With the first races for 2-year-old Quarter Horses just around the corner at Los Alamitos Race Course, let’s continue to look at some of the juveniles that have caught the eye during morning workouts from March 28 through April 4 at the Orange County straightaway. As always, all gate works are available for viewing at losalamitos.com.
GATE WORKS – MARCH 28
Fifteen 2-year-olds posted works on March 28 and the Mike Robbins-barn led the way with a trio of good looking performers. Jessafamouslady had the morning’s fastest work of :12.20 in a solo drill. The Lousiiana-bred filly is the daughter of the Hall of Fame stallion Mr Jess Perry and out of the royally-bred broodmare Famous Corona Lady. A winner in three of 11 starts, Famous Corona Lady earned $184,408 while qualifying to both the Ruidoso Futurity in 2014 and the All American Derby in 2015. Sired by Corona Cartel, Famous Corona Lady is a half-sister to the millionaire One Famous Eagle, winner of the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, Grade 1 Golden State Derby and Grade 1 Los Alamitos Super Derby. Now one of the sport’s leading stallions, One Famous Eagle was sired by Mr Jess Perry – just like the promising filly Jessafamouslady. Bred by Jon R & Donna McPherson and owned by Reliance Ranches, this exciting filly is a full-sister to Jestfamous ($215,765), the winner of the Grade 1 Southwest Juvenile Championship.
Robbins’ barn also sent Dreams Divine and Invader, who worked evenly in :12.3. Invader is an Oklahoma-bred gelding by Tres Seis and out of Racing Winner, a two-time stakes winner of $66,864 from the great racing stock of Jerry Windham. Invader’s siblings includes 870-yard star Zoomin Racer and the stakes placed Shazee. Dreams Divine is an Oklahoma-bred filly by Corona Cartel. Her accomplished dam is A Tiny Bit More, a daughter of Tinys Rose Bud, who won 13 races, earned $238,430 and competed in the All American Futurity and All American Gold Cup. A Tiny Bit More is the dam of three-time Los Alamitos Grade 1 stakes finalist Corona Couture ($86,046) and Illtacmanhattan ($86,018), who was a perfect seven for seven in her career while winning the Grade 3 Bitterroot Futurity and Beehive Futurity.
GATE WORKS – MARCH 30
The morning of March 30 was one of the busiest so far this season. Fifty horses posted works at 220 yards with three of them recording :12.2 clockings. Legacy Ranch’s Baltas Babe was very impressive in her work with the daughter of Favorite Cartel flying from along the inside post. Out of Play Your Card, Baltas Babe is from the family of the great mare Docs First Card, the mother of so many super horses at Los Alamitos including major stakes winners Secret Card, Twin Spires, Docs Apollo and recent star Docs Best Card ($784,318).
Trained by James Glenn, Jr., the Favorite Cartel colt Close To It worked in between horses as a part of a three-horse drill and flew to a :12.2 clocking. Out of the mare Without Fault, Close To It is a full brother to 2017 Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity finalist Unblemished. Corona Required, trained by Jose Flores, also crossed the wire in :12.2 while working alongside a colt named Cuthroat (:12.5). The Corona Cartel colt is out of No Tools Required, an accomplished runner and producer. No Tools Required won four stakes races in her career, including the TQHRA Sires Cup Futurity and Derby. She’s also the dam of stakes qualifier Firing Tools ($182,829), New Mexico stakes winner One Hot Mecanic ($158,557) and Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes winner Required Fire ($71,235).
Other runners that worked this morning included:
· Hawks Valentine (:12.3), a colt out of 2014 Native Empress Handicap winner Ss Calendar Girl.
· Wrong Impression (:12.3), a Stel Corona colt from the family of Girls Secrets.
· Corona Lake (:12.3), a Corona Czech colt out of the Thoroughbred mare Shadow Lake, who twice finished in the money at Golden Gate.
· El Angel Corona (:12.3), a Corona Czech colt out of Hialeah La Nina Invitational winner Special Ela. She’s the dam of Wild West Futurity finalist Justaczech.
· O Yes I Can (:12.4), a Colorado-bred filly by Good Reason SA and out of two-time Grade 3 futurity winner Shazooms Doll. She’s the dam of seven-time winner Kuhl Wave, an earner of $225,014).
· Cataboy (:12.5), a colt by A Mere Chocolate out of 2009 Debutante Handicap winner Catahawk ($50,177).
· Escalating (:12.5), a filly by Tres Seis out of Kickin Escalation, the dam of Fall For It Handicap winner Kickin Seis.
· Javelina Cantina (:12.5), a filly by Foose out of Little Talks, the winner of the 2015 Golden State Million Futurity and 2016 Grade 3 PCQHRA Breeders Derby.
GATE DRILLS - APRIL 2
Another busy morning of workouts took place on Tuesday, April 2 with the Jose Flores-trainees of Diamond Rock, One Chick On First and Prima Cartel topping the morning works. All three drilled together this morning with Diamond Rock and One Chick On First posting :12.2 clockings and Prima Cartel going in :12.3. Here are a few notes on the morning workers:
· Diamond Rock (:12.2), the colt by Parsons Rock out of Might She Go is from the family of 1999 California Sires Cup Futurity runner-up Go And Dash.
· One Chick First (:12.2), the Texas-bred colt by Tres Seis is out of Chick On First, the third place finisher in the California Breeders Freshman Stakes for Fillies in 2012.
· Scoop There It Is (:12.4), Oklahoma-bred filly by Corona Cartel and out of Governor’s Cup Derby winner Scoop Of Sunshine ($200,224).
· High Plains Prize (:12.4), Texas-bred filly by First Down Dash out of graded stakes winner Ms First Prize Rose ($550,105).
· Special Interest (:12.4), colt by Separate Interest out of Shenoshespecial, a half-sister of Co-World Champion Whosleavingwho. Their mother is Lil Bit Rusty, a winner of 15 races and over $215,000.
· Separating Herself (:12.4), Utah-bred filly by Corona Cartel and out of champion Separate Fire, winner of the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity and Grade 1 Kindergarten Futurity.
· Rhapsody En Blue (:12.4), Oklahoma-bred filly by Corona Cartel and out of Run The Dash, the dam of World Champion Blues Girl Too (winner of 2006 Los Alamitos Two Milion Futurity winner and 2007 Champion of Champions and more than $2 million) and Grade 1 winner The Blues Man ($187,841).
· Mental Error (:12.4), Favorite Cartel out of 1999 Dashing Folly Handicap winner Iba Quick Chick, who is the dam of 2019 100-yard Blink Of An Eye Handicap winner Rite Quick.
· Eyell Be Back (:12.4), colt by Seperate Interest out of Eyesa Painted Bug, the dam of Eyes The Favorite, runner-up in 2019 Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship and 2018 Southern California Derby.
GATE DRILLS – APRIL 4
The broodmare Chickitita, a hard-knocking runner who finished in the money in 10 of 14 career starts, was nicely represented on Thursday, April 4 by her daughters Chickititas Favorite and Chicka Chicka Go. Owned by Ron Hartley and trained by John Cooper, the Favorite Cartel filly Chickititas Favorite was the big star during this morning of works, as she posted the bullet work of :12.2 while working from the outside post along with the wonderfully-bred filly Cartel Jess Rockin (:12.4).
Chickititas Favorite and Cartel Jess Rockin looked like two runners that will relish the 350 to 400 yard distances later in the year. As for the mare Chickitita, she’s the mother of 2019 Debutante Stakes winner Hard Headed Chick ($101,871) the runner-up in last year’s La Primera Del Ano Derby. Chickititas Favorite’s half-sister, Chicka Chicka Go, covered the 220 yards in :12.5 while working in between rivals in a three-horse drill. She’s by Separatist.
Cartel Jess Rockin is also by Favorite Cartel. Her dam is 2011 Champion of Champions finalist Feature Jess Rockin, a winner of six races and $293,742. She won the Grade 1 Bank of America Challenge Championship.
Other notable works included:
· Fly The Heights (:12.4), filly by Walk Thru Fire out of Flying Regal, the runner-up of the 2009 California Breeders Debutante Stakes.
· Mia Cartel (:12.5), filly by Fast Price Cartel out of Eyesontheprice, a mare sired by 1977 All American Futurity finalist Jun Jun Ni.
· Forgot The Rose (:12.6), filly by Favorite Cartel out of 2017 PCQHRA Broodmare of the Year Remember Me Rose. She’s the mother of current superstar and three-time major stakes winner Powerful Favorite and 2017 Grade 1 futurity finalists The Revenant, Remember The Rose and Remember To Dash.
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