Seeking his fifth straight win and looking to remain perfect at the distance of 6 ½ furlongs, Redneck Humor figures to be a short-priced standout in Saturday’s $55,000 Budweiser Special, the featured event of a live, 10-race program at Albuquerque Downs.
A Florida-bred 6-year-old son of Da Stoops, Redneck Humor is trained by Justin Evans for owners Vanessa Evans, Earl Neugebauer and K.W. Sharp and will be looking for his 13th lifetime score from 27 career starts. An earner of more than $359,000, Redneck Humor is unbeaten after four starts in 2017, with consecutive stakes wins at Sunland Park, SunRay Park and Casino, and most recently, a romping score in the Arapahoe Park Sprint Stakes in Colorado on May 29.
Prior to that win at Arapahoe Park, Redneck Humor ran off two stakes victories in El Paso, taking the Budweiser Handicap on Feb. 12 before a dominating performance in the Bill Thomas Memorial Handicap on March 26. Redneck Humor then turned around to dominate his rivals in the Inaugural Handicap at SunRay Park and Casino on April 22. During his current win streak, Redneck Humor has won by a combined margin of more than 15 lengths.
Listed on the morning line as the favorite at odds of 8-to-5, Redneck Humor will break from post 4 in the 7-horse field and is scheduled to be ridden by David Lopez.
Redneck Humor is one of three Evans-trained starters scheduled to reach the starting gate in the Budweiser Special. In addition to the race’s top money earner Toews On Ice, Evans will also send out Ziptime, coming off a winning effort in his most recent start at SunRay Park.
Toews On Ice will be looking to end a 4-race win streak, all of which have come against Redneck Humor. The Kentucky-bred son of Archarcharch has yet to be a formidable threat to the morning line favorite, but is also a multiple stakes winner with lifetime earnings approaching $384,000. The 6-time winner from 16 career starts will break from post 2 under Jorge Carreno as the 4-to-1 third choice on the morning line.
Ziptime will be making his first start in a stakes race, but comes into the Budweiser Special riding a three-race win streak. The Maryland-bred son of City Zip has only lost once in four starts since joining the Evans barn last fall. A 4-time winner from 18 lifetime starts with earnings over $94,000, Ziptime has been installed as the 5-to-1 fourth choice on the morning line. He is scheduled to be ridden by Tracy Hebert from the outside post.
Coming into the Budweiser Special as the 3-to-1 second choice on the morning line is invader Tanner’s Popsicle, who will be shipping in off a 7th place finish against optional claiming company at Churchill Downs on May 28.
Trained by Allen Milligan for Keene Thoroughbreds, Tanner’s Popsicle is a Kentucky-bred son of Wildcat Heir with more than $235,000 in career earnings. The 10-time winner from 28 lifetime starts will be looking to end a seven-race losing streak which dates back to last October, when he beat softer company at Indiana Grand Racecourse.
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Tanner’s Promise is scheduled to be piloted by Alfredo Juarez, Jr. in the Budweiser Special, and will break from post 3.
The Budweiser Special will go as race 7 of a 10-race program and has a scheduled post time of 8:35 p.m. (local). First post time is 6 p.m.
The field for the Budweiser Special, with jockeys and morning line odds, looks like this:
1. Bombay Bob, Francisco Amparan), 15-1
2. Toews On Ice, Carreno, 4-1
3. Tanner’s Popsicle, Juarez, 3-1
4. Redneck Humor, Lopez, 8-5
5. J Serino, Alejandro Medellin, 8-1
6. Takeit Tothe Limit, Elvin Gonzalez, 10-1
7. Ziptime, Hebert, 5-1
Photo of Redneck Humor winning the Bill Thomas Memorial at Sunland Park courtesy of Coady Photography