Kenoma and Juan Marquez turned in a gate-to-wire effort to score the fastest win among three trials Saturday for the QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Derby during the fourth all-Quarter Horse day at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville.
The duo won their trial in 20.245 seconds to lead the top 10 into the $110,173 final set for Sept. 3 at the fifth all-Quarter Horse racing day of 2022.
Starting from post one, Kenoma (photo) was all business when the gates sprung over and was on top of the field from the inside in the early stages of the 400-yard dash. The three-year-old daughter of Mr Ease Cartel began to gain some ground between her and the rest of the field as the wire neared, winning by three-quarters of a length.
Mr Michel and Erik Esqueda finished second over Good Time Stoli and Giovani Vazquez-Gomez for third.
Kenoma earned her first win of 2022 in her third start. She is owned by Brad Sharp and Brant Barley. Randy Smith handles the training for the filly, which was bred by the late Larry Sharp of Missouri. She now has three career wins in nine outs with earnings of nearly $35,000.
Kiss Me at Midnight was the second fastest qualifier, winning is trial in a time of 20.261. Also trained by Smith and ridden by Marquez, the Kiss My Hocks gelding was the favorite of the field and lived up to his billing, scoring the impressive win by one and one-quarter lengths over Jesses Beach and Rolando Pina. BV Blaze of Glory and Cesar Esqueda finished third.
Kiss Me at Midnight is now two for three this season. Bred by Flag Ranch LLC of Oklahoma, the sophomore gelding is owned by Gordon Timm and Debbie Smith. He is now five for nine lifetime with earnings over the $50,000 mark.
The third trial was won by Ah One Special Wave and Cesar Esqueda. The One Sweet Jess gelding started from post one and held his own along the inside all the way to the wire for the win in 20.385 to rank fourth on the list of finalists. Keens Blood Legacy and Jose Ruiz finished second over Bye Bye B Train and L.D. Martinez for third.
Ah One Special Wave is owned and trained by Ron Raper. It was his second trip to the winner’s circle this year and overall, he has three wins in 11 starts with earnings of $30,000. The sorrel gelding was a $19,000 purchase from the Heritage Place September Yearling Sale in 2020.
The top 10 qualifiers for the QHRAI SSA Derby, in order of time with jockey, includes: Kenoma (Juan Marquez, 20.245), Kiss Me at Midnight (Juan Marquez, 20.261), Mr Michel (Erik Esqueda, 20.269), Ah One Special Wave (Cesar Esqueda, 20.385), Good Time Stoli (Giovani Vazquez-Gomez, 20.429), Jesses Beach (Rolando Pina, 20.486), Fabulous Barbara (Dex Mitchell, 20.501) in a dead heat with Hejfund (Edgar Diaz, 20.501), BV Blaze of Glory (Cesar Esqueda, 20.530) and Keens Blood Legacy (Jose Ruiz, 20.548).
Randy Smith will saddle two (Kenoma and Kiss Me at Midnight) as will Ron Raper (Ah One Special Wave and BV Blaze of Glory).
The QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Derby will be joined by the QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Futurity on the next all-Quarter Horse racing day on Sept. 3. Also included on the day will be the $75,000 Bob Woodard Memorial along with trials for the regional qualifiers of the John Deere Juvenile Challenge and the Adequan Derby, if needed. The finals come back Sept. 22 in preparation for the AQHA Bank of America Challenge Championships set for Horseshoe Indianapolis on Oct. 22.
