The Grade II Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity has always been a special race for Jaime Gomez. The veteran trainer has won seven runnings of the Kindergarten, a figure equaled only by the legendary Blane Schvaneveldt.
Gomez will have an opportunity to make the stakes record his own when he goes after his eighth Kindergarten after qualifying a trio of runners to the $279,200 final to be held at Los Alamitos on Sunday, May 17. His trio of Kindergarten pupils will be headed by fastest qualifier La Jaconde, a Favorite Cartel filly owned and bred by Balgo Racing Team, Inc. Racing in the first of eight trials, La Jaconde broke sharply from post number eight and powered her way to a length victory over Dan Moon’s Hez Fire Up. Ridden by Oscar Peinado, La Jaconde covered the distance in the fastest qualifying time of :15.483. A half-sister to multiple stakes finalist Jess Flashee, La Jaconde had previously run second in her debut to Moon’s Jet Wings One on April 17.
“She just did not leave the gate in her first out,” Gomez said. “She should have won that race. In one of her drills she did the same thing. She did not leave the gate. That filly can run. I loved her first work. It was a shortly after we had some rain and she was awesome that morning and she did so while under wraps.”
Gomez, whose most recent victory in the Kindergarten came in 2009 with Dutch Masters III’s Twin Spires, will also be represented by The Quarter Company LLC’s homebred PYC Powerglide, a colt by PYC Paint Your Wagon out of the 2015 Cash For Kas Handicap winner Tres Magicals. With Peinado aboard, PYC Paint Your Wagon covered the distance in :15.600, the fourth fastest qualifying time to the Kindergarten final.
“PYC Powerglide is a little bullet,” Gomez said. “He is small, but he is very quick. It’ll be interesting to see how he will do in the Kindergarten and also after the Kindergarten because of his size. I am just thrilled that he qualified for this race. I would love to win the Kindergarten again.”
Bobby Cox’s homebred Jeanetics, a filly by Mr Jess Perry, is Gomez’s third Kindergarten qualifier. Jeanetics’s dam is All N The Jeans, who finished third in the 2010 Kindergarten to Balgo Racing Team’s West Coast Hawk. Jeanetics posted the fifth fastest qualifying time of :15.647 after running second in the final trial of night. She came into this race after scoring an impressive 1 ¼-lengths maiden win here on April 18.
With La Jaconde, PYC Powerglide and Jeanetics, Gomez has quite a triple threat heading into the 300-yard finale.
“I have an excellent team,” Gomez said. “They get the credit. I have some good riders helping me out. Carlos Lopez is helping me out in the barn, and he is an excellent horseman. My son, Leonardo, is a great help as well. Last year’s I did not have as many good horses. I also won another trial with Cosmopolitanne, but just missed qualifying. It had been a while since I ahd won three races on a single night. I think the last time was in 2017. Things are going well right now. The entire team is working hard and going strong.”
Meanwhile, Monty Arrossa will saddle stablemates Jet Wings One and Hez Fired Up while searching for his first Kindergarten victory. Dan and Connie Moon, who own and bred Jets Wings One and Hez Fired Up, are also aiming for their first Kindergarten victory.
“I am very happy for Dan and Connie Moon,” Arrossa said. “They are smaller breeders but they’ve built up a nice broodmare band. Jet Wings One’s mother (Wayward Wings) has been a good one. I am happy for them. They have worked very hard for this.”
Sired by EC Jet One, Jet Wings One is now a perfect two-for-two at Los Alamitos. After winning her career debut by ¾ lengths on April 17, Jet Wings One posted a powerful 1 ¾ length win in the fourth Kindergarten trial. Ridden by Jose Nicasio, the Idaho-bred posted the second fastest qualifying time of the night of :15.511.
“She is turning into a little professional,” Arrossa added. “She is a goer. She has a great disposition and likes to run. She likes her job. I am happy with both of her races.”
A gelding by Kiddy Up and out of Fire For Toby, Hez Fired Up crossed the wire in :15.658 to give him the eighth fastest qualifying time. Nicasio piloted the Idaho-bred to his second-place finish to La Jaconde in the trials.
Owned and bred by Abel Reyes, La Reina Del Sur 1 outdueled Jeanetics by a half-length in the eighth and final trial, while posting the third fastest qualifying time of :15.557. Ridden by Carlos Huerta, the Favorite Cartel filly is trained by Sally Rivera.
“The first time she ran is was on an off track,” Rivera said of La Reina Del Sur 1’s second place finish on April 10. “She was slipping a lot. She has ability. Mr. Reyes is starting in the business He has a couple of other horses. I had another horse for him about two years ago. Every time we entered him in a stakes race he would get sick on us. We would have to scratch him. He didn’t make a lot of money as a result but he did okay racing in Phoenix.
“Mr. Reyes really cares about this filly. Her mother died so La Reina Del Sur 1 had to be raised by another mare. This filly means a lot to him.”
This victory is also a special one for Rivera.
“The Kindergarten will be my first futurity final,” she said. “It makes me feel good because last year the doctors gave me two months to live. I had cancer so I was not at the track for about eight months. I am now cancer free. This win and making a futurity final is like icing on the cake for me.”
Paul Jones and Ripley Vaughn’s Hi High Hopes, who dead-heated with Hez Fired Up when they ran second to Jeanetics earlier this year, posted the sixth fastest qualifying time of :15.648. Jairo Rangel piloted the Favorite Cartel colt, who was second to PYC Powerglide in the second trial. Jones saddled Hi High Hopes, as well as trial six winner Fly The Coup, who finished with the seventh fastest qualifying time of :15.649. Rangel was also aboard this colt by Favorite Cartel, who is out of the outstanding broodmare Babe On The Fly, the dam of Graded 1 winners Rock You and Little Talks. Fly The Coup was purchased for $250,000 at the Ruidoso Yearling Sale by the partnership of Jimmy Dean and Marilyn Harrel, Lana Merrick-Bailey, Bradbury Racing and Vaughn Cook.
Jones and Rangel also teamed up to qualify Bob E McGee, who posted the ninth fastest time of :15.665 after running third to La Reina Del Sur 1 and Jeanetics in the final trial. Bob E McGee is the only Kindergarten qualifier who had not made a start prior to the trials. The colt by Tres Seis came into this race after posting the fastest work from 48 drills posted on April 4. Bobby Simmons owns and bred the Texas colt.
Cedar Creek Tree Farm Ranch and Racing’s Unstoppable One has lived up to his name so far this season. The Oregon-bred colt by Hes Relentless has won both of his starts at Los Alamitos this season, including a successful ¾ length trial win. Bred by Michael and Shannon McKay, Unstoppable One covered the distance in :15.672 to advance to the final with the 10 fastest time. Hector Magallanes saddled Unstoppable One, who was ridden to victory by Alberto Zepeda.
“I have never even had a horse in the Kindergarten trials before until tonight,” Magallanes said. “The only futurity trials I have had horses in at Los Alamitos is the Wild West Futurity. This horse is a hard trier and he appears to like the distance. I think he is going to be a nice colt. He’s paid to a couple of other races. I think we are going to have fun with him this year.”
The complete list of qualifiers to the Grade II, $279,200 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity is as follows: La Jaconde (:15.483), Jet Wings One (:15.511), La Reina Del Sur (:15.557), PYC Powerglide (:15.600), Jeanetics (:15.647), Hi High Hopes (:15.648), Fly The Coup (:15.649), Hez Fired Up (:15.658), Bob E McGee (:15.665) and Unstoppable One (:15.672).
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