GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (September 30, 2009) – Noconi, owned by R. D. Hubbard and John Jones, Jr. Interests, Ltd., and trained by Paul Jones, faces nine rivals in the 13th Running of the $100,000 Refrigerator Handicap, to be run at the distance of 440 yards, at Lone Star Park on Saturday night.
A four-year-old sorrel son of Mr Jess Perry, out of the Grade 1 winning mare My Dashing Lady, Noconi has won 6 of 17 lifetime starts for $816,618 in earnings, including the prestigious Grade 1 All American Derby at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico as a three-year-old. Cody Jensen ships in from Los Alamitos, Calif. to accept the mount aboard Noconi.
No fewer than four grade 1 winners will be out to spoil Noconi’s bid for a win in his Lone Star Park debut, including multiple grade 1 winner Illegal Memories, trained by Heath Taylor, winner of the grade 1 Texas Classic Futurity at Lone Star Park in 2007, and stablemate Diamond Tres Seis, who is out to defend his title in the Refrigerator after proving best in this event in 2008.
The field from the rail out, with jockey and morning line odds listed in parenthesis, consists of: Diamond Tres Seis (Gilbert Ortiz, 3-1 ); Adios My Amigos (Larry Payne, 15-1); Streakin Cherry (Abdel Torres, 7-2); Here to Entertain (Alex Baldillez Jr., 10-1); Sassys Tuffy (Jose Amador Alvarez, 12-1 ); Sailin Daylon (Tad Leggett, 10-1); Dylans Dandy (Ricky Ramirez, 15-1); Illegal Memories (G. R. Carter Jr., 10-1); Noconi (Cody Jensen, 8-5) and Ima Candy Suspect (Kenny Muntz, 15-1).
Scheduled as race eight on the nine-race program, the Refrigerator Handicap has an approximate post time of 9:23 p.m. CDT.
Lone Star Park’s 2009 Quarter Horse Fall Meeting of Champions will be held from Sept. 25 to Nov. 28. After opening weekend on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 25-26, racing will be held every Thursday through Saturday, except Thursday, Nov. 26 when there will be no live racing due to the Thanksgiving holiday. First post time for all dates will be 6:35 p.m. For more information on Lone Star Park visit LoneStarPark.com.
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