Cold Cash 123 Nears Track Record With Rainbow Derby Trial Victory

RUIDOSO DOWNS, New Mexico (July 9, 2011) – The 440-yard loving Cold Cash 123 knocked off two of the three 2010 champion juveniles with a near track-record time while racing to the fastest-qualifying time to the record Grade 1, $899,523 Rainbow Derby on Saturday afternoon at Ruidoso Downs.

The near $900,000 purse breaks the record purse of $873,441 set last year when the 440-yard fixture was won by Swingin Daddyo.

The Rainbow Derby will be held on Saturday, July 23 and the horses with the 10-fastest times from the seven trials are eligible to enter the derby.

A homebred owned by Carolyn and Walter Bay’s T. Bill Stables, Cold Cash 123 crushed the stellar trial lineup by two-and-one-quarter lengths. His quarter-mile time of :20.762 under jockey Roy Balidillez threatened the track record of :20.736 set by champion Strawkins when he won the 2006 Rainbow Derby.

Cold Cash 123, trained by Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame member Sleepy Gilbreath, is undefeated from four starts at 440 yards. Last year, he won his All American Futurity trial, the All American Futurity Juvenile and the Grade 1 Southwest Juvenile Championship to become the only two-year-old in memory to win three 440-yard races. His Rainbow Futurity trial victory was his first start this year at the distance.

“He loves it (440yards),” said Gilbreath “Actually, his deal is that if he can get away from the gate, the distance doesn’t matter.”

Cold Cash 123 started from the ninth post position and Gilbreath “loved drawing on the outside.”

First Down Master, one of two $40,000 supplemental nominees to the Rainbow Derby, finished second in the trial with the fourth-fastest qualifying time of :21.118. He was supplemented after winning his maiden in his previous start by two lengths.

JLS Speedhorse Ranch’s JLS Mr Bigtime, the 2010 champion 2-year-old gelding, was a close third with a :21.125 time. He was second by a nose in last year’s Grade 1, $2 million All American Futurity as the favorite and came to Ruidoso Downs for the Rainbow Derby trials after winning the $134,000 Delta Downs Louisiana-Bred Derby.

American Runaway, the 2010 champion two-year-old, finished fifth in the trial and did not qualify for the Rainbow Derby.

Ruidoso Derby winner Llano Teller, owned by Wootan Racing with the Reed Land and Cattle Company, will trying for his second derby win after reaching the Rainbow Derby finals with a trial win and the eighth-fastest qualifying mark of :21.171.

“He is just so laid back,” said winning jockey G.R. Carter Jr. “He cocked a leg in the gate so we moved him around and then he blasted away from there.

“That is just one fun little horse right there.”

The Heath Reed-trained Llano Teller won the 2010 Remington Park Futurity and then was a close third in the Heritage Place Futurity before qualifying for the Rainbow and Texas Classic futurities.

Johnny Trotter’s Bodacious Dash raced to the second-fastest qualifying time of :21.076 while winning his trial by one-half length over fifth-fastest qualifier DM Streakn Thru Fire.

A First Down Dash son from the Blane Wood barn, Bodacious Dash capped his two-year-old season with a 12-1 upset win in the Grade 1, $1 million Texas Classic Futurity after finishing third in the Grade 1, $500,000 Ruidoso Futurity in his second start.

Jorge Haddad’s homebred Giorgino, the other supplemental nominee, raced to a second-place finish in the final trial and reached the derby with the ninth-fastest qualifying mark for trainer John Stinebaugh. He won three futurities last year and was the fastest qualifier to the Ruidoso Derby before finishing a troubled fourth behind Llano Teller in the Ruidoso Derby.

R.D. Hubbard and Barry Thompson’s Royally Sandra, trained by Paul Jones, overcame a troubled start to rally and win the trial over Giorgino with the seventh-fastest qualifying time. She returned from a winter layoff in winning form with a handy allowance win as a prep race for the Rainbow Derby trials.