Slow Down Andy, Straight Up G Vie in Sunland Park Derby

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Slow Down Andy, Straight Up G Vie in Sunland Park Derby
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Slow Down Andy wins the 2021 Los Alamitos Futurity at Los Alamitos Race Course

The $500,000 Sunland Park Derby (G3) returns to the racing schedule March 27 after a two-year absence. A field of eight, led by California invaders Slow Down Andy  and Straight Up G , vie for Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) qualifying points, awarded on a 50-20-10-5 scale to its top four finishers.

The Sunland Park Derby went unstaged in 2020 when the tail end of the 2019-20 Sunland Park racing season was scrapped with the onset of COVID-19. Sunland didn't open for racing the following season as the pandemic continued, a move that disappointed horsemen in the region.

The Sunland Derby has produced just one Kentucky Derby winner, Mine That Bird , who scored a 50-1 upset in the 2009 Kentucky Derby after a fourth-place finish at Sunland. New Mexico-based Chip Woolley Jr. trained him to win the Derby for owners Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine.

This year's 2-1 morning-line favorite in the Sunland Park Derby, Slow Down Andy, is owned by Reddam Racing and trained by Doug O'Neill—a combination that has already teamed to win two editions of the Kentucky Derby. They prepped those two winners, I'll Have Another  (2012) and Nyquist   (2016), in California and Florida, respectively.

Slow Down Andy, a homebred for Reddam Racing by Nyquist out of the Square Eddie  mare Edwina E , won the Dec. 11 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) over Messier  before disappointing with a sixth-place finish in his seasonal bow in the Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Feb. 19. He adds blinkers for Sunday's race following his uninspired effort at Fair Grounds and a green winning effort in the Los Alamitos Futurity.

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Video: Los Alamitos Futurity (G2)



He is one of three California-breds in the Sunland Park Derby, the others being 20-1 longshot Fowler Blue  and 5-2 second choice Straight Up G.

The latter is a two-time stakes winner for Jim Rome's Jungle Racing. Though based in Southern California with trainer Richard Baltas, he has raced over the Sunland strip, winning the Feb. 27 Mine That Bird Derby, the final local prep for the Sunland Park Derby.

Ricky Gonzalez rides Straight Up G, while Mario Gutierrez is aboard Slow Down Andy.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen brings two of his second-string 3-year-olds in for the 1 1/8-mile race, Classic Moment  and Costa Terra .

Last year's Eclipse Award-winning jockey, Joel Rosario, rides Classic Moment, third in the Mine That Bird Derby, while Luis Negron is aboard Costa Terra.

The ungraded $300,000 Sunland Park Oaks at 1 1/16 miles, which goes as the ninth race Sunday, two races before the Sunland Park Derby, serves as a mid-level qualifier on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.

Stakes-winning Optionality  and Queen of Thorns , a well-beaten second to Adare Manor  in the Las Virgenes Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park, are the Sunland Park Oaks favorites. The race offers Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) points on the same scale as the Sunland Park Derby.


Entries: Sunland Park Derby (G3)

Sunland Park, Sunday, March 27, 2022, Race 11

  • Grade III
  • 1 1/8m
  • Dirt
  • $500,000
  • 3 yo
  • 5:15 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Costa Terra (KY) Luis Negron 122 Steven M. Asmussen 8/1
2 2Classic Moment (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Joel Rosario 122 Steven M. Asmussen 7/2
3 3Fowler Blue (CA) Edwin A. Maldonado 122 Luis Mendez 20/1
4 4Slow Down Andy (CA) Mario Gutierrez 122 Doug F. O'Neill 2/1
5 5Bye Bye Bobby (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Roimes Chirinos 122 Todd W. Fincher 9/2
6 6Pepper Spray (KY) Luis A. Valenzuela 122 Edward J. Kereluk 15/1
7 7Chrome King (KY) Enrique Garcia 122 Miguel L. Hernandez 15/1
8 8Straight Up G (CA) Ricardo Gonzalez 122 Richard Baltas 5/2


Entries: Sunland Park Oaks

Sunland Park, Sunday, March 27, 2022, Race 9

  • STK
  • 1 1/16m
  • Dirt
  • $300,000
  • 3 yo Fillies
  • 4:12 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Pumpkin Bread (CA) Francisco Amparan 121 Bart G. Hone 8/1
2 2Cleopatras Charge (KY) Jorge Carreno 121 Gary W. Cross 10/1
3 3Cali (KY) Miguel T. Fuentes, Jr. 121 Joel H. Marr 12/1
4 4Landslid (KY) Roimes Chirinos 121 Rachael Keithan 8/1
5 5Tyler's Dream (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Enrique Portillo Gomez 121 Greg Green 12/1
6 6Optionality (KY) Joel Rosario 121 Steven M. Asmussen 3/1
7 7Ali Alley (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Kelsi Purcell 121 Nancy Summers 10/1
8 8Queen of Thorns (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Victor Espinoza 121 Peter Eurton 4/1
9 9Manorelli (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Edwin A. Maldonado 121 Luis Mendez 8/1
10 10Miss Hard Knocks (KY) Harry Hernandez 121 Bart G. Hone 5/1