Lovely Josie James edges Sunburst Stakes in photo finish with Jose Ortiz

Lovely Josie James powered through the final jump to capture the Grade 3 Sunburst Stakes at Sunland Park, edging Czar Catrina by a head in a photo finish and covering 350 yards in :17.217 over a fast track. Ridden by Jose Ortiz and trained by Ramon Mendoza, the gray 3-year-old picked up a $48,000 winner’s share and pushed her career earnings to $162,467 with a record now reading 7-3-2-1.

The race unfolded with Lovely Josie James breaking cleanly in third, tracking the early leaders before a late surge in the final strides produced the narrow winning margin. Czar Catrina, ridden by Noe Garcia Jr., pressed the pace throughout and made a fierce late bid but was outfinished by a head; both fillies registered a 95 speed index. Ivorys Patriot showed early speed and held on for third in :17.270 with a 94 speed index, giving the top three an extremely tight grouping at the wire.

This was Lovely Josie James’ first stakes victory and extends a streak to three consecutive wins dating back to her maiden-breaking performance in November, a run noted in the horse’s social feed. Bred in New Mexico by La Feliz Montana Ranch LLC and owned by Tungsten Racing Partnership, she was purchased for $100,000 at the Ruidoso New Mexico Bred Yearling Sale. The filly is by Suspicious Interest out of Lovely Lily Rose, a Mr Jess Perry mare.

Czar Catrina’s runner-up effort continued a strong regional campaign for the $10,000 Ruidoso graduate owned by Ezra Elton Lee and trained by Wesley Giles. By Czar Cartel MV, a full brother to PYC Paint Your Wagon, and out of Royal Catrina by A Royal Jess, Czar Catrina now holds a 10-2-4-0 record with $98,030 in earnings and was a Shue Fly Stakes (G2) finalist earlier this month and a New Mexico State Fair Futurity (G2) finalist last year.

The Sunburst field finished in the following order with program numbers: 1st Lovely Josie James (#8); 2nd Czar Catrina (#6); 3rd Ivorys Patriot (#2); 4th Happyour (#5); 5th Bv China Dawl (#1); 6th McKinlay (#3); 7th Peachezz (#10); 8th Renegade Reba (#4); 9th Bambi Cartel (#7); 10th Jess Fire Up (#9). Daddys Passion was listed as scratched from the also-eligible list.

The $80,000 purse on the Sunland Park card and the tight photo finish underscore how quickly New Mexico-bred runners can alter regional stakes narratives; Lovely Josie James’ stakes breakthrough and $48,000 payday will put her squarely on the short list for the next wave of 3-year-old quarter horse stakes at Sunland Park and beyond. Photo credit: Coady Media.