HOBBS, New Mexico (December 8, 2007) - Every once in
a while, everything goes according to plan.
Such was the case with Bob and Cathy Zollars'
Reporting For Duty when he took command of $100,000
Zia Park Derby at the top of the stretch and then
cruised to a win befitting his 3-5 favoritism.
Reporting For Duty was timed in 1:45 2/5 for the
one-and-one-sixteenth mile and crossed the finish line
an easy four-and-a-quarter lengths ahead of Devil Red.
Forty Acres was third, another one-and-a-quarter
lengths back.
Trained by Steve Asmussen, Reporting For Duty raced
to his first derby win by letting the race come to him
and jockey Luis Quinonez. There was a soft pace for
the first half mile of the two-turn test and Quinonez
thought he may have to move on his late-running colt
earlier than he projected. Then, on then backstretch,
Devil Red and Forty Acres, Reporting For Duty's stable
mate, picked up the pace.
"When those two horses took off on the backstretch I
knew I could wait," Quinonez said. "I knew coming into
the race he was much the best horse."
As the sole closer in the six-horse field, the race
went as planned by the Asmussen crew. "There were
three speed horses in the race and we had Forty Acres
to push the pace," Tony Mathiasen, Asmussen's
assistant in New Mexico, said.
A son of Deputy Commander, Reporting For Duty earned
his solid favoritism with three placings in derbies.
He finished second in the Grade 2 Illinois Derby,
third in the Grade 2 Ohio Derby and came into the Zia
Park Derby off a second-place effort in the $300,000
Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park. "That was a big race
for him," said Quinonez, who traveled from Florida to
ride the colt in the Zia Park Derby.
As the overwhelming favorite, Reporting For Duty
$3.20, $2.40 and $2.10. Devil Red returned $3.80 and
$2.60 while Forty Acres paid $2.40.
Reporting For Duty - photo credit Bill Pitt