Sunday Sunland Derby: Grade III, $800,000 prep race for the Kentucky Derby. Post time: 5:40 p.m.

Marr will saddle a chestnut colt named Dry Summer on Sunday in the Grade III Sunland Park Derby. And the winner of the $800,000 race gets 50 points under the new Derby points system, likely earning a spot in the Run for the Roses.

“I’m not even thinking about it,” Marr says. “We’ll cross that bridge if it happens. I’m just worried about this race. I want to make sure we cover all our bases. This is the only thing we’re focused on.”

Marr reports that Dry Summer, a Kentucky-bred son of Any Given Saturday, has been training well.

“He’s training like we want him to,” Marr says. “He’s not a tremendous work horse. He prefers to show up on race day.”

Dry Summer is 5-1 on the early line, behind Shakin It Up (5-2 and trained by Bob Baffert) and Abraham (4-1 and trained by Todd Pletcher). He won the Mine That Bird Derby by 1 1/2 lengths last month.

“I’m feeling pretty good about it,” Marr says of the 1â…›-mile race. “It’s a step up. He’ll face tougher competition. But he’s healthy, happy and likes the racetrack. If we’re good enough, we’ll run our best.”

Marr is particularly pleased for Dry Summer’s owners – Michael House of California and New Mexican Sam Britt.

“Sam’s a rancher,” Marr says. “He lives up in northern New Mexico. He’s a real good guy. That’s what he loves to do, mess with racehorses. They didn’t have to send the horse to me, but they did.”

Marr is not entirely unfamiliar with the spotlight. He developed Peppers Pride, the New Mexico filly that had an undefeated 19-race career.

“She just had a colt by Malibu Moon three weeks ago,” Marr says. “She has a yearling by Distorted Humor and a 2-year-old filly by Distorted Humor.”

Dry Summer, with jockey Carlos Madeira, won the 2013 Mine That Bird Derby at Sunland Park in February. (COURTESY OF COADY PHOTOGRAPHY)

Marr says that despite the current economic climate, his business is doing well.

“We’ve had a lot of success, a lot of luck,” he says. “We’ve got some good horses, some New Mexico-breds. They’re good with the incentives and breed programs we have.”

Marr has had opportunities to take his barn elsewhere. But he is a native New Mexican. His father, Gerald Marr, has his stable across the way from him. Joel Marr’s wife, Teresa Briggs, is a former jockey, and they are happy to raise their daughters, Shacle and Shaeden, here.

“I love it in New Mexico,” Marr says.

But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t mind spending a weekend in Kentucky.
— This article appeared on page D6 of the Albuquerque Journal