RUIDOSO DOWNS, NM—JUNE 9, 2018—TNT Racing’s T Velocity picked an excellent spot to break his maiden when he defeated Hez Our Prize to narrowly win the $100,000 Mr Jess Perry, a race run earlier Saturday for horses who did not qualify to the Ruidoso Derby(G1).

T Velocity started sharply from the seventh post position and was within striking position. The gray gelding won the race at the end of the 400 yards when he surged to get the neck win over Hez Our Prize. Favored Hotstepper saved third. He finished three quarters of a length behind Hez Our Prize.

Jockey Raul Ramirez, Jr. was aboard T Velocity for the win in :20.392. into a 12 mph headwind.

The Apollitical Jess-sired T Velocity was winless in his six starts before taking the Mr Jess Perry for trainer C. Dwayne Gilbreath. He showed promise in his Ruidoso Derby trial when he was bumped at the start and still managed a third-place run.

Bred in Oklahoma by Ron Lyles, from the Wave Carver mare Wave Over Phoebe, T Velocity picked up $42,000 to boost his bankroll to $47,053.

Preston Cloud’s runner-up Hez Our Prize was second in last year’s $100,000 Ruidoso Juvenile and third in the 2017 $1 million Remington Park Oklahoma-bred Futurity. The Clint Crawford-trained gelding by Hez Our Secret won his Ruidoso Derby trial by a nose under Omar Reyes, who also rode him in the Mr Jess Perry. Weetona Stanley bred Hez Our Prize in Oklahoma from the Pyc Paint Your Wagon mare Pyc Oh Whatta Rose. He has earned $162,685.

Hotstepper, a gelding by One Famous Eagle, was an important two-year-old last year with a second-place finish in the Grade 1, $874,000 Texas Classic Futurity and third in the Grade 1, $3 million All American Futurity.

Jockey Jose Alvarez rode Hotstepper, an earner of more than $495,000, for longtime Quarter Horse trainer C. Dwayne Gilbreath and the partnership of owners R.D. Hubbard, Johnny Cope, Ray Willis and Butch Southway. Fulton Quien Sabe Ranches LP bred the bay gelding in Texas from the Tres Seis mare mare Pandorum.

Jess A Tres Of Wrong, Flight Force, Returning Motion, Heza Streakin Legacy, Mister Moody Blue, Rum Running Odee and Ray Donovan completed the field.

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