Start critical for Eye N Capo

The start is key for Eye N Capo, and trainer Josue Ponce hopes to see his charge come away from the gate running Saturday night in the Grade 1, $250,000 Bank of America Challenge Championship at the Downs at Albuquerque.

“We’re just hoping for a good break,” Ponce said.

The Challenge Championship, at 440 yards, is one of five graded stakes making up the American Quarter Horse Association’s annual Challenge Championships. The traveling series of graded races is being showcased on a 10-race card of stakes that has a first post of 6:05 p.m. Mountain.

Purses for the program total $950,000, making the card the richest for Quarter Horses in the history of Albuquerque, according to the track’s president of racing, Don Cook. Albuquerque is hosting the Challenge Championships for the first time this year and also has been named the host site for 2020.

Eye N Capo is part of a 10-horse field, and among his rivals are Kas Tempting and SF Hot Pass, who ran one-two in the qualifier at Sam Houston. Eye N Capo earned his place in Saturday night’s gate by winning the qualifier at Remington Park. He led throughout for a threequarter-length win, one of three victories from four starts in 2019. Eye N Capo enters the Challenge Championship off an allowance win at 250 yards on Sept. 6 at Retama Park.

“He’s way better at 440,” Ponce said. “We just gave him the 250, just a race. We didn’t want him to be without a race for two, three months. We were hoping for a higher distance. This was the option we had and he did good. We’ve spaced out his races every two months. We wanted to be ready for the Championships. We tried not to run him too much.”

Eye N Capo, who races for Ruben Montemayor, leads all Challenge Championship starters in earnings with $541,923. The 5-year-old gelding is looking for career win No. 13.

“He’s a pretty solid horse,” Ponce said. “He’s in a tough field. We’re trying to get a chance to go to the Champion of Champions. There’s 10 horses trying to do the same thing.”

The Challenge Championship rewards its winner with a provisional berth into the Grade 1, $600,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 14 at Los Alamitos.

Ponce, 24, is based at a farm outside of San Antonio. He has won three runnings of the Grade 1, $1 million Heritage Place Futurity at Remington Park. His stable also includes Kas Tempting, who like Eye N Capo prepped for the Challenge Championship at Retama, which is near San Antonio.

James Flores has the mount on Kas Tempting from post 8, and Jesse Levario and Eye N Capo will break from post 2.

Curls Happy Wagon fresh

Curls Happy Wagon will be making her first start since July 7 in the Grade 1, $100,000 Distaff and that is by design, said Randy Hill, assistant trainer to his wife, trainer Stacy Hill. Curls Happy Wagon comes off a win in the Canterbury qualifier for the Distaff.

“We wanted to give her a rest,” Randy Hill said. “We gave her a break and freshened her. She really runs strong off a layoff, so it’s kind of why we designed it that way.”

Curls Happy Wagon has won 2 of 4 starts this year, with her two losses coming by a head in stakes at Remington. In one she was beaten “a whisker after a bad break,” said Hill. In the other, she had the 12-hole, which produced two winners the whole meet, said Hill.

Jorge Torres has the mount from post 4 in the 400-yard race Saturday.

“When she gets away good, she’s just a really nice, nice filly,” Hill said. “The distance really does suit her. She’s a big mare, likes the distance.”

Valiant Tiberias ‘focused’

Valiant Tiberias leads the Grade 3, $150,000 Derby after going 4 for 6 this past meet at Ruidoso Downs. But his best race might have been in defeat, when he finished third by a neck in the track’s $1.5 million All American Derby. There was bumping in the race, and

Valiant Tiberias was placed eighth in a decision his connections appealed to the New Mexico Racing Commission. The order of finish was upheld during a meeting Tuesday.

“That was a tough deal,” trainer Rick Armendariz said. “I felt my horse was the best horse that day. He got bumped around the whole way, got beat half a neck.”

Armendariz is looking ahead to Saturday night and likes how Valiant Tiberias is coming up to the Derby.

“The horse has been training well, seems to be focused,” he said.

Valiant Tiberias, who will be ridden by James Flores from post 10, won four consecutive races this spring at Ruidoso.

“He just liked the mountain, kind of came along for us,” Armendariz said.

◗ Jay Number 7 brings a 5-for-8 record into the Grade 2, $125,000 Juvenile. He is a three-time winner at the 350-yard distance of the race, and won a Will Rogers Downs stakes in his last start Sept. 22. Jose Vega has the mount for trainer Eddie Willis. The chief rivals include fellow stakes winner Divas First Moon.

◗ Let There Be Sound will have to overcome post 8 to win his fourth straight race in the Grade 1, $100,000 Distance Challenge Championship. He comes off an allowance win at Zia and was flattered when the third-place finisher, Illtakeyouforaride, came back to win a stakes there.