Big Ted posts fastest qualifier for New Mexico Breeders’ Futurity

Big Ted made the New Mexico Breeders’ Futurity look like his to lose, winning the second of six trials at SunRay Park in :17.219 and posting the fastest qualifying time for the $120,000-added race. The Tungsten Racing Partnership gelding by TF Im That Guy broke cleanly, took over early and finished in hand to win by 1 1/4 lengths over 350 yards, good for a 98 speed index and the kind of professional trial that often translates into a dangerous final performance.

With Jordy Muniz up for trainer Eric Valenzuela, Big Ted separated himself from a group that still produced several legitimate times. He is now two-for-three in his career and has already banked $54,184, which makes him more than a one-race flash. His third-place finish in the $389,493 New Mexican Spring Futurity at Sunland Park showed he can handle graded company, and this latest effort only sharpened the case that the Futurity now runs through him. He was bred by Jaime Cervantes out of the winning Heza Motor Scooter mare Shez Jessa Scooter.

The qualifier most likely to make the final interesting appears to be Royal Dynasty MRB, who came back with the second-fastest clocking at :17.431 after running second in her trial. The FDD Dynasty filly, out of Running Buddy, had been seventh in the New Mexican Spring Futurity, so her step forward at SunRay Park was a meaningful one. If anyone looks positioned to chase Big Ted down in the May 16 final, it is the filly who showed she can improve quickly when the lights get brighter.

The rest of the final field came together behind them with enough speed to suggest the race will not be one-horse only. King Of The Jungle qualified in :17.484, followed by Splitting Aces in :17.497, Eye Am Super in :17.525, Thats Amoree in :17.549, Perrys Alibi in :17.554, Suspicious Rizzler in :17.628, Dahlias Destiny in :17.633 and Super Patriot in :17.694. The trials drew 55 state-bred 2-year-olds in six 350-yard heats, part of a 13-race program at SunRay Park and Casino, and Valenzuela arrived with momentum after winning the Sunland Park quarter horse training title. Big Ted gave the meet its clearest statement horse, and the final now has a benchmark everyone else must beat.