COLLEGE SCANDAL ACES BREEDERS DERBY ON SATURDAY NIGHT AT LOS ALAMITOS
Gentry Farms’ College Scandal finished strongly from the outside post nine to win the Grade 2, $122,000 PCQHRA Breeders Derby on Saturday, as winning rider Ramon Sanchez (photo) equaled Eddie Garcia’s record for most stakes victories at Los Alamitos Race Course.
Sanchez, a two-time AQHA champion jockey and a winner of 1,873 Quarter Horse races at the Orange County track, has now won 153 stakes races in his career at Los Alamitos. Never one to boast about himself, Sanchez was humble when asked about his record tying win.
“This win feels great, but it doesn’t take away from the greatness of jockey Eddie Garcia,” Sanchez said. “I’ll just keep trying to win races.”
Winning races with talented female Quarter Horses is what Gentry Farms and Juan Aleman continue doing at Los Alamitos. The owner/trainer combo teamed-up to win the Grade 1 Charger Bar Handicap earlier this year with Kiss Thru Fire and now have a top derby winner thanks to College Scandal, who covered the 400 yards in :19.803.
“She likes the extra 50 yards,” said owner Robert Kirk Gentry. “Now that she’s running 400, it’s a different game for her. She keeps getting better. Juan has gotten her where she’s at. I only have two families in the Quarter Horse (breeding) world, and they are Kiss Thru Fire’s family through Fredaville and College Scandal’s family through Fovee. It’s very special. We’ve come to Los Alamitos for a long time and thankful to Dr. Ed Allred for all he does for our industry. What a great place to run Quarter Horses.”
Racing from post nine, College Scandal earned $47,040 to nearly double her lifetime earnings to $95,016. She’s now won four of 17 starts and has finished third or better in her last five starts, including a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Golden State Derby on August 15.
“As a 3-year-old we noticed that this filly needed more distance,” Aleman added. “She was coming up short. Once she started running 350 yards and now 400, she really has a late kick as a 3-year-old. We just kept going with her, never gave up on her because I told the owners that I thought she had some talent. Sure enough, she’s run some good races for us. She was unlucky in the Golden State. She drew the one hole and at the gap she veered out. She had never been in the one hole, that was her first time. She only got beat by a head. The outside post helped a lot.”
College Scandal will be pointed to the trials to the Grade 2 Southern California Derby and then the Grade 1 Charger Bar Handicap in January of 2022.
Ed Allred’s Roving Kind earned $19,040 for running second for trainer Scott Willoughby, while Steve Burns’ Baccarat Attack earned $13,440 for running third for trainer Mike Casselman. Go To Girl, Copauinos Best, Katella Avenue, Milan Red, Expedited and BF Outfoosed completed the field.
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