Hobbs, NM - Oct. 16, 2011 - Quatro Menudos was a prompt 1-2 favorite in the first of three New Mexico Cup Derby (RG2) trials at Zia Park on Sunday.

Racing for owners McCarty, Wood, and SW Paving and Grading Inc., Quatro Menudos went 440 yards in :21.421 to earn a 94 speed index and post the fastest qualifying time for the $200,000-est. New Mexico Cup Derby final on October 30. Salvador Martinez rode the gray Furyofthewind gelding for trainer Hermenegildo “Poppy” Aldavaz.

Quatro Menudos' margin of victory was a nose from second-fastest qualifier Brookstone Flash. The gelding won five of six races and has earned $182,714, of which $153,854 has been banked this season, and his stakes resume includes a one-length victory in the $313,502 Shue Fly Stakes (RG10 at Sunland Park on New Year's Day.

Second-fastest qualifier Brookstone Flash, a homebred Brookstone Bay gelding campaigned by Jay and Mary Lou Standefer of Roswell, has earned $54,424 from 13 races, and his two wins include a 350-yard, $32,500 allowance sprint for state-breds at Zia Park on September 19.

The complete list of qualifiers appears below: