THE BLUES GIRL

SORRY, CAN'T WAIT FOR THE ARTICLE. SHE DID IT BY A LONGER NOSE THAN HE BEAT HER IN THE TRIAL.

GO ALL YOU BEAUTIFUL GIRLS !!!

COURTESY OF STALLIONESEARCH.COM & LOS ALAMITOS.COM


Blues Girl Too (#7) wins the $320,150 Golden State Derby(G1) Saturday at Los Alamitos.
Photo by Scott Martinez

Blues Girl Too Wins Richest Golden State Derby(G1) Since '89

WOOHOO - GREAT ARTICLE, ORLANDO

LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA—SEPTEMBER 1, 2007— Blues Girl Too gave owners Russell and Lisa Stooks of Lucky Seven Ranch a friendly reminder of the joys of Quarter Horse racing after winning the richest running of the Golden State Derby since 1989 on Saturday at Los Alamitos.

Blues Girl Too, ridden by Saul Ramirez and trained by Joe Bassett, avenged her photo finish loss to fastest qualifier Sir Runaway Dash in the trials by defeating him by a nose this time around in a 400-yard time of :19.45. The clocking was just 1/100ths of a second off the stakes record set by Startlet Hawk last year. And to think that not too long before the 3-2 favorite Blues Girl Too stepped on the track for the Golden State Derby, the Stooks were asking themselves some very tough questions.

"Why do we do this?" Russell Stooks was asking his wife, Lisa, before the $320,150 Golden State. "You get so nervous before a big race that you start to wonder if you really need this in your life," he added. "Obviously, Blues Girl Too reminded us as to why we do this. And yes, we do want this in our life."

It's hard to believe that the Stooks get so nervous before big races. After all, it was Blues Girl Too who delivered them the richest win in track history when she defeated champion FDD Dynasty in last year's Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. The Stooks countered by saying that their 'shakes' are nothing new. They're always a bundle of nerves before big races.

"Every time we've been in a race of this caliber we get really nervous," he added. "We ran third twice before in the Los Alamitos Million, first with a horse named Whip Hand, and then with her brother, The Blues Man. Blues Girl Too is really our first big gunner."

She's more like a bazooka than a gun. The Texas-bred Corona Cartel filly has now won six of nine career starts and her victory here makes her only the third champion 2-year-old to win the Golden State. Eastex and Tolltac are the others. Her winning of $134,463 in this race raised her career earnings to $1,350,479, a figure that makes her the 15th richest Quarter Horse of all-time. Dashingly ($1,754,323) and Corona Cash ($1,542,880) are now the only females ahead of Blues Girl Too on the all-time list of earners after she moved past AB What A Runner, Higher Fire, Corona Kool, Strawberry Silk and Dash For Speed with this victory.

Blues Girl Too could now be pointed to an even greater challenge according to her connections.

"We'll see how she comes back from this race," Stooks said. "If she returns in good shape we will point her to the Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap."

The "Millie Vessels" carries a berth to this year's $1,000,000 Champion of Champions, so it makes sense to try to get Blues Girl Too qualified to that prestigious race as quickly as possible. Will a test against older ladies be an easier proposition than waiting to face the boys in the Los Alamitos Super Derby later this year?

"I don't think so," said Bassett. "There's nothing easy about facing horses like Apollitical Time."

"She's very professional," Stooks added. "Every time she steps on the track, she'll give you everything she's got. She a tiny filly but I don't think there's a horse in the barn area with a bigger heart. She used to need a great break in order to win. I don't think she got a great break tonight."

"Tonight, she just beat them," Bassett jumped in to say.

Bassett had been tinkering with Blues Girl Too's equipment this year and the change may have paid off big time dividends in this race.

"When you look at her winner picture in the Los Alamitos Two Million you see her looking back at FDD Dynasty," Stooks explained. "When she lost to Jess You And I in the Golden State Million, he was to her outside shoulder and we don't think she could see him because of the blinkers that she was using. Joe decided to take the cup in her blinkers back"

"It's now about a 1/4 of a inch cup," Bassett said.

"We don't take (the blinkers) off because she's very intelligent," the owner added. "When they go on, she knows what that is all about. It's time for business."

So will her new headwear be enough to overcome the older mares in the Millie Vessels?

"We'll make a decision to start training her for that race in the next week or so," Bassett detailed. "We'll take her out to the track and see how she feels. We'll nominate her but we'll probably not make the final decision until it's entry time.

"I feel relieved to have won this race. Everyone always wants a great horse like Blues Girl Too but when you get one there's a lot of pressure that comes with it. In the end it's wins like this that makes it all worthwhile.

"You'd like to see a great horse win by great lengths but a win is a win no matter how it comes. They don't write how much they win by on that winner's check."

Bassett rarely believes that the photo finish in a big race will go his way.

"It probably goes back to when I was a kid and my dad (trainer John Bassett) lost the All American Futurity with Heza Fast Man by a nose," said the 23-year-old trainer, referring to the 1993 race won by A Classic Dash. "Ever since then, I always think I'm going to lose the photo finish. I thought about Heza Fast Man tonight when the photo sign lit up. When I saw them break I thought Blues Girl Too was right there with the pack. Then I saw that big gray colt of Paul Jones motoring on the outside. Sir Runaway Dash ran a big race."

Trainer Paul Jones won the All American Gold Cup and the Brigand Stakes at Ruidoso Downs. His bid to make it a triple of stakes wins fell short despite an outstanding race from Runaway Ranch's Sir Runaway Dash. Ridden by Cesar De Alba from post seven, Sir Runaway Dash is a full brother to 2006 World Champion Wave Carver and champion Ocean Runaway. Bred by Lucas Racing Inc., Sir Runaway Dash earned $54,426, more than doubling his career earnings.

Not A Full Moon, the First Down Dash winner of the Grade 1 El Primero Del Ano Derby, ran a strong third here, and was only beaten by a neck by Blues Girl Too. Owned by Ron and Denise Van Amburgh, Not A Full Moon finished second to FDD Dynasty in the Governor's Cup Derby on July 28.

In addition to Sir Runaway Dash, Jones saddled fourth place finisher Trisk, who is a full brother to Sir Runaway Dash, and fifth place finisher Corona Deluxe. Lucas Racing Inc. owns them both.

Ten Oclock Scholar, Xtreme Game, A Mere Splash and Corona Couture complete the field. A Mere Splash suffered his first loss of 2007. He was the second choice in the wagering.


Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com