FLORES EARNS 100TH CAREER STAKES WIN COURTESY OF MASK MANDATE IN THE GOVERNOR’S CUP DERBY
Trainer Jose Flores became only the fifth trainer with 100 Quarter Horse stakes wins at Los Alamitos after saddling the 14-1 longshot Mask Mandate to victory in the $170,000 Governor’s Cup Derby at 400 yards. Flores joins Blane Schvaneveldt, Paul Jones, John Cooper and Jaime Gomez as the only trainers in this exclusive club at Los Alamitos.
“I’m super excited about it,” Flores said in the winner’s circle. “It was kind of surprising because I had forgotten all about that. We did it with a horse that I always believed a lot in him. He finally came through for us.”
Owned by the partnership of Paul Blanchard, Guadalupe Bujanda, Jose Flores, and Santos Montemayor, Mask Mandate enjoyed a good start and was outstanding once he found his full stride. In an instant, the son of Favorite Cartel opened a daylight advantage on his eight rivals and from there he posted a half-length victory over 5-2 favorite Checkn Cartel. Cruz Mendez was aboard the Steve Burns-trained gelding out of the AQHA champion mare Quirky.
Mask Mandate won his career debut but then struggled at the start of most of his next five races. In his 2024 debut he broke through the gate before the start, but then recovered from a slow start to win his sophomore debut by a neck. He then showed good speed when breaking on top and finishing third in his Governor’s Cup Derby trial before putting it all together to win the derby final. He covered the distance in :19.969 while picking up his third win in nine starts. He earned $69,300 for the win to triple his career earnings to $101,095.
“I believe in this horse a lot,” Flores said. “He got hurt early on – had some shin problems early as a 2-year-old. He came back around and now he did it.”
With 100 career stakes wins added to his resume, Flores took the time to thank his owners.
“It was great that Santos Montemayor was in the winner’s circle tonight,” Flores said. “Like many of our great owners that we have in our barns, they always support us and are behind us 100%.”
J. Francisco Diaz’s Checkn Cartel earned $28,050 for running second. Ed Allred’s Boardwalk finished third and was followed by You See That, Twice Over, Change Happens, Wilde Thing, Optical Illusion and Winners Share.