CARTERS CARTEL SCRATCHED - SEE BELOW

COURTESY OF LOS ALAMITOS.COM

COURTESY OF STALLIONESEARCH.COM AND LOS ALAMITOS.COM


Will He Or Won't He? Will Carters Cartel Run?



LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA—OCTOBER 5, 2007—Will Carters Cartel run? That's one of the big storylines going into Saturday's $484,000 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. The connections of the talented Corona Cartel colt are leaning towards bypassing this race to concentrate in the trials to the $1 million guaranteed Golden State Million Futurity on Friday, October 19.

Carters Cartel won the Ed Burke Milion Futurity, which is the first leg of the $1 million Los Alamitos Cash Bonanza, and Golden State Million serves as the second leg of this, the Los Alamitos version of the Triple Crown for 2-year-old sprinters. "Right now, we're thinking of not running Carters Cartel on Saturday," said trainer Jaime Gomez on Thursday afternoon. "We'd love to be part of the Breeders Futurity final but the Golden State Million trials are just around the corner."

If Carters Cartel does not enter the starting gate on Saturday, then the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity becomes a totally wide-open race. Ed Allred's Daddy Dasher and Cannon, Kelly, Marine, Rosenberg, et al's Bikers Bono, a pair of horses with stakes placed performances to their names, then become the most likely candidates to win the grade 1 event at 350 yards. Daddy Dasher, by Tr Dasher, ran second to Carters Cartel in the Kindergarten Futurity earlier this year, while Bikers Bono ran third in the Governor's Cup Futurity.

"Back in May when we faced Carters Cartel in the Kindergarten we still didn't know who the top 2-year-old on the grounds really was," said Scott Willoughby, who trains Daddy Dasher. "Now we know that Carters Cartel is a star and we feel that Daddy Dasher is a super horse as well."

Bred by Spencer Childers, Bikers Bono overcame a lot just to qualify to the Breeders final. The Bono Jazz gelding hit the inside rail during morning workouts and was out of training leading up to the trials. Bikers Bono shook off the incident in style, as he posted a 1-1/4 length win in his heat. Rodrigo Aceves will ride Bikers Bono.

Velvetins, who posted the second fastest qualifying time after Carters Cartel in the trials, could have a new owner by race night. The Make It Anywhere filly was Hip #45 in Friday's session of the Los Alamitos Equine Sale. She's won each of her last two starts.

Tailgunner Tom, Royal Mystic Miracle, Fishers Destiny, Ancient Ruler, First Down Apolo and Fast Moving Girl will also race.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com


CARTERS CARTEL SCRATCHED FROM FUTURITY


Heavy favorite and fastest qualifier Carters Cartel was scratched out of Saturday's $484,000 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity, leaving the race up for grabs for the nine other horses racing in the 350-yard Grade 1 event at Los Alamitos. Trainer Jaime Gomez turned in the scratch card on Friday morning and since this is a stakes race, the connections of Carters Cartel can scratch the horse for any reason.

Owned by Double Bar S Ranch, Carters Cartel won the first leg of the Los Alamitos Triple Crown in June and will make his next start in the trials to the second leg of the series - the $1 million guaranteed Golden State Million on October 19. A two-time Grade 1 winner already this season, the son of Corona Cartel is trying to become the first horse to win the Los Alamitos Triple Crown.

"It was a difficult decision to skip the Breeders Futurity," said trainer Jaime Gomez. "Every one involved with Carters Cartel has a great deal of respect for the Breeders Futurity. I met with the owners of Carters Cartel and Jerry Young, who is the ranch manager at Double Bar S Ranch, and after looking at the different scenarios we decided to point him to the second leg of the Triple Crown."

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I GUESS THEY JUST NEEDED HIM TO GET A RACE IN BEFORE THE GOLDEN STATE TRIALS BUT A DARN SHAME FOR ANOTHER HORSE WHO COULD HAVE QUALIFIED TO THIS ONE.