Dunn Ranch enjoyed a pair of impressive victories this past weekend at Los Alamitos Race. First, the talented stakes winner Apollitical Pence enjoyed a winning return to California by scoring in an allowance race on Saturday night. The promising 2-year-old filly Southern Wagon (photo) then followed on Sunday with a ¾ length victory in her local debut when winning at 300 yards.
Ridden by Jose Nicasio for trainer Monty Arrossa, Apollitical Pence beat a field that included older stakes runners One Proud Eagle, Elicity, Chicks Fayvorite, etc. on Saturday. Racing at 330 yards in the $13,500 event, the gelding by Apollitical Jess crossed the wire a neck ahead of his rivals to improve his career record to seven wins in 14 starts. This was also his first outing since winning the Grade 3 Heritage Place Derby at Remington Park on June 1. Bred by Dunn Ranch and Womack Cavender Farms, Apollitical Pence has enjoyed past success at Los Alamitos. He ran second in the Grade 3 El Primero Del Año Derby earlier this year and was a finalist to all three major futurities contested at Los Alamitos last year. After his runner-up effort in the El Primero, Apollitical Pence traveled to Oklahoma to race in the Heritage Place Derby trials. A victory there was followed with a big score in the $367,750 derby final.
“He ran a great race there to win the Heritage Place Derby,” Arrossa said. “They took him out to Matt and Bendi Dunn’s ranch in Wynnewood, Oklahoma and turned him out for a little bit of time. He needed the rest. It did him well. We brought him back out here and started training. We worked him once and he did super. We wanted to get a race in before the Los Alamitos Super Derby trials (on October 19) so we put him in on Saturday. I was a little worried. It was a very nice field of older horses. It was tough, but he ran a great race. I was proud of him. The horse came back super after the race. Hopefully it sets us up good for the Super Derby trials. He’s always been a professional. He’s matured body wise. He’s gotten a little bigger, a little stouter. Mentally, he’s always been real strong. The horse is classy and has a good mind.”
Nicasio and Arrossa teamed up on the following night with recent arrival Southern Wagon, as she took control of the race after the first 100 yards on the way to a ¾ length win in a time of :15.538. Southern Wagon. Bred by Matt Dunn, the filly by PYC Paint Your Wagon was making her first start at Los Alamitos.
“She started her career at Remington Park and then went to Ruidoso Downs,” Arrossa said. “She won a trial to the Rainbow Futurity. She qualified to the Juvenile and just had some tough luck in that race. We’ve taken our time with her. We’ve taken her to the paddock and schooled her in the gates. She’s been responding great. She had a really great workout going 12 flat on September 14. She’s eligible to run in the Golden State Million trials and Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity trials, so I wanted her to have an out under the lights. She could have broken a little better, but she was racing strong at the end. She was also taking on a classy field. I’m excited about both of these horses. It was a great weekend for the Dunns. They want to send more horses to California and that’s exciting for us.”
The 80-acre Dunn Ranch is home to an outstanding stallion lineup that includes 2006 World Champion and Champion of Champions winner Wave Carver and Highest Fire, the runner-up in the 2014 Grade 1 Los Alamitos Super Derby. Dunn Ranch also features 126 private turnout pens, large pastures, mare barns and more.
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