Legacy Ranch’s homebred Mister Appolitical (photo) scored an impressive victory in his first start in over seven months, while also posting the fastest qualifying time to the Grade 3, $150,000 PCQHRA Breeders Derby on Saturday at Los Alamitos.
Twenty-one sophomores competed in three derby trials at 400 yards with the horses with the 10 fastest times returning here for the Breeders Derby final on Friday, October 4. Mister Appolitical finished as the fastest of all, winning his trial in a time of :19.683. It was quite an impressive effort from the son of Apollitical Jess, who was making his first start since a fourth place finish in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby on February 9. Ridden by Jesus Rios Ayala, Mister Appolitical was always in command, as he lead by daylight early on before crossing the finish line 1 ¼ lengths ahead of Winter Derby runner-up Red Hawk Cartel.
“He looked good,” trainer Terry Knight said. “He wasn’t in any (derbies) before this so it was a perfect time to freshen him up. We would have liked to have gotten a start in him ideally, but it wasn’t going to work out. We’re happy. We felt pretty good coming into this race.”
Mister Appolitical has now qualified to four major races in his career. As a 2-year-old, he made the finals to the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity and Grade 1 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. He then won his trial to the Winter Derby before running fourth in the final. He’s now won five of 10 career starts and will certainly be one of the top contenders to win the Breeders Derby.
In a trial featuring four Golden State Derby finalists, Ed Allred’s Chocolatito pulled away late to beat Golden State winner Conquering Marie by ¾ lengths. Chocolatito finished fifth in the Golden State after getting bumped around at the start. The son of Favorite Cartel was sharp leaving the gate this time, and he got better and better with each stride.
“The last time we had a little bit of trouble with him,” winning rider Vinnie Bednar said. “We had the delay with a horse pulling his shoes and he got a little hot last time. We took him to school a few times and it obviously worked. The longer (the race) the more comfortable it got. He was a little slow out of the gate, but I know that if he gets a clean trip and room to run that he’s going to run them down with no problem. He really likes the 400 yards.”
Chocolatito finished with the second fastest qualifying time of :19.760. The Scott Willoughby-trainee has won five of eight career starts.
Reliance Ranches’ Conquering Marie was sharp early on and even had the lead. She would eventually finish second to the talented Chocolatito. The 38-1 upset winner of the Golden State, Conquering Maries qualified with the sixth fastest time. CD Horses Inc’s Ali Babe Foose finished third in this race, while recording the 10th fastest qualifying time of the night. He was among the Golden State finalists featured in this race.
The third and final trial went to Steve McIntyre and Marin Jones’ Cole Man 47, who gamely outdueled last year’s Grade 2 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity winner Wicked Affair. Cole Man 47 finished with the fourth fastest time of :19.857. He’ll look for a sweep of the PCQHRA Breeders Series after winning the Breeders Futurity last year. Legacy Ranch’s Wicked Affair was the fifth fastest qualifier of the night with a time of :19.866.
The complete list of qualifiers to the PCQHRA Breeders Derby is as follows: Mister Appolitical (:19.683), Chocolatito (:19.760), Red Hawk Cartel (:17.848), Cole Man 47 (:19.857), Wicked Affair (:19.866), Conquering Marie (:19.876), Jess Flashee (:19.877), Transcend (:19.883), Corona By Corona (:19.937), and Ali Babe Foose (:19.997).
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