SUNLAND PARK – One of Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino’s most successful horsemen has qualified a New Mexico-bred filly to race in this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup in Lexington, Kentucky, in the World Championships of horse racing.
Todd Fincher will lead Slammed, a 4-year-old filly, to run in the prestigious Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with a purse of $1 million. Slammed qualified for the race by winning the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes. Slammed is owned by Brad and Suzanne King and Barbara Coleman,and was bred by Fincher and Brad King.
“We’re so proud that one of our own renowned trainers will be bringing a New Mexico bred horse to this premier racing event,” said Dustin Dix, Director of Racing Operations at Sunland Park.
The two-day Breeders’ Cup event includes other local connections – Señor Buscador, another Todd Fincher-trained horse, and Slow Down Andy, the 2022 Sunland Derby winner, will also compete in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Local owners Kirk and Judy Robison’s Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Jackie’s Warrior is the morning line favorite in the $2million Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
The star of this weekend’s show is undoubtedly Flightline, the undefeated horse who has won his five career races by a combined 62 3/4 lengths. Last time out – the Pacific Classic on Sept. 3 – the son of Tapit turned in a performance for the ages, winning the race by 19¼ lengths and earning a 126 Beyer Speed Figure, the second-highest number since the Daily Racing Form began publishing them 30 years ago.
The run has put Flightline’s name in the same sentence with the great Secretariat in the two months since, and it’s a comparison that doesn’t seem like horse racing blasphemy. Can Flightline match – or possibly better – that performance in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday? Racing fans can’t wait to find out.
The two-day Breeders’ Cup event will be simulcast at Sunland Park with doors opening at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
