PCQHRA FUTURITY TRIAL RESULTS

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Carters Cartel keeps his record perfect as he runs away from the field in the PCQHRA trials. Photo by Scott Martinez

Carters Cartel Is Top PCQHRA Breeders Futurity Qualifier

LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA—SEPTEMBER 23, 2007—There's so much at stake for Double Bar S Ranch LLC's Carters Cartel in the months ahead. Already the winner of two Grade 1 futurities and the owner of the 350-yard track record at Los Alamitos, the colt by Corona Cartel will be competing in the trials to the Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity on October 19 and also in the trials to the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity in late November.
If he were to win the final to both of those races, Carters Cartel would become the first sprinter to win the $1 million Los Alamitos Cash Bonanza, which serves as the track's version of the Triple Crown. He would then have a powerful case in his quest for championship honors, plus he would become the sport's all-time leading single-season money winner with more than $1.9 million to his name - a figure that does not include the $1 million bonus he would earn.

With so much at stake - as a colt, Carters Cartel also appears to have a bright future in the breeding shed - it's understandable for trainer Jaime Gomez to consider all available options to maintain Carters Cartel in peak shape for the Golden State trials. Gomez, who has won more futurities than any other trainer at Los Alamitos this decade, decided that the best way to get the bay colt ready for the million dollar futurities was to run Carters Cartel in Saturday's trials to the richest ever PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. What on the surface appeared as a gamble turned out to be a brilliant gamble, as Carters Cartel not only won his trial convincingly but also posted the fastest qualifying time to the October 6 futurity final. The $484,000 question - that's how much the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity final is worth this year - now becomes: Will Carters Cartel return to race in the Breeders Futurity final?

"If he comes back perfect and everything else is perfect, you'll see us in the final," Gomez said. "We're going to check him very carefully to make sure that he's perfect. I wasn't worried coming into this race. I had a lot of confidence in this horse. He's been training great, he looked great and he ran a very good race."

Ridden by Alejandro Luna, Carters Cartel slipped coming out of the gate but he still came away on top to open up a 3/4-length lead. The winner of the Kindergarten and Ed Burke Million Futurity finished powerfully from there, as he posted a 1-1/4 length victory over Ancient Ruler. His 350-yard winning time of :17.27 over a wet fast track was 10/100th of a second off his track record win in the Ed Burke but 13/100ths of a second faster than Francisco Gonsalez's Velvetins, who was the second fastest qualifier with a time of :17.405.

"I wasn't nervous going into this race," Gomez said. "I'm feeling cool right now," he added. After running third in his racing debut, Carters Cartel has won each of his last five starts. He's the nation's second leading money winner this year with earnings of $619,037.


Race: PCQHRA FUTURITY-G1

Track: LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE
Trials: SEPTEMBER 22, 2007
Final: OCTOBER 6, 2007
Purse: $484,000
Age: 2-YEAR-OLDS
Distance: 350 YARDS

Horse Sex Sire-Dam, Dam Sire Time Owner Breeder Trainer Jockey

Carters Cartel c. Corona Cartel--Jumping Tac Flash :17.270 Double Bar S Ranch LLC, LLC Double Bar S Ranch LLC, LLC (CA) Jamie Gomez Alejandro Luna

Velvetins f. Make It Anywhere--Velvet Meter, by Meter Me Gone :17.405 Francisco or Jose Gonsalez Francisco or Jose Gonsalez (CA) Jamie Gomez Alejandro Luna

Daddy Dasher g. Tr Dasher--Moms, by Jazzing Ji :17.420 Edward C. Allred Edward C. Allred (CA) Scott Willoughby Raul Raimrez, Jr.

First Down Apolo g. First Down Dash--Tenacious Apollo, by Jonny Apollo :17.440 Armando Leon Armando Leon (CA) Paul C. Jones Cesar DeAlba

Fast Movin Girl f. This Snow Is Royal--One Special Girl, by Special Effort :17.460 Muller Racing, LLC JB Performance Horses, LLC (CA) Dennis Ekins Alex Bautista

Ancient Ruler g. This Snow Is Royal--Streakin Mille, by Streakin Six :17.465 Edward or Theresa Denike Edward or Theresa Denike (WA) Patricia D. Visscher Cesar DeAlba

Royal Mystic Miracle g. Royal Miracle Dip--Last Of A Royal Line, by Dash For Cash :17.475 Christian & Ru Anna Singletary Abigail K. Kawananakoa (WA) Donna McArthur Samuel H. Thompson

Bikers Bono g. Bono Jazz--Biker Babe, by Leaving Memories :17.475 Treece & Rosenberg, Et Al Spencer L. Childers (CA) Charles S. Treece Rodrigo Aceves

Tailgunner Tom c. Corona Cartel--Dash Free, by Victory Dash :17.480 Keilani Farms, LLC Frannie Stewart (TX) Paul C. Jones Cody Jensen

Fishers Destiny c. Fishers Dash--Dinastia Toll Brz, by Tolltac :17.480 Armando Leon Fakri Family Ltd. Partnership (CA) Paul C. Jones Cody Jensen

Trial Notes: Carters Cartel won the fifth of six trials by 1-1/4 lengths running a 100 speed index and setting the fastest qualifying time.

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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