FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       
     APRIL 11, 2009

CONTACT LOS ALAMITOS PUBLICITY
714-820-2690

ALICE K WHITE GETS THE JOB DONE IN LA PRIMERA DEL ANO DERBY

LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA.... Like mother like
daughter. The year was 1997 when Champagne Lane won the
$109,840 La Primera Del Ano Derby. It's 12 years later and
Alice K White has duplicated her mother's accomplishment by
winning a La Primera Del Ano Derby worth more than twice as
much as that '97 running on Saturday at Los Alamitos. 

With $236,100 on the line, a quality field lined up to
compete in the 400-yard race and when the gates opened it was
Moonlight Corona who flashed the best quickness to take the
initial advantage. Alice K White, meanwhile, settled into a
nice rhythm with jockey Cody Jensen in the irons. By the time
the field moved past the 1/8th pole, Alice K White had
already taken the lead and the New Mexico-bred daughter of
First Down Dash would never relinquish her position. Trained
by Mike Joiner, Alice K White went on to cover the distance
in :19.51, the second fastest time in the 32-year history of
the 400-yard derby for fillies. Alice K White, who earned
$99,162 for her fourth win in six career  starts, finished
3/4 lengths ahead of Theresa and Edward DeNike's A Silver
Flash. The latter picked up $40,137 for finishing second
while Robert Williams' Dance Baby won $28,332 for third
place. Early leader Moonlight Corona finished fourth and was
followed across the wire by Azoom Babe, Suger Mama,
Asyouwish, Another Wise Lady, Luzoom and Little Surfer.
 
"We actually had a pretty good start," Jensen said. "It was
just that (Moonlight Corona) had a tremendous start. Alice
actually outbroke most of the other fillies in the race and
then finished strongly. She made it look easy at the end."

Mac Murray of MJ Farms was on hand to enjoy Alice K White's
tremendous performance in the La Primera. It was actually a
rare Los Alamitos appearance for this time of the year for
Murray, who during the breeding season stays extremely busy
while helping his wife, Janis Spencer Murray DVM, manage
their highly successful breeding farm in Veguita, New Mexico.


"We have 90 acres, own about 30 broodmares and three
stallions," Murray said. "I took a flight here and arrived at
about 8 p.m. (two hours before the actual running of the La
Primera) and I have a flight back on Sunday at noon. It was a
trip well worth it. We do enjoy coming out to Los Alamitos in
the summer and fall. We actually came for the Los Alamitos
Equine Sale and bought a couple of mares and stayed for the
races. We sometimes come for the Los Alamitos Two Million
Futurity trials. It's a little tougher to make it here from
about the start of February until about June 1 because of
breeding season, so this is actually a treat. I'm sure Janis
is watching this race on TVG. I watch the Los Alamitos races
just about every night on TV but she watches every single
night. She records them and then watches them in the morning
while on the treadmill. There's not much that happens on the
track at Los Alamitos that she doesn't know about."

Mac Murray grew up in a ranch and always had an affinity for
horses, but it wasn't until about two decades ago that he
began to really get involved with Quarter Horses. "I had a
regular job," Murray said. "I was an auto sales manager in
Utah, which is where I grew up. 

"Now the farm is what I do for a living," he continued.
"Janis and I work outside on our place all day long. We start
at about 5 a.m. and we finish at around 5:30 p.m. After a
day's work is done we enjoy going to a local restaurant to
sit, relax and talk about the things that happened during the
day, what we will do tomorrow and everything else that is
going on in our lives. It's like a mini-business meeting," he
added with a smile. "Because we're usually doing things at
different ends of the farm, we might only see each other
three or four times during the day. We catch up with what's
happening during our dinner talks. We love it. Horses,
they're our whole lives. We've been doing this for a long
time and we love it. We're doing what we love to do."

Murray said that around 400 mares were bred at MJ Farms in
2008. He expects  business at the farm to remain status quo
with about 350 to 400 mares bred this year. "We have three
stallions that we stand in Dash To Fame, Jesse James Jr and
Woodbridge, who is a brother to (former world record holder)
Kendall Jackson." 

When the conversation turned to possible future breeding
suitors for Alice K White the name of Jesse James Jr came up
again. "He would fit her if we elect to go that way," Murray
said. "I don't know what we will do. We discuss the breedings
together, usually over a glass of wine. We have Dash To Fame
standing at the farm but Jesse James Jr is priced reasonably.
We bred just over 100 mares to him, so you'll probably see 70
or so on the racetrack in 2011."

Interestingly, Alice K White nearly never came to being. 

"I remember when Kevin Dickson had (Champagne Lane) at
Vessels Stallion Farm and he wanted to try to breed her to
First Down Dash. This was the year when Vessels had some
problems with First Down Dash. I remember that the date was
June 14 and it was through Kevin's persistence that we were
able to get an embryo. That was Alice K White. I believe that
she was born on May 20, so she was a late foal.

"She did well as a 2-year-old and the Joiners have done a
tremendous job bringing her along for her sophomore year," he
added. "They've been very patient with her and that paid off.
She's a very independent filly. She's not ornery by any means
but she does like to do things on her own. She's not mean.
We'll just call her independent."

Alice K White is eligible to several more derbies in 2008,
including the Governor's Cup Derby and PCQHRA Breeders Derby.
She's also eligible a couple of derbies in New Mexico but
Murray said she'll most likely stay in California for her
entire 3-year-old campaign. 

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