Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Berry enjoys life after racing
Cliff Berry has turned into a beach bum.
Well, not really, although the all-time winningest rider at both Lone Star Park and Remington Park has spent a fair amount of his retirement time hanging out at the ocean.
“We’ve got a motor home, and we take little vacations here and there,” Berry said of his travels with wife, Kim. “We like going to the beach.”
The tide will bring Berry back to the track this weekend. He is one of three individuals who will be inducted into the Lone Star Park Hall of Fame on Sunday. The ceremony will share a card with the Grade 3, $200,000 Lone Star Park Handicap, which has drawn five starters led by 121-pound co-highweights Danzing Candy and Texas Chrome.
Berry, 54, retired at the close of the Remington season in December 2015. He won 2,125 races at the Oklahoma City track and is in its Hall of Fame. Berry on Sunday becomes part of a Lone Star Hall class that also includes the late racing executive Steve Sexton and champion Quarter Horse jockey G.R. Carter Jr., who last weekend rode at Remington. Berry and Carter spent a good part of their careers in Oklahoma.
“We go back to Blue Ribbon Downs, when he started riding in 1986,” said Berry.
Berry launched his career a few years earlier and won his first Thoroughbred race on June 3, 1981, at Louisiana Downs. He would go one to compile a career record of 4,566 wins from 28,958 mounts, for mount earnings of $67 million. Of his wins, 1,208 came at Lone Star, where his 5,422 mounts earned $18 million.
Berry, who said he has gained about eight pounds in retirement and weighs 123, now lives on an eight-acre farm in Haughton, La., which borders Louisiana Downs. He kept his hand in racing some last year, working as an agent for jockey Bryan McNeil during the spring at Will Rogers Downs, where he was leading rider. He made the move to remain in Oklahoma until his youngest child, Cale, graduated from high school. Last fall, Berry attended the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs.
Berry said travel and gardening have kept him busy in retirement. And while he is comfortable in his new role, there are times when he misses race riding.
“I get a little ambitious once in a while, want to do something,” he said.
Berry and his wife plan to be at Lone Star for some of Saturday night’s card, which features a pair of Texas Stallion Stakes divisions for 3-year-olds. Berry will be feted Sunday during a fifth-race presentation and said he is humbled by the Hall honor at Lone Star.
The Lone Star Handicap field, from the rail with riders, is: Danzing Candy, Mike Smith; Carouse, Iram Diego; Neck ’N Neck, Richard Eramia; Shotgun Kowboy, Luis Quinonez; and Texas Chrome, Ricardo Santana Jr.
Danzing Candy, trained by Bob Baffert, is coming off a May 5 allowance win at Santa Anita for which he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 105. Last year, Danzing Candy won the Grade 2 San Felipe. The Lone Star Park Handicap is the co-richest race of the meet. The Grade 3, $200,000 Steve Sexton Mile was held May 7, and Baffert and Smith teamed to win the race with Mor Spirit.
Ruidoso opens
Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico opens on Friday for a full weekend of trials for two of its major stakes for Quarter Horses. The 52-date season will run through Sept. 4. The meet, which also features Thoroughbreds, builds to the closing-day running of the $3 million All American Futurity for Quarter Horses.
The first step to the classic is the Grade 1, $1 million Ruidoso Futurity on June 11. There will be 26 trials for the finale, with 13 on Friday and another 13 on Saturday. The horses with the five fastest times from each card will advance to the Ruidoso Futurity.
The action Sunday revolves around 12 trials for the Grade 1, $1 million Ruidoso Derby on June 10. The program features an appearance by Imperial Eagle, the winner of last year’s All American Futurity who will launch his 3-year-old campaign in the fourth race.
The other Grade 1 stakes for Quarter Horses at Ruidoso are the $1.2 million Rainbow Derby on July 22; the $1 million Rainbow Futurity on July 23; the $1.5 million All American Derby and $200,000 All American Gold Cup, both Sept. 3; and the All American Futurity on Sept. 4.
Trials for the All American Futurity will be held Aug. 18-19.
Ruidoso will race Fridays through Sundays most weeks, with three Monday cards planned, including Memorial Day. Post time for most cards will be 1 p.m. Mountain.
Ruidoso’s patrons will be greeted by new box seats on the lower level of the grandstand, while additional material has been added to the racing surface.
Following the meet, the track could have new ownership. Ruidoso announced in April that five prominent Quarter Horse owners and breeders have signed a letter of intent to purchase the track from owner R.D. Hubbard. The deal could close in the final quarter of 2017. Those signing the letter intent were John Andreini, Narisco Flores, Gary McKinney, Stan Sigman, and Johnny Trotter.