Unload is favored in Downs at Albuquerque Handicap

Unload made quite an impression July 6. That was when he nearly pulled off a gate-to-wire, 66-1 upset in the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap only to finish a half-length in second to Red Route One.

Bred and owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds and trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the 4-year-old Gun Runner colt lines up Sunday afternoon as the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the $200,000 Downs at Albuquerque Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds and up.

Click here for Albuquerque entries and results.

The race originally was scheduled for last Saturday night but was postponed when two days of rain left the track unsafe for racing.

Carrying the top weight of 123 pounds, Unload made his last two starts at Remington Park in Oklahoma. He won by a head in the Governor’s Cup on the main track and then finished sixth in his turf debut in the Remington Green.

Luis Fuentes will ride Unload from post 1.

The feature that drew seven entrants is the eighth of nine races and is scheduled for Sunday at 6:25 p.m. EDT. The National Weather Service forecast a sunny day with a high of 82 degrees.