FL Rizzo is one of eight contenders in the $115,000-est. Lip Chip LLC Distance Challenge Championship (G1) on Saturday at the Downs at Albuquerque.

© Jack Coady Photography

By Andrea Caudill

ALBUQUERQUE, NM–OCTOBER 25, 2024–If an 870-yard race is about going the distance, $115,000-est. Lip Chip LLC Distance Challenge Championship (G1) contender FL Rizzo has that going on not just on the racetrack but also with history.

The 4-year-old gelding is a second-generation homebred for Lindley and Julia Myers of Prosser, Washington.

"His mother’s still out here in the pasture,” Lindley said. "We bred her, too; she was born here on the property. He was born out here. He’s our big baby.”

This story’s history goes back even further. Lindley’s parents have raced horses since the 1970s, and he has learned a lot from them. Among the horses they raced was Northwest Distance Challenge (G3) winner Snowbound Queen, who holds the 870 track record at Les Bois Park.

Lindley and Julia bred and raced FL Rizzo’s winning dam, Fly Reba Fly, and then when she retired, they found her a second career as a barrel horse. But the racing bug still tugged at them, and when they had an opportunity to buy her back, they grabbed it. Pouring through industry magazines led Lindley to KVN Corona as a sire, and the match was made, producing the brown gelding.

"It has been six years of waiting to get here,” Lindley said. "From when we bought his mother back, to breeding, to the races. It’s fun to have your babies – you pick your mare, pick your stud, go through all that, they’re born on your property. You watch them grow and run around, kicking and bucking out here. It’s pretty awesome, it’s pretty cool.”

Once he was of racing age, FL Rizzo’s connections continued to keep his best interest in mind and waited on him to grow into his lanky frame. When you look at his record, it is easy to see their patience has been rewarded. From only eight starts, he has been first or second in six races.

The Myers were watching on Q-Racing Video to see his first win, which came at 330 yards, quickly followed by a 440-yard victory. He grabbed his first stakes win in the 870-yard Walter Merrick Stakes, and they were in attendance to see him finish a gallant neck back in the Lip Chip Will Rogers Distance Challenge (G3) to earn his first graded stakes placing.

"It’s cool to have an all-purpose horse, one who can win at 440 and then a few months later win at nearly double the distance,” Lindley said.

Now, the gelding prepares for his most profound career challenge to date.

Among the horses he will face is four-time Challenge Championship qualifier Dance The Dust Off, who won this race in 2022. Owned by Jewell Ramirez, the Coronas Blackdiamond gelding has pulled in $226,209 in a 33-race career to date, including wins in three of his four starts this year. His one loss came in the Lip Chip Albuquerque Distance Challenge (G2), which is likely to influence bettors, as the winner, Volcoms Favorite, and second-place finisher, KJ Leader Ofthe Pack, are both contesting this race. In addition, O Donovan Rossa, who was second in last year’s edition of the race, returns in an effort to better his position.

Other contestants include Kent and Linda Jones' homebred Ocean Voyage, Remington Park Distance Championship (G1) winner Markus Aurelius, and Lip Chip LLC Will Rogers Distance Challenge (G3) winner Big Lew Love.

The Myers are enjoying watching generations of their hobby prance out onto one of the biggest stages in racing.

"It has been cool,” Lindley said. "It’s been awesome to have a horse like this. Every time he runs, he keeps improving.”

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