ALBUQUERQUE — A total of three New Mexico-bred quarter horses seized their opportunity to compete on closing weekend at the current Ruidoso meet at Albuquerque Downs, earning starting gate positions in three open races on Labor Day weekend.
In the eight trial heats held Sunday for the All American Derby, New Mexico’s King of the Tide earned a spot in the starting gate for the 440-yard dash worth a purse of $1,080,992, finishing third in the fifth trial heat of the day.
King of the Tide’s third-place finish behind Political Twist and Midnite Smokin was fast enough to earn the ninth-fastest qualifying time of the day for the All American Derby. Owned by E. Gene Bradley, Tod Bradley and Ware Brown, the Trey Wood trainee was ridden by Ricky Ramirez in that trial with a time of 20.993 seconds…