DR. STEVE BURNS HAS BIG GOVERNOR’S CUP FUTURITY TRIALS NIGHT,
LEDGERWOOD’S WILDE THING IMPRESSIVE IN TRIAL WIN
Dr. Steve Burns will be strongly represented in the Governor’s Cup Futurity final after owning or co-owning three qualifiers while also breeding five of the 10 who advanced to the 350-yard final during Saturday’s trials at Los Alamitos.
Burns, a three-time AQHA champion breeder, will look to win the Governor’s Cup Futurity for the first time as owner and with any of his talented juveniles. His trio of finalists are sired by the outstanding Favorite Cartel and will be headed by fastest qualifier Market Analyst (left), a homebred filly who is a half-sister to multiple stakes finalist Mornings With Maria. Burns also owns Sassperilla, a filly out of the Grade 1 winner Classic Sassy Chic. Sassperilla posted the fifth fastest qualifying time. The AQHA champion breeders in 2022, 2021, and 2019, Burns is the co-owner of Xpensive, a full-brother to Grade 1 stakes finalist Eye One The Sky. Owned by Burns, Juan H. Moya, Ricardo Bogarin Rodriguez, and Mark and Marta Winslow, Xpensive ran second in the final trial while posting the sixth fastest qualifying time.
In addition to the finalists that he owns, Burns also bred Jim Schlagel’s Optical Illusion and Paul Blanchard, Santos Montemayor and Ricardo Ramirez’s Mask Mandate. All in all, it was a big night for Burns Ranch.
“All that happens because of Dr. Burns and Jo (Rae Burns),” said trainer Mike Casselman, who saddled Market Analyst and Sassperilla. “They do everything that has to do with breeding (Quarter Horses).”
Market Analyst led the way in the trials after winning the opening heat by 1 ½ lengths and in a time of :17.736. This was her second victory in three starts and a return to the winner’s circle after a troubled fifth in her trial to the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity.
“She’s a really nice filly, really honest and does everything right,” Casselman said. “She’s real sound and that’s a plus. She got bumped around quite a bit in her second out and just didn’t have a place to go. Cruz just took care of her. We’re in better shape now.”
Casselman saddled another trial winner and qualifier to the Governor’s Cup in You See That, a colt he owns and bred sired by Seperate Interest and out of Favorite Cartel mare Mindys Favorite. You See That won the final trial in the fourth fastest time of :18.008.
“We’ve had good luck with that mare and we’re happy with this colt,” Casselman said. “He ran third in his first out against one of Paul Jones’ nice babies (Ed Burke finalist Kevins Wise Corona) and then broke his maiden in fairly good fashion. We haven’t gated him in five weeks so he needed this out. He’s not in the bigger futurities but he’s also in the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity.”
The second fastest qualifying time was posted by Kolleen Ledgerwod’s Wilde Thing, a Favorite Cartel gelding out of the Walk Thru Fire mare Hot Rocking. Bred by Ed Allred and trained by Cesar De Alba, Wilde Thing (right) has now won his last two stars while running second or better in all three of his career outings.
“He ran a really good race,” De Alba said. “First time out he ran second, but I think he was a little green. He’s starting to get better, and I think as the year goes on he’s only going to improve.”
Allred, a 13-time AQHA champion breeder, was represented by three other finalists that he bred. One of those is the Favorite Cartel filly Delightful Again, who Allred also owns. She was third to Market Analyst in the opening heat while posting the seventh fastest time. Allred also bred Ramiro Lozano’s Hubba Hubba and Eleazar Gonzalez’s Give Heed, both of whom qualified with top three efforts in their respective trials.
Here’s the complete list of qualifiers to the July 29 Governor’s Cup Futurity: Market Analyst (:17.736), Wilde Thing (:17.852), Optical Illusion (:17.996), You See That (:18.008), Sassperilla (:18.036), Xpensive (:18.036), Delightful Again (:18.067), Mask Mandate (:18.098), Hubba Hubba (:18.113), and Give Heed (:18.138).
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