Sunland Park opens its meet Friday with notable changes to its racing calendar and stakes schedule that places both the $100,000 New Mexico State Racing Commission Handicap and $65,000 KLAQ Handicap on the first card of the 55-date season. The meet runs through April 7. Corrina Corrina and Bella Dona are two of the top New Mexico-breds in training and the mares will meet in the New Mexico Racing Commission. The race will be run over 5 1/2 furlongs. Corrina Corrina, who is highweighted at 124 pounds, is seeking her sixth straight win. She will be cutting back to one turn after winning at a mile last out in the $200,000 Peppers Pride on the New Mexico Cup program Nov. 27 at Zia. Corrina Corrina had won four straight races at one turn prior to the Peppers Pride. Tracy Hebert has been aboard throughout her current win streak and has the mount from post 7. Gary Cross trains Corrina Corrina for her breeder, Derrick Jenkins. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Bella Dona, who is weighted at 123 for the seven-horse field of New Mexico-bred fillies and mares, also comes off a start at Zia. She won the $150,000 New Mexico Cup Distaff Sprint to improve her overall record to 13 or 17. Luis Fuentes has the mount from post 4 for trainer Simon Buechler. The KLAQ at five furlongs drew Southern California invader Good With People, who comes off an allowance race in which he finished second to graded stakes winner C Z Rocket on Nov. 25 at Del Mar. Karlo Lopez has the mount from post 3 for Kirk and Judy Robison and trainer Todd Fincher. Sunland had typically opened its meet in December. The change to January places its Grade 1, $350,000 Championship for Quarter Horses on Sunday and the race that used to close out the year will instead open 2024 with a bang-up field. Those set to start include $3 million earner Kj Desperado and the one-two finishers from last month’s Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos, Flash Bak and Empressum. The meet’s most prestigious races for Thoroughbreds come on Feb. 18, when the Grade 3, $400,000 Sunland Derby, which carries points for the Kentucky Derby, shares a card with the $250,000 Sunland Park Oaks. There are four other stakes on the card for total purses of more than $1 million. The Sunland Derby’s first five finishers will earn points on a scale of 20-10-6-4-2. The winner had earned 50 points in the past, but that was when the Sunland Derby was later on the calendar, at the end of March. Last year, the purse was $600,000. The Sunland Park Oaks offers Kentucky Oaks points again this year, on a scale of 20-10-6-4-2, according to the prep races calendar posted online by Churchill Downs. Purses at the Sunland meet are projected to average $275,000 a program. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.