Forest Mouse wins Zia Park distance Championship
Only his third career start at Zia Park, Parnell Thomas’ 4-year-old dark bay colt, Forest Mouse, posted his second victory there, this time in the $218,120 Zia Park Distance Championship on 2 December, 2012, as a 122 pound highweight in a field of 9.
It was Teton Forest’s son’s most lucrative win of his career, and the runner deserved it, because of the hard work he has put in his previous starts, and the consistency paid off in the end.
The Zia Park Distance Championship is the richest race held by Zia Park at the Hobbs, N.M., track, and Forest Mouse narrowly won it be defeating the second placed, Red Lead, by three quarters of a length.
Under jockey Ry Eikleberry, Forest Mouse covered the 1 1/8 mile distance in 1 minute and 50.76 seconds, and the quick time reflects his solid run over the fast track.
Out of Fast Mouse by Fast Play, Forest Mouse tracked the pace right from the outset, and in between horses he stalked the pace of pacesetter, First Strike. Forest Mouse was finally able to take the lead on the final turn, as he drifted out wide, but has another thing coming for him in the stretch.
Red Lead didn’t let go easily, as he was constantly breathing down Forest Mouse’s neck, which turned out to be an intriguing dual.
Forest Mouse, under urging from Ry Eikleberry opened up a two-length advantage, but in the final strides Red Lead closed in the gap.
"I didn't want Red Lead to get the jump on me," said the 23-year-old Eikleberry "When (Red Lead) came to put the pressure on me a little past the three-eighths pole, a little before the quarter pole, I gave mine a tap, and I knew I had a lot of horse underneath me. I just tried to hold it together and put a little separation at the quarter pole because I thought my horse was the best. It worked out real well."
Third consecutive start at Zia Park, Forest Mouse won an Allowance Optional Claiming there on 6 October, and then finished a slid second in the Veteran Stakes on 3 November for trainer Henry Dominguez.
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