CYBER ATTACK, HES JUDGEANDJURY HEAD CALIFORNIA’S RICHEST HORSE RACE
THE LOS ALAMITOS TWO MILLION FUTURITY ON SUNDAY
The richest horse race in California in 2022, the Grade 1, $1,857,225 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, is all set to be contested with Rosenthal Ranch’s Cyber Attack, who posted the fastest qualifying time to this race, and Steve Holt and Jeff Jones’ Hes Judgeandjury, the winner of the Grade 1 All American Futurity, headlining the field to the 400-yard race here on Sunday night.
To be ridden by Eduardo Nicasio and trained by Chris O’Dell, Cyber Attack will look to become the second member of his immediate family to win the Two Million after full brother Bomb Cyclone won this race last year for the exact same connections. The 7-5 favorite in this race, Cyber Attack made his case as the one to beat after winning his trial by two lengths on November 20. Furthermore, the Steve Burns-bred runner by Favorite Cartel and out of the great broodmare Remember Me Rose covered the distance in :19.58, a time that was 23/100ths of a second faster than the next closest qualifier, Ray Yeigh.
Cyber Attack (left) will start from post number nine, while looking to win his first futurity of the year after running second in the Rainbow Futurity and the Golden State Million Futurity. His runner-up effort in the Golden State Million came in photo finish, as he missed winning by a nose.
“We’ve made a little adjustment to him,” O’Dell said. “We’ve put some smaller blinkers on him so that he can see a little bit. You just have to try to make those adjustments and that’s my job. We ran him in the trials with smaller blinkers. He never saw anybody because he was so far in front. I’m thinking that if it gets down to the nitty-gritty, my plan is that if he really has to hook up, that he’ll be able to see that other horse.”
Trainer Heath Taylor will saddle both Hes Judgeandjury (right) and Bobby Cox’s Jeriko, who has a wicked late kick as proven by his Two Million trial win and his strong finish in the Golden State Million final. Both runners figure to be flying late, Hes Judgeandjury winning the All American at 440 yards. Bred by his owners, Hes Judgeandjury will start from post six, which is the same spot he won the All American from on Labor Day.
“The entire field is very talented, but (Hes Judgeandjury) he likes a strong target,” Taylor said. “The other horse, Jeriko, is very fast. He just needs a clean start.”
Shaun Hubbard and Ray Willis’ Ray Yeigh is named in honor of the late horseman. Yeigh’s widow, Marlene, will be attendance Sunday. Ray Yeigh won his trial by a 1 1/4 lengths and has the quickness to get an early call.
The field will also feature: P&J Racing’s Ltd.’s AJ Born Running qualified to the Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity and will start from post number one on Sunday; J. Francisco Diaz’s Good Wagon SA, who will make his stakes debut here, has finished second or better in all four of his career starts; George and Ruben Villalobos’s Required First, the runner-up in the Governor’s Cup Futurity earlier this year; Alfredo Alonzo and Luciano and Roberto Martinez’s Hay Shaker, winner of the Los Alamitos Claiming Futurity and since then a two-time Grade 1 futurity finalist; Eleazar Gonzalez’s Mahomes Magic, a regally-bred runner claimed for $20,000 on July 17; and Johnny Trotter’s Famous Miss Kitty, runner-up in the John Deere California Juvenile Challenge and a half-sister to Los Alamitos Million Futurity winner and champion One Famous Eagle.
The field from the rail out: AJ Born Runnin, Good Wagon SA, Ray Yeigh, Required First, Jeriko, Hes Judgeandjury, Hay Shaker, Mahomes Magic, Cyber Attack, and Famous Miss Kitty.
Five winners on the night of the trials to the Los Alamitos Two Million will be in action in the $50,000 Los Alamitos Two Million Juvenile Stakes, a consolation type race in which trial participants to its rich futurity namesake are preferred. The list of trial winners returning includes Jeryl Hartley’s Hes Chickless, winner of the Ah Sigh Handicap, and Larry and Bobbie Rice’s R Ladys Dynasty, who also won her Golden State Million trial. The other three trial winners are Lawless Wallace, Apollitical Dynamite, and Mi Santo. A full field of 10 will race in this 350 yard dash, which will also feature Out Of The Way, Interesting Eagle, and Ima Sixy Man, all runner-ups in their respective Two Million trials. AJ Run For Cash and Pragmatic will complete the field. They finished third in their Two Million trials.
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