Preview Racing


Zia Festival Starts On Friday, Stakes Action Begins Saturday
Zia Festival stakes action gets underway on Saturday at Ruidoso Downs.

© Gay Harris / Ruidoso Downs
Zia Festival Starts On Friday, Stakes Action Begins Saturday

RUIDOSO DOWNS, NM—JULY 23, 2018—The Zia Festival, the annual New Mexico celebration at Ruidoso Downs, starts on Friday and the stakes racing action begins on Saturday with the $50,000 By By JJ for two-year-old New Mexico-bred quarter horses at 400 yards and quarter horses combining with thoroughbreds racing 1000 yards in the $20,000 Bobby Crenshaw Memorial.

First post time for racing Friday through Sunday is 1 p.m. with free parking and free general admission.

On Friday, the Tri Super carryover is up to $25,026.

The Zia Festival is always about great New Mexico-bred racing – on Sunday total purses in nine New Mexico-bred stakes exceed $1 million – and fun for the entire family. There are nearly 60 vendors at Ruidoso Downs. The majority of their wares boast a southwestern theme and are made in New Mexico.

There will also be a tent with free kid’s activities, including a giant slide and a bouncing room. There is also face painting.

These Zia Festival activities begin at 11 a.m. daily.

On Saturday evening, Jake Hooker and the Outsiders will perform their southwestern swing music under the stars in an open-air concert located in the grandstand. Tickets are $10 at the box office or $5 with a Dr. Pepper can. The show starts at 8 p.m.

On Saturday in the By By JJ, Diamond Racing Stables’ Cristobell Fame is the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the full field of 10 state-bred juveniles. The daughter of Jesse James Jr. qualified for the $396,000 New Mexican Spring Futurity at Sunland Park and then the $346,000 Mountain Top Futurity at Ruidoso Downs. The $12,200 New Mexico-bred Yearling Sale purchase was second by a nose in her Zia Futurity trial and did not make the $409,680 Zia Futurity finals, which offers the largest purse on Sunday afternoon.

Esgar Ramirez rides Cristobell Fame for trainer Isidro Rodriguez. The filly starts from the fourth position.

In the Bobby Crenshaw Memorial, the thoroughbred KP Creed returns to the stakes division after winning a five-and-one-half-furlong allowance test on June 19 at Ruidoso Downs. The Weston Martin-trained three-year-old colt went to the lead soon after the start and went on to a one-and-three-quarter-length win as the 7-10 favorite.

Roimes Chirinos rides KP Creed from the inside post position.

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