LED BY GRADE 1 WINNER SCOOPS DYNASTY, 17 SOPHOMORES TO RACE IN GOLDEN STATE DERBY TRIALS
Impressive in each of his three starts here in 2022, Edward and Von Zae McNelis’ Scoops Dynasty will look to make it a perfect four for four this season when he leads a list of 17 sophomores in the trials the Grade 2, $210,000 Golden State Derby on Sunday at Los Alamitos.
Two trials will be contested for the Golden State Derby at 400 yards with the horses with the 10 fastest times advancing to the final on Sunday, August 14. Scoops Dynasty will be in action in the opening trial, which is race number nine on the 10-race card. Stakes winners A Famous Ribbon, Set For It, and Daytona 1000 are among the contenders in the second trial, which is the 10th race.
Scoops Dynasty (left photo) is already a two-time stakes winner this year after scoring in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby on February 19 and then following it with a one-length victory in the Adequan California Derby Challenge. His most dominant win came in the trials to the Winter Derby when he took off like a rocket right from the start and won by two lengths. Armando Cervantes will pilot the Monty Arrossa-trainee from post number five in the first trial.
Other top names in the opening trial include four-time stakes finalist Dasha Good Reason, who is owned by Robyn Gordon, Juan Moya and S-Quarter K LLC, and recent allowance winner Relentless Valiance for owner Parsons Ranch. Another young runner to watch is Lesley Joyner’s Jesstanothercartel, who will be making his sophomore debut after a juvenile season in which he showed great potential. He’s a full brother of the Grade 1 winner Jesstacartel, also owned and bred by Joyner. Five other top runners will be in action in the opening trial.
The second trial will be headed by Jose A. Aleman’s A Famous Ribbon and Jesus Avila and Jesus Cuevas’ Set For It with a total of eight sophomores competing in this 400-yard dash. Trained by Jose Flores, A Famous Ribbon won his Winter Derby trial and then ran a solid fourth in the final. He followed it up with a half-lenght win in the James Smith Memorial Handicap on April 2. Set For It, now under the watch of trainer Adan Farias, has won five of seven starts and his top wins include the Tolltac Handicap and victories in the trials to both the Golden State Million Futurity and Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. Set For It will be making his first start of the year. Daniel Reynoso’s ultra-fast filly Daytona 1000 will enter this trial after a sensational two-length win in the Down With Debt Handicap on June 25. She’s won in five of her 10 career starts.
The 10-race card will also feature a 330-yard allowance event for fillies and mares led by Grade 2 PCQHRA Breeders Derby winner College Scandal and Grade 2 Las Damas Handicap winner Astranomical, both from the barn of trainer Juan Aleman, plus Last Chance Dash Handicap winner Leah Carroll and the consistent winners Suite Expectations, Separate Delight and Ventura Jess JQM. Those three mares have combined to win 16 times and finished in the money a total of 42 times.
The early Pick Four will consist of four races around the bend, including a pair of top-level races at 1,000 yards. The opening race of the night is a $19,500 test led by Jesus Uranga’s Sweet Sonny, who ran a game second when facing the outstanding Pistachio Princess in allowance test here on June 5. Other top mares in the opener will include Swirling, who was third in that June 5 event, and Flatterwithjewels, who won during the LA County Fair meet at Los Alamitos on June 25. That was over the one-mile oval and Flatterwithjewels did her best work down the long straightaway.
The fourth race will be headed by the Sergio Morfin-trained Whisky My God, who took on the best 1,000-yard runners here two outings ago in the $50,000 final, and Gov From Above, who comes in after a three-length win here at this distance on July 3.
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