JESS DESTINED Back On Track With Lovington Stakes Win
HOBBS, NM - NOVEMBER 3, 2007 - Longshot Jess Destined, winner of the 2006 Grade 1 West Texas Futurity, showed he may be returning to that form with a hard fought win in the $55,000 Lovington Stakes on Saturday afternoon at Zia Park.
Miss Klee has been in top form for the Zia Park season and finished second. The always dangerous One Special Shade finished third in the full field of older horses.
The Carl Draper-trained Jess Destined raced the 400 yards in :19.597 with Oscar Hernandez aboard. It was his first win from five 2007 starts. The son of Feature Mr Jess has showed steady improvement at Zia Park this fall with a fifth in his Hobbs America Derby trial and then a competitive third in a $31,525 allowance race.
His improvement can be attributed to be gelded after finishing seventh in his All American Derby trial on August 17 and then Draper putting a flipping halter on him in the gate. His first race in the flipping halter was the third-place finish in the allowance race on October 21.
“He left perfect and ran perfect. He’s back to his old self,” Draper said. “We’re definitely going in the Championship.” The Grade 1, $175,000-added Zia Park Quarter Horse Championship is one of the highlights of Zia Park ’s closing weekend on December 9.
The Lovington victory continued an excellent stakes meet for trainer Draper. He also won James Issac Hobbs Stakes with Look For Wranglers.
Sent off at nearly 18-1 odds, Jess Destined returned $37.60, $11.80 and $5.80. Miss Klee, an 18-1 outsider, paid $13.20 and $7.80 while lukewarm 7-2 favorite One Special Shade paid $4.00.
Also at Zia Park on Saturday, the trouble-plagued Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Patrick Valenzuela returned to race riding and piloted two winners. The rider has battled drug and alcohol problems, but is a very talented jockey. He won the seventh race aboard Devil Action and the eighth race with Must Be A Topper.
