Mountain Top QH Futurity(RG2) runner-up King Of The Tide will make his next start in Friday's Zia QH Futurity(R1) trials at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack & Casino.

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By StallioneSearch

RUIDOSO DOWNS, NM—JULY 4, 2025—Ruidoso Downs Race Track will stage 12 trial heats this Friday to finalize the field for the restricted Grade 1, $375,000-added Zia Quarter Horse Futurity.

A robust group of 114 New Mexico-bred two-year-olds will vie over 400 yards, with the 10 quickest times securing berths in the Futurity final set for July 20.

King Of The Tide tops the list of contenders, coming in as the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the ninth trial. The Eye Am King gelding, who finished second in last month’s Mountain Top Futurity (RG2), is conditioned by Trey Wood and will be piloted by champion rider Ricky Ramirez. The promising juvenile is campaigned by E. Gene Bradley, Tod Bradley, and Garland Brown.

A $130,000 graduate of the Ruidoso NM Bred QH Yearling Sale, King Of The Tide has finished on the board in all three lifetime starts, amassing nearly $80,000 in earnings. The MJ Farms-bred runner is out of the stakes-winning mare Ms Riptide, a daughter of Ocean Runaway who captured the 2011 Sam Houston Distaff Challenge.

Among other notable entries, Holliday will line up in the seventh heat for trainer Jesus Soto and owner Alepony, LLC. The Big Daddy Cartel gelding was fourth in the Mountain Top Futurity (RG2) and has captured two of four starts so far, with both wins coming in trials for the Mountain Top and New Mexican Spring Futurities. Bred by MJ Farms and purchased for $61,000, Holliday will be ridden by Noe Garcia, Jr.

Ruidoso’s leading trainer, James J. Gonzales III, is slated to saddle as many as 17 hopefuls on Friday, including undefeated MW Bcause Im First. The B Cause Im A Hero filly, bred and owned by Larry Marcum and Nancy Wells, is a perfect two-for-two and kicks off the day’s action in the opening trial. She debuted with a maiden win at Los Alamitos before taking her Mountain Top trial.

Meanwhile, Eric Valenzuela, who trails Gonzales by just one win in the local standings, will send out six runners, highlighted by Dyna Mo Chimes. The Rime Chimes filly captured the Mountain Top Juvenile Stakes last out and will try for her third straight win under jockey Luis Flores Garcia in the third trial.

Friday’s first post is scheduled for 1 p.m.