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MARKING'S 26% BLACK TYPE HORSES CUMULATIVE LEADS THE NATION

3/24/25

Marking Canyon recorded his fifth stakes placing on Friday, coming home 3rd Mt. Cristo Rey H. Making a stretch run, the son of Marking missed place by a neck. Marking Canyon sits on the verge of another mild-stone with $299,968 in earnings, he will surely surpass $300,000 in his next start.

MARKING's 26% stakes horses bests leading sires War Front at 24%, Tapit at 22.8%, Gun Runner 21.9%, Into Mischief 21.1%, Not This Time 19.9% and Curlin at 19.3%.

7X Stakes Performer I THINK I'M HERE, much the best to win Albert and Henry Dominguez Memorial H.

3/7/25

Morning line favorite after the scratch of Let Him Be, MARKING's I THINK I'M HERE racing for owner Charles Dunleavy III, the six-year-old was bred by Chuck Dunleavy & Shawn Davis and is trained by Lillian Silva. Career earnings now stand a $452,616 after a 2 ½ length score at Sunland. After rating nicely away from the gate, the chestnut gelding saved ground around the first turn, assumed command then set the pace, kicking clear in the stretch to win much the best.

MARKING STAKES DOUBLE ON NM DERBY DAY

2/16/25

With five stakes on offer, MARKING sired the winners of two $90,000 one-mile stakes, the Peppers Pride Stakes and the Red Hedeman Mile Stakes. Three-year-old registered New Mexico Bred, MOJICA took the Red Hedeman Mile for owner/breeder Don S. Apodaca. The gelding is trained by Luis C. Rojero and has two wins from three starts. Debuting at 2, MOJICA came home second to GAMBLAWAY, winner of the Corralito Steak Horse Stakes on Jan. 16. MOJICA won a maiden special weight on January 30 by 8 1/2 lengths in 1:04.91 after getting the lead at the quarter pole. In the Red Hedeman Mile MOJICA got the lead at the quarter pole and was never headed, winning by 3/4 legnth in 1:39.65.

Two races later, FORTY FIVE brought home the Peppers Pride S. win in wire-to-wire fashion. Bred by Fred Alexander, FORTY FIVE was a $32,000 sales yearling going to her trainer Dick Cappellucci for owner Centurion Racing Partners LLC. FORTY FIVE won a maiden special weight in her second start at 2, followed by a third-place finish in the New Mexico Classic Lassie Stakes. Off the board in a close finish in the six furlong La Senora stakes in January, the MARKING miss enjoyed the added distance, coming home by 6 ¾ lengths.

2025 MATING PLANS, PRESENTED ABY SPENDTHRIFT: STONESTREET FARM

TDN, 2/6/25

'Born to run, raised to win' is the motto at Stonestreet Farm and as the 13-time leading North American breeder by gross

yearlings sales, it's evident that the farm's success in the sales ring translates onto the racetrack. Just last year, Stonestreet was responsible for the $5-million Keeneland September Sale topping Curlin colt out of Grade I winner and producer Cavorting (Bernardini). Stonestreet's John Moynihan shares mating plans for SLAMMED and more in the latest edition of TDN's 2025 Mating Plans series, presented by Spendthrift Farm.

SLAMMED (7, Marking--Hennesey Smash, by Roll Hennessy Roll) to be bred to Curlin We bought Grade II winner Slammed at last year's Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars [for $1.1 million]. She was probably my favorite mare that we bought last year physically. A gorgeous, gorgeous mare and she's in foal to Nyquist. She's by Marking, who is a son of Bernardini. This mare was really, really fast on the racetrack. Going back to what we just discussed with Pauline's Pearl, Curlin has worked so well with Bernardini and the A.P. Indy line. With this mare being by a son of Bernardini, we think it's a great mating. With her speed I think it gives Curlin a great chance to have a really fast horse and it gives the mare a great chance going to Curlin.

Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes winner and $1.1-million Fasig-Tipton November purchase Slammed will visit Curlin in 2025 | Coady

A & A SIRES TAKE THREE NM CLASSIC STAKES

11/21/2024

NEW MEXICO CLASSIC DERBY STAKES

Purse, $150,000 — 6 1/2 furlongs

3-year-olds

WINNER: Tap Rock (G, Sporting Chance-Air Guitar by Five Star Day)

OWNERS: Leslie Amestoy, Pierre J. Amestoy Jr., and Roger K. Beasley

BREEDER: Brad King

TRAINER: Todd Fincher

JOCKEY: Alfredo Juarez Jr.

WINNING TIME: 1:17.06

WINNING MARGIN: head

ALSO RANS: Sidewinder Slick, Marking Canyon, Attila’s Ace, and Marked Cash.

NEW MEXICO CLASSIC OAKS STAKES

Purse, $150,000 — 6 1/2 furlongs

3-year-old fillies

WINNER: Payingoffmymarker (F, Marking-Domesday Gal by Dome)

OWNER AND BREEDER: Dustin Brooks

TRAINER: Todd Fincher

JOCKEY: Tracy Hebert

WINNING TIME: 1:17.63

WINNING MARGIN: 3 1/2 lengths

ALSO RAN: Scary Cherry, Storm In The Valle, Honky Tonk Honey, Mark The Winner, Mark It Down, Ms. Pounds, Empress In Front, Make Up A Story, and Trust Anabelle.

ROCKY GULCH NEW MEXICO CLASSIC STAKES

Purse, $200,000 — 1 1/16 miles

3-year-olds and older

WINNER: I Think I’m Here (5G, Marking-Limeade by Summer Bird)

OWNER: Charles Dunleavy III

BREEDERS: Chuck Dunleavy and Shawn Davis

TRAINER: Lillian Silva

JOCKEY: Alfredo Juarez Jr.

WINNING TIME: 1:43.49

WINNING MARGIN: 6 lengths

ALSO RANS: Spinning Black, Thunder Dome, Ancient Land, Bodie Got Gold, I’magambler, Jeeps Stride, Henry On The Run, Roll Penny Roll, Jet N G, George Who, and Farmer Fred R F.

A & A'S Fred Alexander New Mexico Breeder of the Year - 2023

06/19/2024 - NMHBA

Fred and Linda Alexander’s A & A Ranch stands some of the state’s top sires at the Anthony, N.M., farm, including 2023 New Mexico leading stallion Marking as well as the state’s 2023 leading first-crop sire Sporting Chance.

“We’ve been here 25 years and we’re proud to achieve this,” Fred Alexander said. “It’s been a lot of hard work but I owe most of it to my staff and my clients that have been with us over the years. We’ve been fortunate enough to have five of the state’s leading stallions over the last 20 years.”

Besides standing their three stallions, the Alexanders’ operation focuses primarily on breeding and selling their yearlings through their own consignment each year at the Ruidoso Select New Mexico-Bred Yearling Sale.

A & A Ranch was the leading consignor the past two years at the New Mexico-Bred Yearling Sale and was responsible for the 2022 and 2023 sales toppers. In both years, the sale topper sold for six figures, a significant accomplishment in the Land of Enchantment.

Marking, a grade 1-placed son of Bernardini, won New Mexico’s leading sires race by a landslide. The stallion boasted progeny earnings of $2,580,008 for 2023

FIRST STAKES WINNER FOR SPORTING CHANCE

05/14/2024 | Blood-Horse

A & A Ranch's grade 1 winner and second-crop sire Sporting Chance sired his first black-type winner May 11 when his son Higher Ed captured the Kendrick Stakes by 4 1/2 lengths at Sunray Park.

Higher Ed is a homebred for J. Kirk and Judy Robison. Trained by Todd Fincher, the gelding has not finished out of the money in six career starts. He won at first asking in June 2023 in a five-furlong trial for the Mountain Top Thoroughbred Futurity for New Mexico-breds. He ran third in the Mountain Top Futurity and went on to be runner-up in the Rio Grande Senor Thoroughbred Futurity.

The Robisons bred Higher Ed out of their homebred multiple stakes winner African Heat (Southwestern Heat). The mare's immediate family has produced graded stakes winners Ubiquity, Elaborate, and Yahilwa. Higher Ed is African Heat's first foal. The mare has a 2-year-old and a yearling by Sporting Chance.

Sporting Chance is a 9-year-old son of Tiznow out of the grade 1-placed stakes winner Wynning Ride. He was bred in Kentucky by Hunter Valley Farm. He sold as a weanling for $275,000 to Lapis Bloodstock, and then for $575,000 to William Mack and Robert Baker during the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Mack and Baker won the 2017 Hopeful Stakes (G1) with him and banked $409,790 for his career.

Sporting Chance stands at A & A Ranch for $5,000.

A&A STALLIONS SIRE STAKES EXACTA AT SUNRAY

05/11/2024

HIGHER ED by SPORTING CHANCE, a multiple stakes placed 2-year-old sat in second through the half and cleared the leader on the second turn to draw off in the drive and win the 6 1/2 furlong $75,000 stake for 3-year-olds, stopping the clock at 1:17.60. MARKING CANYON was steadied entering the first turn and bumped entering the second turn, closed to earn place 4 lengths ahead of the show horse.

Five NM sires have sired one stakes winner to date in 2024, led by MARKING the state's leader by winners (16), black type horses (4), and earnings $1,036,147.

NM's champion sire Desert God, sire of PROCEED, and broodmare sire of $20,000,000 Saudi Cup winner Senor Buscador

02/24/2024 | Blood-Horse

Joe Peacock Jr.'s Senor Buscador rallied from the clouds to top an international field while winning the world's richest race, the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) at King Abdulaziz Racecourse Feb. 24. read more....

KAYE BY PROCEED SCORES IN MAIDEN SPECIAL WEIGHT

02/16/2024

Second in her 2024 debut on Jan. 12, missing the win by ½ length at 5 ½ furlongs the bay daughter of Proceed stretched out to 6 furlongs at Sunland in a $34,000 maiden special weight. Pressing from the outside four wide into the turn Kaye dueled from the top of the stretch, inched away late. Bred by Teresa Kaye Marr, Kaye races for Ed Wright and Beedy Todd and is trained by Joel Marr, Ken Tohill was up for the win.

NEW MEXICO CHAMPION SIRES

02/07/2024

The New Mexico Horse Breeders' Association will honoring the 2023 New Mexico Racing Champions durinig the Zia Festival party being held at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack on july 20, 2024.

MARKING will be honored as the Thoroughbred Stallion for the Year and SPORTING CHANCE will be recognized at the Leading Thoroughbred First Crop Sire of 2023

Congratulations to all the breeders that helped our stallions reach this honor.