Pepsi Cola Stakes
Pepsi Cola Stakes
Christian Cardenas rode longshot Bad King to a half-length victory in Saturday's Pepsi Cola Stakes for New Mexico-breds. PHOTO: Coady Media
February 16, 2025 | Racing , Racing | Racing , Racing
Bad King outran his 18-1 odds to win Saturday's 350-yard, $90,000 Pepsi Cola Stakes (RG2) for aged New Mexico-breds at Sunland Park.
Trained by James Gonzales III for owners Nove Racing LLC, Triple R Racing Stables LLC, Antoinette Gonzales and Patricio Venzor, Bad King defeated Flash Divine by a half of a length in :17.101, a clocking accomplished with the aid of a reported 15-mph tail wind. Christian Cardenas rode the gelded 4-year-old son of Eye Am King.
Bad King was bred by Mac and Janis Murray's MJ Farms at Veguita, New Mexico, and he was a $65,000 yearling purchase at the 2022 New Mexico-Bred Sale at Ruidoso Downs. The gelding is out of Start Somethin Bad, a graded stakes-winning California-bred Pappasito mare.
Bad King was winning for the fourth time in 14 races, and the $54,000 winner's share of the purse from his first stakes victory increased his earnings to $340,890.
Just En King, the 5-2 favorite in the full field of 10, finished seventh.
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