WHIZKEY GLASSES LEADS EVERY STEP OF THE WAY IN GOLDEN STATE MILLION VICTORY
Soon after Whizkey Glasses had crossed the finish line first in the Grade 1, $1,112,300 Golden State Million Futurity and posed for the winning snapshots following his victorious return in the 400-yard race, winning jockey Jesus Rios Ayala explained just how flawless of an effort it was for the gelding by FDD Dynasty.
“The horse had a fantastic break,” Rios Ayala said. “He left the field easily after the start. It was an easy win. Two or three jumps and he was on top.”
And Whizkey Glasses remained the leader of the pack the entire way. Owned and bred by Dunn Ranch, Whizkey Glasses took off from the outside post eight and a few moments later he was already leading by a length. The Oklahoma-bred just keep pulling away from there, expanding his lead by 1 ¾ lengths on the way to crossing the finish line by 1 ¼ lengths ahead of another gelding by FDD Dynasty, the runner-up Significant Dynasty, who is owned by La Feliz Montana Ranch LLC. In Hott Pursuit and Hallelujah Night, Dunn Ranch’s two other horses in the Golden State Million, finished third and sixth, respectively.
Trained by Monty Arrossa, Whizkey Glasses’ effort gave Matt and Bendi Dunn their first ever Grade 1 futurity victory.
“We won the Champion of Champions with Apollitical Pence last year,” Matt Dunn said. “But this is our first big futurity win. This is what you wait on.”
Early on during Whizkey Glasses’ introduction to racing, Matt Dunn knew that his horse’s future on the racetrack would come as a gelding instead of a colt.
“When we broke him, you couldn’t even get shoes on him,” he said. “We had to (relax) him just to get shoes on him. He was a handful. I wanted to keep him a stud. We tried everything we could to keep him a stallion because I really liked him from the time he was a baby, but it wasn’t going to happen. We immediately knew that it wasn’t going to happen. We fought it for a while, but it was one of those deals of ‘do you want a racehorse or do you want a stallion that doesn’t run?’ We had to make a decision.”
By the time Whizkey Glasses made his racing debut in a maiden event at Remington Park on April 25, he was a gelding. He also proved to be one to watch, as he posted a come-from-behind maiden victory before eventually winning the $57,000 Easy Jet Stakes at Remington on Memorial Day weekend. He caught the eye again at Ruidoso Downs, winning his trial to the All American Futurity by daylight on August 21 before running a good fifth in the $200,000 All American Juvenile. At Los Alamitos for his Golden State Million trial, he once again showed that he would be a force in the final after pulling away in the final 100 yards to win his heat by a half-length. And it all culminated with a victory in the Golden State Million final in a time of :19.871.
“We knew we had something special, but he just needed a little more time to mature,” Dunn added. “He showed up tonight. We’ve had a lot of shots (in futurities). We’ve been in there and missed. I kept wondering what could go wrong, but he ran a great race. I think he’s a 440 horse. I don’t want to jinx anything but he’s special.”
Matt and Bendi Dunn own Whizkey Glasses’ mother, the Shazoom-mare Marys Southernpolicy. She’s produced Southern Wagon, who finished second in the Los Alamitos Oaks before winning the La Pacifica Handicap here last year. Marys Southernpolicy has also Americas Dynasty, BF Cartels Policy and Mary Paintyourwagon, each a six-figure earner during respective racing careers.
“She very seldom has a baby that can’t run,” Dunn said. “We have a full sibling to Whizkey Glasses out of her last year. Now we’re breeding (Marys Southernpolicy) to A Revenant.”
Now his dam’s richest son, Whizkey Glasses earned $452,886 to take his career earnings to $520,104. He also improved his record to five wins from seven career starts. The gelding will now be pointed to Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity trials on November 21. He’s also in the trials to the El Primero Del Año Derby in March of 2022.
Ridden by Eduardo Nicasio for trainer Chris O’Dell, Significant Dynasty ran a monster of a race. He was bumped several times during the Golden State Million, eventually finding running room and finishing with aplomb to run second. He earned $183,311 to take his career earnings to $237,861. The homebred gelding was making his second Grade 1 stakes appearance of the year after running in the Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in late July.
Dunn Ranch’s In Hott Pursuit, who was second in the Ed Burke Million, earned $129,396 for his third place finish in this race. The colt by One Famous Eagle has finished in the money in six of his career starts. Armando Cervantes piloted the Fulton Quien Sabe Ranch-bred runner for Arrossa.
The complete order of finish is as follows: Whizkey Glasses, Significant Dynasty, In Hott Pursuit, Just A Kool Boy, Chizum, Hallelujah Night, Fortunate Corona and Dasha Dynasty.
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