All American Futurity: World's richest quarter horse race is Labor Day at Albuquerque Downs

Once was tough enough, but for the second consecutive year, Ruidoso Downs general manager Rick Baugh has had to pack up the season and head to Albuquerque. He’s hoping this is not a trend.

Labor Day’s 11-race field at the Albuquerque Downs at Expo New Mexico includes the esteemed All American Quarter Horse Futurity, which carries a $3 million purse and is considered the richest race for 2-year-olds, regardless of breed.

But this year, like last year, ruinous floods flushed Ruidoso’s racing season.

“(This year’s race is) not on sacred ground, with the historical value; that’s what we consider this racetrack,” Baugh said of the track in Ruidoso, where the race has been held since 1959.

The race marks the finale of the Quarter Horse Triple Crown, which also includes the Ruidoso Futurity and the Rainbow Futurity.

“The All American Futurity is so important to the entire quarter horse industry,” Baugh said. “It’s the biggest race. We are the Kentucky Derby of quarter horse racing. It’s important that we keep the show going and move forward with it.”

What sets Ruidoso apart, Baugh said, is a separate track just for quarter horses.

“They prefer that, by far,” he said of the quarter horsemen. “The main difference is that when you run thoroughbreds and train on the same surface that you’re racing on, it’s harder on the track.”

Quarter horses are generally shorter and stockier and race over a quarter-mile straight line while thoroughbreds race at longer distances and take advantage of the oval. Albuquerque Downs did a splendid job taking care of the Ruidoso slate last year and Baugh said he anticipates no issues this time around.

“But that track can be maintained,” he said. “It makes it fairer from the one hole to the tenth.”

Two of the top contenders in the futurity will be running out of the two widest slots, with prohibitive favorite Political Twist, going off at 5 to 2 and local quarter horse The Diesel Train with the third-best odds at 4 to 1.

The Diesel Train is owned, trained and ridden by members of the Iturralde family’s Los Lunas-area ranch, Cholos Racing. He was the fastest of the futurity qualifiers.

“There’s four of us,” Luis Daniel Iturralde said of the operation. “I’m the trainer and Omar gallops. But we all do a little bit of everything. It takes a lot of work. It’s an everyday job. We don’t have any holidays. We have to feed the horses and train them every day.”

It’s been a long process to reach this point, Luis Daniel said.

“We’ve been around horses since we were little,” he said. “I started as a jockey when I was in high school. I used to do match races. Then 10 years after, I started training professionally. Then we started our own horses and training them and as time went by, we started training for other people. Our business has grown little by little.”

This by far is the Irurraldes’ biggest achievement in the industry.

“As a trainer, you dream to qualify for big races,” he said. “For the futurity and derbies and all those types of races. We try to train horses, get them ready for one of those big races. This has been our first year having a horse for the All American. Luckily we made it. I guess it’s just a blessing.”

The Diesel Train had the spark right from the outset, Iturralde said.

“We started breaking him as a baby. He showed he had potential right away.

“Since the beginning he started doing everything the right way. We just liked him. On his first outing, he won his first race and he qualified for the West Texas Futurity in Sunland Park.”

Next was a trip to Ruidoso, where he qualified for another juvenile futurity. And The Diesel Train continued to build on his success.

“Pretty much, he would show that he could run,” Iturralde said. “His last outing, he just ran a good race and put it out there. It’s our first time having a horse at these kinds of trials. I couldn’t believe it.”

It was an amazing feeling, he said.

“It was exciting just to see. As a trainer, that’s what we hope, to qualify,” Iturralde said. “It’s not just another win. It’s something else. A nice feeling. I can’t wait for Labor Day. It feels special. Omar, how he rides, well it’s everybody’s dream to try and win a big race.”