BLUES GIRL TOO

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Blues Girl Too hopes to return to the winner circle in Saturday's Golden State Derby(G1).
Photo by Scott Martinez


Blues Girl Too Looking For Next Grade 1 in Golden State Derby



LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA—AUGUST 30, 2007—The queen will look to return to her throne on Saturday when last year's AQHA Champion 2-Year-Old Blues Girl Too competes in the finals of the $320,150 Grade 1 Golden State Derby at Los Alamitos Race Course. But standing in her way are a lightly raced 3-year-old who has already taken down a champion this year and the horse that spoiled her comeback in the Golden State Derby trials.

Blues Girl Too was named the country's best 2-year-old in 2006 after winning five of seven races last year while racing exclusively at Los Alamitos. Her biggest victory came in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, and her only defeats were second-place finishes in the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity and Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity.

Then Blues Girl Too, who is owned by Russell and Lisa Stooks of Lucky Seven Ranch, was off from the races for eight months while recovering from a surgery that removed six small chips from her knee and ankle. The daughter of sire Corona Cartel and dam Run The Dash led at the sixteenth pole of her comeback trial but was nosed out on the wire by fastest qualifier Sir Runaway Dash.

"She ran a good race and posted a strong time," her trainer, Joe Bassett, said after the trial. "I can't ask her for more because this was her first race back and it was 400 yards."

Still, Blues Girl Too will have to face Sir Runaway Dash again in the 400-yard finals. Also looking for a breakout race in the finals is A Mere Splash, who took down 2006 AQHA Champion 2-Year-Old Gelding Jess You And I in the $35,000 Grade 3 Vandy's Flash Handicap in July.

Sir Runaway Dash, who is owned by the Runaway Ranch of Bruce and Anette Dickamore and John and Donna Kirkham, posted the biggest win of his career when upsetting Blues Girl Too in the trials in a time of 19.51 seconds. Sir Runaway Dash is a full brother to last year's AQHA World Champion Wave Carver, who finished second in the 2006 Golden State Derby. Sir Runaway Dash, out of sire First Down Dash and dam Runaway Wave, is also the full brother of fellow Golden State Derby finalist Trisk. Cesar De Alba, who rode Sir Runaway Dash for the first time in the trials, will be aboard again for trainer Paul Jones in the finals.

While Blues Girl Too was tearing up Los Alamitos in 2006, A Mere Splash was awaiting a racing debut that did not come until Dec. 2. But the Adan Farias-trainee has made up for lost time in a hurry with four straight victories, including the $145,000 Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes and an upset of 2006 AQHA Champion 2-Year-Old Gelding Jess You And I in the Vandy's Flash. Owner Felix Gonzalez and breeder Jose Luis Gonzalez, his son, supplemented A Mere Splash to the Golden State Derby for $9,700 and have also paid a supplemental fee of $25,000 for the Splash Bac gelding to be eligible to the Los Alamitos Super Derby later this year.

"We paid a lot of money to get him in these two races, so I was really nervous tonight," Jose Luis Gonzalez said the night of the Golden State Derby trials.

The 10 finalists for the Golden State Derby also include $205,200 Grade 1 El Primero del Ano Derby winner Not A Full Moon, Xtreme Game, Corona Couture, Holland Opener, Corona Deluxe and Ten Oclock Scholar.

The last AQHA Champion 2-Year-Old to win the Golden State Derby was Tolltac in 1984. The purse for this year's Golden State Derby has been increased by $91,200 and is the richest since the 1989 renewal.