A Ruidoso favorite in Saturday's Kentucky Derby

Suddenbreakingnews wins last November at the Clever Trevor Stakes

Odessa rancher Sonny Henderson doesn’t mind the 20-to-1 odds on his Suddenbreakingnews in the Kentucky Derby Saturday. He already hit his long shot when he bought the bay in the first place. Henderson, a lifelong horseman who has owned homes in Ruidoso and is still a seasonal regular at Ruidoso Downs racetrack, paid a modest $72,000 for the thoroughbred with the small star on his forehead at the Keeneland Sale in 2014. “He was the sorriest-looking colt of all of them,” Henderson recently told his hometown paper, the Odessa American. “Wasn’t much to look at.” But when Henderson did some post-purchase research on the horse’s bloodline beyond the respectable ancestry he was aware of when he made the purchase, he was thrilled to find a distinguished racing pedigree that included the likes of Secretariat and War Admiral. That heritage has since shown itself on the track. In a phone interview Thursday from Churchill Downs, Henderson said Suddenbreakingnews has finished either first or second in all but one of his races. His owner will be betting on him Saturday and won’t be surprised if he cashes in some tickets. “It’s a good bet,” Henderson said. “He’s in wonderful shape.” Henderson is owner of Henderson LTM Ranches and has been racing horses for half a century in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arkansas...more