Double Bar S Ranch's Tac It Like A Man finished as the fastest qualifier with a 350-yard time of :17.455, while Dutch Masters III's Checknbac stopped the clock in :17.465. With such a tiny margin of difference between the two, is there any doubt that another tight finish between them is in store in the October 7 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity final?

     The trials to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity attracted 76 2-year-olds with the horses with the 10 fastest times returning for the final. This year's futurity final has a record purse of $450,000 - an increase of $63,000 from previous record set in 2005. Jaime Gomez, who trains both Tac It Like A Man and Checknbac, will also saddle Corona Couture and Check This Runner in the final, while trainer Paul Jones matched Gomez with four qualifiers of his own. Here's the complete list of qualifiers:

HORSE	TIME	Owner	Trainer
Tac It Like A Man	:17.455	Double Bar S Ranch	Jaime Gomez
Checknbac	:17.465	Dutch Masters III	Jaime Gomez
Choosy	:17.525	Parsons & Parsons	Paul Jones
Corona Deluxe	:17.555	Lucas Racing Inc	Paul Jones
Sabrinas Eyes	:17.555	Jose Santos	Paul Jones
Future Father	:17.565	Dr. Ed Allred	Scott Willoughby
Corona Couture	:17.585	Double Bar S Ranch	Jaime Gomez
Coronas Rouge	:17.585	Francisco Gonsalez	Paul Jones
Ladies Boots	:17.59	Dr. Steve Burns	Pat Visscher
Check This Runner	:17.64	Dutch Masters III	Jaime Gomez

The following is a trial-by-trial recap of the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity trials:

TRIAL #1: Ten Oclock Scholar :09.68, :17.76

     Ed Allred and Tom Seibly's Ten Oclock Scholar is now a perfect three for three in trial races after winning the opening heat to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity by a head over the allowance placed runner Fly Down There. Trained by John Bassett, the Bono Jazz gelding also handed Chick Beduino Handicap winner Always Jumpn his first loss in five starts. Ten Oclock Scholar covered the distance in :17.76 but his final 1/8th time of :09.68 was slow in comparison to the final 1/8th time of :09.46 posted by fastest qualifier Tac It Like A Man or the :09.49 set by Check This Runner.

     "His time will not be fast enough," Seibly foreshadow after the race. "I talked to Ed about how fast we needed to go to make the final and we figured that he had to run in the :17.50s to have a chance. There are a lot of tough horses in the trials so it's hard to imaging making it with a :17.76 clocking."

      Unfortunately for the owners, their calculations proved to be accurate, as Ten Oclock Scholar would finish with the 22nd fastest time. Up next for the talented runner will be the trials to the Los Alamitos Million Futurity in late November.

TRIAL #2: Checknbac :09.54, :17.465              

QUALIFIERS: Checknbac, Sabrinas Eyes, Corona Deluxe, Corona Couture

      Dutch Masters III's Checknbac enjoyed her fifth win in a row after an impressive come-from-behind victory against a field that included three other PCQHRA Breeders Futurity qualifiers.

       With jockey J.R. Ramirez aboard, the daughter of Check Him Out out of Grade 1 winner Running Bac covered the distance in :17.465. She defeated Sabrinas Eyes and Corona Deluxe by 3/4 lengths after those two dead-heated for second place here. Fourth place finisher Corona Couture also made the final.

Checknbac after the Governor's Cup Futurity

       Checknbac was flying at the end of her trial, moving up from fifth place to first. Afterwards, Gomez did his best to zip Checknbac in and out of the winner's circle.

      "She's a very nervous filly," Gomez explained. "There was a nice group of people in the winner's circle and I was nervous that she would jump on them. That's just how she is, she is always antsy, but she can run."

      Prior to this race, Checknbac dead-heated with Tac It Like A Man in the 350-yard Governor's Cup in a time of :17.32.

      "She's fast but she's tiny," Gomez said. "She's one of the smallest horses in my barn. "It

looked like she slipped a little bit at the start of this race but she was flying at the end."

       Jose Santos' Sabrinas Eyes and Lucas Racing Inc's Corona Deluxe, a pair of Paul Jones-trained fillies, shard the fifth fastest qualifying time of :17.555. Sabrinas Eyes has finished second or better in all but one of her five lifetime outings, while Corona Deluxe advanced to her third futurity final of the year. She had previously qualified to the Kindergarten Futurity and the Ed Burke Million Futurity.

      Double Bar S Ranch's Corona Couture, who also competed in the Ed Burke Million, was battling for the early lead before settling for fourth place. She is another Gomez-trainee.

TRIAL #3: Ladies Boots :09.54, :17.59

QUALIFIER: Ladies Boots

      What a year it has been for Patricia Visscher. The trainer has won 25 races this year at a 33% clip, enjoyed her most lucrative win when Kaniska captured the La Primera Del Ano Derby and now will saddle a finalist in the richest running ever of the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity after Ladies  Boots dominant performance in the third trial.

       Burns' brother-in-law, Mike Casselman, conditioned Ladies Boots earlier this year until he had to return home to Colorado. Casselman left some of his runners with Visscher, including the Spanish Boot filly Ladies Boots, who has now won back-to-back starts. Ladies Boots broke her maiden by 1 1/2 lengths on September 23 and she was all business once again in these trials. Ridden by Alex Bautista for Dr. Steve Burns, Ladies Boots covered the distance in :17.59 while defeating Muller Racing LLC's Dimples First Dash by 3/4 lengths.

       Ladies Boots is out of Elans Secret, who is from the same female family as All American Futurity winner Elans Special. Dimples First Dash would finish as the 14th fastest qualifier.

Trial #4: Check This Runner :09.49, :17.64

QUALIFIER: Check This Runner

      Only Tac It Like A Man had a faster final 1/8th clocking than Dutch Masters III's Check This Runner in the trials to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. The runner-up in the Kindergarten Futurity, Check This Runner covered the final 220 yards in :09.49, just 3/100ths of a second shy of that of top qualifier Tac It Like A Man. The big difference between the two is that Check This Runner ran the first 130 yards in :08.15, while Tac It Like A Man covered that distance in a swift :07.945. If they had been in the same trial, Check This Runner would have trailed Tac It Like A Man by a length after the first 130 yards based on those numbers.

      "Check This Runner has a hard time in the first three jumps of a race," Gomez explained. "He never gets going until he gets 25 or 30 yards into a race. He gets cooking only after he gets past that point. He is so big and he has such a big stride that he needs a little time to get going."

        Check This Runner's winning time of :17.64 earned him the 10th fastest qualifying time. He has won each of his last two starts. Lucas Racing Inc's Trisk, a full brother of champion millionaire Ocean Runaway, Governor's Cup Derby winner Wave Carver and Governor's Cup Futurity finalist Sir Runaway Dash, was the 11th fastest qualifier after running second in this trial. After a slow start to his career, he has hit the board in each of his last two starts.

TRIAL #5: Jess Charming :09.55, :17.73

       Owned by Billy Smith, Downtime, Wootan and Yates, Jess Charming was impressive in her California debut, as the West Texas Futurity finalist won her trial to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. While Jess Charming finished as 16th fastest qualifier, Smith believes good things are ahead for the Mr Jess Perry filly.

        "The number two horse was leaning on her but she ran well once she got away from him," Smith said. "She's a nice filly and we believe she is a legit stakes contender. She's not very big but she can run."

         Jess Charming will make her next start in the trials to the Golden State Million Futurity on October 21.

        "This race should set her up nicely for the Golden State trials," Smith added. "Hopefully she learned a lot. This was her first time under the lights and she was a handful in the paddock. She was looking at everything."

        Prior to arriving to California, Jess Charming ran seventh in a star-studded trial to the All American Futurity. That race produced All American qualifiers Dont Let Down, Remember Me Rose and My First Passion.

       "She got away decent in that race but then they started kicking mud in her face and she quit running. That was a throw away race," Smith added.

        Bred by Vinewood Farms, Jess Charming has won five of seven starts for her owners. She is out of the Corona Cartel mare Corona Perfection, who ran in the 2002 La Primera Del Ano Derby and was third to Checknbac's dam Running Bac in the Blushing By Handicap that year.

       "I've always loved Corona Cartel mares," Smith said. "I think they make great broodmares."

        Jess Charming edged Micasaessucasa by a nose with Time To Streak finished another head back in third.

TRIAL #6: Tac It Like A Man :09.46, :17.455

QUALIFIERS: Tac it Like A Man and Choosy

       Double Bar S Ranch's homebred Tac It Like A Man continued his terrific form by posting a half-length victory over fellow Governor's Cup Futurity finalist Choosy in the sixth division to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. Piloted by J.R. Ramirez for trainer Jaime Gomez, Tac It Like A Man has now won three races in a row, including of course, his dead-heat win in the Governor's Cup Futurity.

      "There's not much that separates those two horses," said Gomez referring to Tac It Like A Man and Checknbac. "Look at their qualifying times. They dead-heated again. We're talking about two very tough horses."

       Checknbac impressed observers by making up a lot of ground in her trial victory while Tac It Like A Man overcame a mistake from post one to win this race by a half-length.

       "He went in right at the gap," Gomez said. "We had given him a breeze prior to these trials and he did the same thing. He is such a powerful horse that he was able to overcome it and still win with a fast time. He's a 'caballaso.' "

       Caballaso is Spanish slang for 'super horse' and this First Down Dash colt has been living up to the moniker.

      "He acts like a colt," Gomez said. "He has a lot of fire, he's very studdy. He's just something else right now."

         Tac It Like A Man, who also ran fourth to FDD Dynasty in the Ed Burke Million and was only a nose behind All American Futurity winner No Secrets Here for third in that race, improved to three wins in six starts. He's earned $204,750 in his career.

      Mark Parsons and Mark Parsons Sr's Choosy finished as the third fastest qualifier following her solid performance in this trial. One of four horses that qualified to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity from the Paul Jones barn, Choosy ran fifth in the Governor's Cup Futurity in her last start. A graduate of the Los Alamitos Equine Sale, Choosy finished with a time of :17.52.

TRIAL #7: Rico Cake :09.71, :17.78

      EG High Desert Farms, the meet's leading Quarter Horse owner, picked up their 39th win of the year after Rico Cake rallied from fifth place to post a half length victory over Abraham, Amestoy and Eastburg's Hey Holland. The colt by Red Hot Rhythm was picking up his first win since breaking his maiden five races back. Rodrigo Aceves piloted him for trainer Adan Farias.

TRIAL #8: Docs First Cartel :09.65, :17.73

      Eight of the nine horses that raced for Dutch Masters III in the trials to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity finished third or better, including second fastest qualifier Checknbac and 10th fastest qualifier Check This Runner.

      Dutch Masters III enjoyed a third winning snapshot with Docs First Cartel, who outdueled EG High Desert Farms' Artesias First Dash, in the eighth trial. In picking up his second career win, Docs First Cartel covered the distance in :17.735 to give him the 18th fastest time of the night.

       Always Jumpn, Contessa Corona, (lessee) Stuckonafeeling, Leaving The Cartel and Holland Opener each finished third in their respective trial. Literal Translation was the only horse wearing the Dutch Masters III's colors that failed to hit the board. He was eighth in his trial after being bumped at the start.

TRIAL #9: Future Father :09.60, :017.56

QUALIFIER: Future Father and Coronas Rouge

      Ed Allred's Future Father flew out of the gate and then held off Coronas Rouge by a head to win the final trial to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity at odds of 19-1. The Separatist gelding finished as the sixth fastest qualifier on Saturday.

      Ridden by G.R. Carter for trainer Scott Willoughby, Future Father covered the first 130 yards in a sizzling :07.96 from post nine. In comparison, fastest qualifier Tac It Like A Man ran the first 130 yards in :07.995.

      "We had to wait until the final race to get one in but we'll take it," Willoughby said. "I didn't want to get blanked. I've always been impressed with this colt even thought he was coming off a couple of tough races. The first time G.R. rode him (July 14) he got run over and never had a chance. Then in his next start he got a little short at the end and showed that he needed that race. It actually worked out well because that race set him up perfectly for this one. He got a good start tonight and was pretty good at the end."         

       Willoughby is in the midst of his first year training for Allred, who is perennially among the leading Quarter Horse owners in the country. So far, Willoughby has qualified Examiner to the Governor's Cup Futurity final and He Storms to the Los Alamitos Winter Derby and PCQHRA Breeders Derby. He also saddled Get Down Perry to second place finishes in the Vessels Maturity and Chicado V Handicap. Get Down Perry has since been sold to Jim Helzer.

       Future Father was the barn's big star of the night but stablemate Exploiting also did well, as he finished third to Docs First Cartel in the eighth trial. Look Her Over, another Willoughby-charge, ran sixth to Jess Charming in the fifth trial.

      "I thought Look Her Over would do better than she did," Willoughby admitted. "Maybe this race will set her up for her next start in the trials to the Golden State Million."

      Trained by Paul Jones for Francisco Gonsalez, Coronas Rouge qualified with the eighth fastest time.