Zia Park Meet Opens Saturday

Hobbs, NM - Sept. 9, 2011 - Zia Park opens its 53-day meet with purse increases. Officials said that all overnight purses would be boosted 5 percent heading into the 50-date season for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses that runs through Dec. 4. The move puts average daily purses, including stakes, at a record $285,000 a program.

Zia Park's Thoroughbred stakes include the 1 1/16-mile, $150,000 Zia Park Derby on December 4 and the 1 1/8-mile, $200,000 Zia Park Championship on December 5. These races, along with the Premier Cup, traditionally draw contestants from throughout the Midwest and Southwest regions, as well as California.

Zia Park’s Quarter Horse schedule kicks off with the sixth running of the Grade 2, $55,000 James Isaac Hobbs Stakes on September 18. Past winners of this 350-yard race include Desirio, Planet Holland, and Little Bit Of Ah Ha.

The track’s Quarter Horse stakes include the 400-yard, $300,000 Hobbs America Futurity (G2) and 440-yard, $200,000 Hobbs America Derby (G3), both of which will be run on October 10.

The focal point of Zia Park’s stakes schedule is the $2-million New Mexico Cup program on October 31. Last year’s New Mexico Cup program was the richest state-bred day of racing in the U.S.

The New Mexico Cup consists of stakes for both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses and includes the 400-yard, $350,000-est. New Mexico Cup Futurity (RG1) and 440-yard, $200,000-est. New Mexico Cup Derby (G1) for Quarter Horses, and the one-mile, $180,000 Rocky Gulch New Mexico Cup Stakes (R) for 3-year-olds and older and one-mile, $170,000 Peppers Pride New Mexico Cup Distaff Stakes (R) for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and older.

Post time for the first race is 12:15 p.m. (MDT) For more information on Zia Park’s meet, which ends on December 7, visit the track’s website at www.blackgoldcasino.net.