Jockey Ricky Ramirez and trainer Trey Wood head to the track for an early morning work.

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RUIDOSO, NM—MAY 28, 2017—The jockey-trainer combination of Ricky Ramirez and Trey Wood put on an impressive display Sunday at Ruidoso Downs, as they teamed together to win six of the 12 trial races for the $800,000 Ruidoso Derby(G1) (see related story).

After qualifying two runners into the $1,000,000 Ruidoso Futurity(G1) during the opening two days of the 2017 summer meet, trainer Trey Wood was set to saddle dual- entries in all of the twelve trial races on Sunday at Ruidoso Downs.

At the end of day, Wood trainees had won 50% of the trial races, with a total of four runners qualifying into the Derby final. An additional two runners qualified to run in the $100,000 Mr Jess Perry Stakes after Sunday’s six race winning effort.

"I thought most of the horses were training up really well leading up to the trials," said Wood. "But you never expect to get a result as good as this. Winning six races and qualifying four into the finals is a great position to be in. This is the result of a great team effort, and we obviously wouldn’t be here without having good owners who send us over such quality horses to train."

Ramirez Qualifies Four Into Ruidoso Derby(G1)

On the second weekend in June, the 2015 World Champion Jockey Ricky Ramirez will be seeking his first wins in both the Ruidoso Futurity(G1) and the Ruidoso Derby(G1). With a banner day on Sunday in the Ruidoso Derby(G1) trials, Ramirez put the focus on the preparation of the Wood runners that has led to Sunday's success.

"Each year, Trey and Blane (Wood) put their focus on winning these big races during the summer at Ruidoso," said Ramirez. "This year a lot of these horses saw a prep race at Remington Park prior the trials, and after the result today, you would have to say it seem to really work to our advantage. It felt like every horse I was on today was so ready to fire. The result today is a testament to the whole Wood racing team. It takes the effort of the assistant trainer, the grooms, the exercise riders, etc. to get a result like this."