 million Rainbow Futurity. He won by 1 and 1/4 lengths and did so in a time of :19.30 seconds over 400 yards as the 1-2 favorite at post time.
Last month, he won the Ruidoso Futurity by nearly a length. The Oklahoma-bred son of Favorite Cartel has now won four straight races.
The last horse to win the Triple Crown was Special Effort in 1981.
“He is getting better with each race,” winning jockey Bryan Candanosa said. “He broke well from the No. 1 post and he’s such a great horse and has lots of heart.”
FDD Dreams was second and Aguila Rapida was third. Aguila Rapida was second to Hezgothelook Z in the Ruidoso Futurity.
“Hezgothelook Z got to the lead and just kept on going and ran great,” winning trainer Toby Keeton said. “He is steady and he loves to compete.”
Hezgothelook Z will next run in the All American Futurity trials on Aug. 9 or 10 and if he qualifies for the final on Labor Day, he will have chance for the Triple Crown.
Hezgothelook Z is owned by Triple One Ranch LLC (Norma Olivarez et al) of Palmview, Texas.
“He is nice and loves people in the barn but when he gets on the track, he takes it to another level,” said Olivarez, whose husband Leo is also part of the ownership group. “I’m just grateful for the wonderful team we have. It truly is a team effort. I feel so much emotion. We’ve been training horses for five years and to be in this spot is amazing.”
Keeton’s horse, Hard To Politic won the 400-yard Rainbow Juvenile Stakes in time of 19.69 seconds. Juan Pulido was winning jockey and the horse has win both of his career starts.
The floods in Ruidoso caused damage to the track and while track personnel were able to get the quarter horse portion of the track ready to go after the floods, it took more time for the thoroughbreds to have their part of the track ready to run over on the backside.
But beginning Friday, thoroughbred racing will return after a few weeks hiatus, including a handful of New Mexico-bred stakes races
KJ Desparado, who won the 2021 All American Futurity, returns on Friday in a 400-yard allowance race for trainer Wes Giles and jockey Ramos.
KJ Desparado has won 15 of 23 starts and at Ruidoso Downs, he has won 10 0f 13 starts.
More: Horse Racing news Who is favorite to win Rainbow Futurity? Betting guide to horses, post positions, odds
Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on X
