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| PEPPERS PRIDE |
| Ty Wyant photo |
by Tim Nichols
Undefeated Peppers Pride made her record 18th consecutive win look easy on Sunday as she captured the $177,615 New Mexico Cup Fillies and Mares Stakes for the second straight year at Zia Park.
Joe Allen’s homebred five-year-old Desert God mare covered one mile on a track rated as fast in 1:38.20 for trainer Joel Marr for her 13th stakes win.
Peppers Pride, sent off as the 2-to-5 favorite, tracked the pace in fifth under jockey Carlos Madeira as La Sorpresa led through fractions of :24.40 and :48.40 through a half-mile. Peppers Pride advanced to third at the quarter pole and grabbed the lead from La Sorpresa in early stretch.
“We spent a long time in the gate, but then we got a perfect trip,” Madeira said. “I just took her back and let her make her run.”
The record-setting mare accelerated under urging from Madeira in the lane to score by a length and extend her record-setting win streak to 18 wins, all of which have come in New Mexico.
La Sorpresa, a 38-to-1 longshot, finished second with multiple stakes winner Silver Expression another three-quarters of a length back in third.
Peppers Pride increased her career earnings to $991,085 with the win.
The New Mexico Cup Fillies and Mares Stakes was one of seven Thoroughbred stakes for state-bred horses on the New Mexico Cup card.
Peppers Pride set the modern North American record for consecutive wins on October 4 with her 17th straight win. She previously shared the record with Citation, Cigar, Mister Frisky, and Hallowed Dreams.
Next for Peppers Pride may be a start in the New Mexico Racing Commission Handicap at Sunland Park on December 14. Allen and Marr are undecided on whether to keep Peppers Pride in training next year or breed her to a stallion.
“We’ll see how it goes and let her tell us what’s best,” Marr said.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
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