FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       
          APRIL 24, 2009

CONTACT LOS ALAMITOS PUBLICITY
714-820-2690

HULAPAI NOW THREE FOR THREE IN 2009 AFTER DILLINGHAM
VICTORY

LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA... Owner Carlos Romero
knew he wanted to claim a Quarter Horse last spring, he just
wasn't quite sure which one it would be. He had narrowed his
choices down to two, both talented runners, one of them
however was a gelding that simply was too tough for Romero
ignore. 

"I had filled up two claim slips and I had them with me all
night," said Romero. "I was with trainer Miguel Rodriguez at
the time and he told me that it was my choice. I went with
Hulapai, who I liked a lot because of his breeding and the
times of his morning workouts. I got him and I haven't
regretted my choice for one minute ever since."

Claimed for $16,000 on May 8, 2008, the Ed Allred-bred
sprinter has since developed into a Grade 1 finalist and a
super derby prospect for 2009. Now trained by Hector Jaime
Hernandez, the sorrel gelding out of the Raise A Secret mare
Kingman Kin has won all three of his starts this year,
including his first stakes win ever in Friday's $30,000
Dillingham Handicap. Ridden by Rodrigo Aceves for trainer
Hector Jaime Hernandez, Hulapai continued his perfect
campaign in the 400-yard race thanks to a 1 1/4 length
victory over 24-1 longshot Bud Cheeks. His winning time was
:19.69. 

With nine starts under his belt, Hulapai has already won
five races in his career while qualifying to the Ed Burke
Million Futurity and also the Los Alamitos Juvenile Stakes.
He did rest for a couple of months in the middle of last
year, not racing from the night of the Ed Burke on June 21
until the trials to the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity in
late November. 

"He was paid into a couple of futurities, but I felt that he
needed a break after he ran in the Ed Burke," Romero added.
"I was also hoping that he would become a nice 3-year-old,
which I think he has done."

A native of El Salvador, Romero first came to this country
when he was 16 years old. "I came here to work and now I own
a body shop in Gardena. We do body repairs and we fix small
cars and trucks."

And how would he describe Hulapai if he were an automobile?


"He's my Porsche," Romero said with a smile. "Hulapai has
all the horsepower I could want. He's in the Governor's Cup
Derby and the Southern California Derby, so we're extremely
excited about running him this year."
Romero has always enjoyed horses going back to his youth in
El Salvador. 

"There's a lot of Quarter Horse racing done in my country,"
he said. "There are match races just like in Mexico. I've
been a Quarter Horse owner at Los Alamitos since about 2005.
I took a little time off from owning horses at the track but
I've always had horses."

Romero gives credits to fellow racehorse owner Tomas
Castaneda for introducing him to his trainer. "Hector trained
Zee Wayne for Tomas. That's how I got into owning horses here
with Hector. It's fun, especially because of Hulapai. We've
had a lot of offers to buy the horse. We've had some
(six-figure offers) but I don't want to sell him right now."


Hulapai earned $16,500 for the win to take his career
earnings to $72,850. Double Bar S Ranch's Bud Cheeks earned
$6,750 for running second for trainer Jaime Gomez and jockey
Juan Andrade. Juan Alberto Tirado Lizarraga's Check Out
Corona finished third. Fire Is On, Tabasco Perry, To Shay and
Oh So Chilly completed the field.

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