Sunday, November 11, 2012

Field is set for the $1,000,000 LQHBA Breeders Futurity at Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino

 Opelousas, Louisiana –A deep and talented field of ten is ready to square off in the $1,000,000 Grade I (Res) LQHBA Breeders Futurity, the first ever seven-figure race for Quarter Horses in the state of Louisiana at Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino on Saturday, November 17.

The LQHBA Breeders Futurity, for two-year-olds bred in Louisiana, will be run at the distance of 400 yards and features a field of ten juveniles who earned their way into this rich event by recording the ten fastest running times during the 11 trials contested on Friday, October 26. Traditionally the richest race offered annually at Evangeline Downs, the LQHBA Breeders Futurity has offered a purse of more than $500,000 for the past half-dozen years but with the backing of the LQHBA the purse has been increased to this historic level for the 2012 running of the Restricted Grade I event. In addition to the LQHBA Breeders Futurity, there are three other stakes races on the rich ten-race program (the stakes races will be run as the 6th,  7th, 8th, & 9th races) each to be run at the same distance of 400 yards. They are the $40,000 Invitational Breeders Stake (the consolation for the LQHBA Futurity featuring the second ten fastest qualifiers) and the EVD Derby for three-year-olds going the distance of 400 yards which after being oversubscribed has been split into two divisions each featuring a purse of $50,000.

T Boy C, who recorded the fastest qualifying time of 19.639 of the more than 100 youngsters who participated in the trials has been tabbed as the 4/1 lukewarm favorite in the morning-line. Conditioned by Miguel Rodriguez, who won this event last year with Rapid Transit, T Boy C’s speed index figure of 95 in his trial is the highest recorded by any runner in the field. Raul Ramirez Jr., who has ridden the gelded son of Sir Runaway Dash in all five of his career starts, will ride. Owned by Jose Guzman, T Boy C has drawn post position #3 in the ten-horse field.
Open Me a Corona & Cougar Hill, who finished noses apart in their trial, recorded the second and third fastest qualifying times of 19.667 & 19.674 and are listed at odds of 9/2 & 5/1 in the morning-line odds and will leave the starting gate side-by-side with regular riders David Alvarez & Jerry Lee Yoakum as they have drawn post positions #6 & #5 respectively. Others who are expected to have a say in the outcome include trial winners Heza Fast Snow, Perrys Runaway, and Dashin Gage, who are all listed at odds of 6/1 in the opening odds.

Carded as the 9th race on Saturday’s ten-race program, the approximate post time for the LQHBA Breeders Futurity is 9:00 pm. The Invitational Breeders Stake is the 8th race on the card and is set to run at 8:35 pm. The two divisions of the EVD Derby are carded as the 6th and 7th races on the program and are set to run at 7:45 pm and 8:10 pm, respectively. All post times are Central.

Here is the field in program order with odds for the $1,000,000 LQHBA Futurity to be run at Evangeline Downs on Saturday, November 19, 2011
  1.       Perrys Runaway                   Donald Watson                       6/1
  2.       Bigtime Beau                         G R Carter Jr.                         8/1
  3.       T Boy C                                  Raul Ramirez Jr.                     4/1
  4.       Heza Lucky Charm              Alfonso Lujan                       20/1
  5.       Cougar Hill                            Jerry Lee Yoakum                  5/1
  6.       Open Me a Corona               David Alvarez                          9/2
  7.       Logans Mountain                 John Hamilton                      10/1
  8.       Dashin Gage                          Stevie Gillum                           6/1
  9.       Heza Fast Snow                     Danny Lavergne                     6/1
10.       Special Fine Corona              Floriberto Maldonado          20/1

For more information contact Evangeline Downs at 337-594-3000.


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