MONOPOLIST TAKES CONTROL LATE,
PULLS AWAY TO WIN PCQHRA BREEDERS FUTURITY
Ed Allred’s Monopolist faced strong competition for the lead during the first half of the Grade 2, $375,000 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity, but the son of Favorite Cartel took control of the 350-yard race right after the midway point and dominated late in route to a half-length victory at odds of 8-1 on Saturday at Los Alamitos Race Course.
Ridden by Oscar Andrade Jr. for trainer James Glenn Jr., Monopolist was fourth at the start of the Breeders Futurity from post number one before fighting his way to move up to second place behind Thats R Best Card with about 110 yards to go. The Allred-bred then showed the closing kick that he had displayed in several of his previous outings, moving past Thats R Best Card and then pulling away to score his second win in six career starts. Paulo Otavio Freire Macedo’s Reason To Fly MV finished second with Bella Valenzuela’s Opt Out running third. The second and third place finishers were both trained by Jose Flores.
Monopolist’s win is Allred’s first in the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity since Twelvie in 1997 and only his second ever in this race. For Glenn, this was his richest win ever, topping Check My Thought’s win in the then Grade 1, $236,000 Golden State Derby 2012. This was also Andrade’s first futurity victory at Los Alamitos and the richest victory of his young career. For Monopolist, his win in the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity was his first since breaking his maiden on May 1. In between those wins, Monopolist had finished fourth twice and second twice, including a runner-up effort in his trial to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity when facing fastest qualifier Terrific Temper.
“If you look at two of those trials, they just flat run over the top of his,” Glenn said. “They would break and the horse next to him would make a left and run him over. He would still be way back and come up and run fourth. His times were good. He was just a bad luck horse. He’s been sound and has a really good mind. We were hoping to just bide our time and hoping things would go our way. Today it did. I was a little worried (about the rail), I guess psychologically you just always want that nine or 10 hole perfect to open up. Then we got thinking about it and he had never stepped away like needs to, but he’s pretty smart and he (was) due.”
Monopolist crossed the wire 2 ½ lengths behind Terrific Temper in the trials, while covering the distance in :17.625. In the absence of Terrific Temper, who was not entered back for the final after landing of the vet’s list, Monopolist came back to win the final in exactly the same time of :17.625.
“I knew right away that the lineup for the final was going to change,” said Glenn, referring to not having to face Terrific Temper in the final. “As soon as I realized that, I thought we had a real shot at this thing. Terrific Temper is a freak – she’s an awesome (filly). When she was not able to come back, that put us with the second fastest time. I felt that my horse, being that he had been run over three times in a row, he was eyeballing (Terrific Temper) more than running after her. In the first 100 yards, if you watch the trials, he is really watching (her) rather than laying on his belly. I was hoping today – being that he clean race and did not get touch – that he would leave there and not have that in his mind and he would just keep running, which he did.”
Monopolist earned $153,300 for the win to take his career earnings to $164,940. He is eligible to run in both the trials to the Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity and the trials to the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity.
“We are going to do what’s best for the horse,” Glenn said when asked if Monopolist would race in both trials. “He’s sound. We don’t want to run a tired horse. We want to run a fresh horse for the money. If that means we have to wait for the Two Million, then we’ll wait for the Two Million.”
Andrade Jr. got his futurity win at Los Alamitos, another thing off his bucket list, as he continues to follow on the steps of his father, former jockey Oscar Andrade, whose career was cut short due to a riding accident when his son was just a baby. The older Andrade has stayed in racing and has helped guide his son’s career to the point where he is now one of the elite young Quarter Horse riders in the nation.
“It’s my first futurity win in the United States,” Andrade said. “I won one in Canada. It’s an honor. My dad did such a good job riding 2-year-olds. He has mentored me a little more in the gates with them. He has taught me to be a little looser with them. Let them calm down. They are younger horses. You can’t put too much pressure on them to break as hard as you want them do.
“With Monopolist, he was a little anxious, but the assistant starter did a good job setting him up,” Andrade added. “They kicked the gate he was forward. He broke a little too fast for himself. He lost his feet a tiny bit. At the gap he wanted to lug in a tiny bit. I kind of felt it before he did it. I asked him a few times and he cruised on home. I felt we were closing. I knew we were closing. I couldn’t see the outside.”
Ridden by Cruz Mendez, Reason To Fly MV was seventh at the start before rushing late to finish second. Bred by owner Paulo Otavio Freire Macedo, the filly by Good Reason SA earned $62,050 for running second place. Out of Take A Look, a mare that the owner purchased at the Los Alamitos Equine Sale in 2016, Reason To Fly MV has either won or run second in each of her four career starts.
Bred by Dr. Steve Burns, Opt Out earned $43,800 for his third-place finish. Also sired by Favorite Cartel, Opt Out was ridden by Raul Valenzuela. Thats R Best Card, No Hesitation, The Best Feeling, Rite On Time, Ynot The Favorite and BF Outfoosed completed the field. As for Terrific Temper, she will be pointed to the Los Alamitos Two Million trials in late November.
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