by Jeff Apel

Unbeaten North American record holder Peppers Pride will seek her 19th consecutive victory on Sunday in the $125,000 New Mexico State Racing Commission Handicap at Sunland Park.

The six-furlong race for New Mexico-bred fillies and mares could be the final career start for Peppers Pride, who set a modern North American record on October 4 at Zia Park with her 17th consecutive win.

Owner-breeder Joe Allen and trainer Joel Marr are in the process of making breeding plans for Peppers Pride, a career earner of $991,085 who won the 2007 New Mexico State Racing Commission Handicap.

“Joe hasn’t said for sure what we’re going to do, but we’ve been investigating different opportunities for stallions in Kentucky and elsewhere,” Marr said. “This most likely will be her last start.”

Marr said both he and Allen will make the final decision about future plans for Peppers Pride, a five-year-old Desert God mare out of the winning Chili Pepper Pie mare Lady Pepper.

“It’s going to be both our decisions,” Marr said. “It’s just trying to figure out what’s best for her. She’s sound and everything, and we could run her some more. We’re also looking at her career as a broodmare. We’re just going to weigh those different things after we run her and decide what we want to do.”

Thirteen-time stakes winner Peppers Pride has raced exclusively in New Mexico throughout her four-year career. Jockey Carlos Madeira, who has ridden the dark bay or brown mare in each of her 18 starts, has a return call on Sunday.

Marr expects Sunday’s race to be emotional for everyone involved with Peppers Pride, who enters off a victory in the New Mexico Cup Fillies and Mares Stakes on November 9 at Zia.

“She’s been a permanent fixture for the last five years and been a big part of our lives,” Marr said. “So it’s going to leave a pretty big void there for a while I’m sure.

“We don’t want her to go. But we’re going to do what we think is best for her. Whatever that is, we’ll live with it.”

Peppers Pride breezed three furlongs in :37 on Tuesday at Sunland in preparation for Sunday’s race. Peppers Pride has been assigned high weight of 126 pounds for the New Mexico State Racing Commission Handicap and will concede seven foes between seven and 13 pounds.

“This is one of the most competitive races that she has run in in a while,” Marr said. “It looks like a pretty solid field to me.”

Jeff Apel is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY assistant editor