Q-RACING JOURNAL, MAY 11, 2012—R.D. Hubbard and J Bar 7 Ranch’s Noconi, a homebred 7-year-old gelding by Mr Jess Perry, is the morning-line favorite for Saturday’s 400-yard, $50,000 La Plata Stakes (G3) at SunRay Park in Farmington, New Mexico.

A two-time champion, Noconi (Mr Jess Perry-My Dashing Lady by Dash For Cash) will be making his first start since February 19, when he ran third in the 400-yard, $226,050 Los Alamitos Winter Championship (G1). All told, the gelding has won 14 of 32 outs – including 11 stakes – and he has earned $1,305,900.

In California, Spartan 300’s Tac It To Heart looks to gain a win after a pair of second-place runs when she starts against a contentious full field of 3-year-old fillies in the $25,000 La Pacifica Handicap on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.

Tac It To Heart (Tac It Like A Man-Let’s Eat Lunch (TB) by Nostalgia’s Star) was second to the highly regarded BF Farm Girl two starts ago in the Jim Smith Handicap and then came back to just miss by a nose in a conditioned allowance race at Los Alamitos for trainer Tom Bazley.

Racing kicks off on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston. The track’s weekend full of stakes is highlighted by the $28,800 Merial Distaff Texas Challenge. The 400-yard stakes is headlined by Painted Sable (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Sables Dash by Dash Thru Traffic), owned by Dr. Tommy Hays and Bobby Barnett.

The 4-year-old filly, trained by Bobby Martinez, has won five of her 14 career starts and bankrolled $118,515. She was the fastest qualifier in the 2011 Adequan Texas Derby Challenge, but broke poorly and finished in a dead-heat for third. She will make her 2012 debut on Sunday.

"She's been doing really well," reported Martinez. "We have seen a pattern of her running great in trials and not coming back in the finals. No trials for this, so we think she'll be tough."

Last year, trainer Judd Kearl won the Merial Distaff with Ms Riptide, for owner/breeder James Cordell.

The race’s winner will be offered an invitation to represent Texas in the $125,000 Merial Distaff Challenge Championship (G1) at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa, on October 27.

Fans can watch races at each of these tracks live and free of charge on Q-Racing Video, a service of AQHA Racing and the Q-Racing Journal. Q-Racing Video offers horsemen and handicappers unparalleled access to American Quarter Horse racing. Users have unlimited access to the live simulcast signals of almost every American Quarter Horse racetrack in the United States and Canada. Q-Racing Video also provides unlimited access to race replays, which are available immediately following each race. The archive of past races goes back several years for most tracks. Fans can register at www.qracingvideo.com.

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