ANOTHER NYMPH IS FASTEST QUALIFIER TO $325,000 PCQHRA BREEDERS FUTURITY
Dunn Ranch’s Another Nymph made sure she would not miss the finals to the Grade 2, $325,000 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity, as she was fast out of the gate and impressive at the end to post the fastest qualifying time of the night on Sunday at Los Alamitos.
Seven trials featuring 56 juveniles were contested here with the horses with the 10 fastest times advancing to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity final to be held on Sunday, October 2. Ridden by Jesus Rios Ayala for trainer Monty Arrossa, Another Nymph won the fourth trial division by ¾ lengths over Governor’s Cup Futurity winner Frivolous while stopping the clock in an evening’s best :17.533 in the 350-yard dash. The big effort propels Another Nymph to her first stakes final. The filly by Favorite Cartel and out of Elans Last did not qualifying to the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity earlier this year even thought she was one of the most convincing winners on trials night. Another Nymph won that heat by 1 ¾ lengths, but her time of :17.96 was not enough to punch her ticket to the million-dollar final.
This time around, Another Nymph (photo) would not be denied, as she improved her winning time in the PCQHRA Breeders trial by about 4/10ths of second from her clocking in her Ed Burke Million trial.
“I’m super happy about Another Nymph,” Arrossa said. “She ran a great race. Her problems have been at the gate. She hesitated loading tonight a little bit, but she stood in there really well and she broke great. I think that was the key to her race. We’ve always felt like she could run on the end. She got away from there good and Jesus Rios Ayala did a great job. He came back and said, ‘man, she broke tonight.’ I’m really happy with her trial.”
Ed Allred bred Another Nymph, who was winning for the second time in her three career starts.
“(Another Nymph) had a very nice race,” Rios Ayala said. “She broke sharply and finished nicely. She was unlucky on the night of the Ed Burke trials. I think she’s matured a lot since then. She’s changed for the better and she’ll continue to be a nice filly. That was a nice race against Frivolous. We broke on top and halfway through the race I expected Frivolous to come at us, but Another Nymph continued strongly.”
Clainfield Act Stables’ Frivolous finished with the fifth fastest time of :17.647 with Henry Reynoso Lopez up for trainer Felix Gonzalez.
“Another Nymph beat us by almost a length and had the fastest time,” Gonzalez said. “She beat us, but our filly gave a good showing and I think she ran even better than she has before. Our filly comes from great breeding and from a great breeder in Dr. Ed Allred, the owner of Los Alamitos Race Course. Our filly has power, she’ll make money, and if we can keep her in top form, there’s no reason for me to worry. She’ll give us her all.”
Hes Chickless, owned by Jeryl Hartley, and Mornings With Maria, owned by Javier Barragan, Jr., Enrique Becerra, and Miguel Gomez, tied for the second fastest qualifying time of :17.588 after winning their respective trials on Sunday. Ridden by Juan Pablo Leon for trainer John Cooper, Hes Chickless won his third trial by ¾ lengths over stakes winner Secret Success and Chicks First Flash, while Mornings With Maria outdueled Grade 2 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity winner Valiantli by a half-length to win for the first time in six career starts. Adrian Loza rode Mornings With Maria for trainer Juan Aleman.
“The filly left the gate really well and ran her race,” Loza said. “This is the first time I’ve ridden her and she did a great job for me. She finished strongly and showed her speed. She’s easy going, warmed up nicely and even though she can be a little nervous, I tried to be quiet on her. I gallop her in the mornings all of the time, so I know her well.”
A filly by Seperate Interest and out of Bartiromo, Mornings With Maria was bred by Dr. Steve Burns. Burns is also the owner and breeder of Turbeau, who won the opening trial by ¾ lengths for trainer Mike Casselman and winning rider Oscar Peinado. The Favorite Cartel entered this race after finishing out of the money in each of his first four starts.
Owned by Taos River Ranch, Dennis Jensen, and Randy Young, Valiantli was making only her fourth career starts. The Valiant Hero filly has finished third or better in each of her outings, winning two of her starts in the process. Arrossa saddled the filly, who was ridden by Armando Cervantes.
“Mornings With Maria is a super nice filly,” Arrossa said. and Valiantli has been off a long time. She ran a great race. (Jockey) Armando Cervantes said she stepped back just a little bit when the gates opened and didn’t quite get a great start. She still ran a super race. We were just hoping to qualify, a very nice filly beat us, and just glad that she made the final.”
Hes Chickless, meanwhile, turned the tables on multiple stakes winner Chicks First Flash in the third trial. Chicks First Flash had beaten Hes Chickless in the running of the Fred Scane Stakes on June 18, but this time it was all Hes Chickless.
“Hes Chickless has been very consistent the entire time since he started,” said Leon, who had ridden the Hes Relentless colt in all four of his career starts. “He began his career with a couple of wins and then he ran second to the very quick Chicks First Flash. This time it was the other way around. Chicks First Flash didn’t break as well and meanwhile my horse left the gate nicely. Hes Chickless is consistent and really knows how to leave the gate. He’s a big, strong, very good looking horse.”
Owned by Five Livestock LLC and Steve Wright, Chicks First Flash qualified with the eighth fastest time :17.686 and will now make his fourth stakes appearance of his career. The First Moonflash gelding was second in the Kindergarten, and first in both the Fred Scane and John Deere California Juvenile Challenge prior to his trial effort.
“I was really impressed with his effort tonight,” Arrossa said. “He kind of got bumped around and got behind Hes Chickless, who is a very nice horse. I thought Chicks First Flash ran huge at the end. He came back and ran a great race. A little nervous there at the last trial, there was three runners right there and thought that we might get knocked out, but we got in the final.”
A total of four juveniles qualified from this trial. Joining the top two were Brenda Figueroa’s Secret Success, who was second to He Chickless here, and J. Francisco Diaz’s Quirky Bitty Jess, who ran third in the Ed Burke Million in her previous start.
“Secret Success ran her race, but Hes Chickless just had an excellent start,” said Rios Ayala, who piloted Secret Success.
Bred by Hector Jaramillo, the Henoshersecret filly Secret Success finished with the seventh fastest time of :17.633, while Quirky Bitty Jess was the ninth fastest after crossing the wire fourth to Hes Chickless in a time of :17.718. Apollitical Jess sired Quirky Bitty Jess, who was bred by Homar Prieto.
Quirky Bitty Jess’ stablemate, One Sweet Bar, completed the list of 10 qualifiers. Both Quirky Bitty Jess and One Sweet Bar are trained by Lindolfo Diaz, who on this night gave the leg up to Alberto Zepeda on Quirky Bitty Jess and to Rios Ayala aboard One Sweet Bar.
“One Sweet Bar, he’s a solid, honest, consistent horse,” Ayala said. “He needed the race. He had not race in a while and I think this race will help him in the final.”
The complete list of qualifiers is as follows; Another Nymph (:17.533), Hes Chickless (:17.588), Mornings With Maria (:17.588), Turbeau (:17.613), Frivolous (:17.647), Valiantli (:17.656), Secret Success (:17.683), Chicks First Flash (:17.686), Quirky Bitty Jess (:17.718), and One Sweet Bar (:17.719).
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