HIGHLIGHTS FROM PCQHRA FUTURITY TRIALS

COURTESY OF STALLIONESEARCH.COM & LOS ALAMITOS.COM

Velvetins Is Up For Sale

Has a horse ever been purchased at a public auction only to return two nights later for new owners to compete in a Grade 1 futurity final? That's what figures to happen with second fastest qualifier Velvetins, as the filly will be featured in owner Francisco Gonsalez's dispersal sale at the Los Alamitos Equine Sale on Friday, October 5. Velvetins is listed as Hip #45 in the Equine Sale catalog.

"We were hoping that she would run a good race tonight," Gonsalez said. "We've always believed that she had a lot of potential. She showed tonight that she's a good horse. She could win a Grade 1 race a little more than 24 hours after being purchased. That could be great deal for whoever ends up buying her."

Gonsalez will also be selling Velvetins' dam and sire at the Equine Sale. The stakes winning sire Make It Anywhere is Hip #70, while the broodmare Velvet Meter is Hip #33. Velvet Meter is a stakes winner of more than $90,000. She finished third in the California Sires' Cup Futurity and also competed in the Golden State Futurity and Governor's Cup Derby. Her family includes Grade 1 winner First Down Touchdown, current 2-year-old stakes winner Fighter On Fire, and the stakes placed Our Honey Bunny.

Also trained by Jaime Gomez, Velvetins was sporting new blinkers for this race. "She has a tendency to drift out," said Gonsalez of the filly that drew the outside post eight for this trial.

"We decided to use an oversized blinker," Gomez explained. "There's only about a 1/2 inch opening on the blinker. We didn't want her to go outside. The blinker did its job."

Gonsalez is anxious for the first day of the Equine Sale to arrive. "I've never sold so many horses at the same time," he said. "I'm not leaving the sport forever," he added. "I'll be back. The reason that I'm selling my horses is because I'm trying to generate money prior to the launch of my new Three Seven Tequila brand. I want to give the tequila a big advertising push. That's what I'm going to do with the money. I plan to come back to the sport in the near future."

Gelding Makes It Three In A Row

Armando Leon's First Down Apolo won his third race in a row while winning the first of six trials to the Breeders Futurity. Trained by Paul Jones and ridden by Cesar De Alba, First Down Apolo posted the fourth fastest qualifying time.

"Since we castrated this horse, he's won three in a row," Jones said. "He's completely different horse. We needed to do something to wake him up. Gelding him did the trick."

The son of First Down Dash began his career with three out of the money finishes and Jones decided that that was enough losing. "He was studdy," he said. "He wouldn't pay attention. The difference in his attitude is now like night and day.

"He was a ridgling," Jones said. "He had one testicle up and one down and maybe that was bothering him. In order to take them both out, he first needed to have surgery to drop the testicle and then we gelded him. It's not a typical castration."

After his third loss on June 9, the new First Down Apolo returned to win a nose decision on August 10. An allowance win followed on September 1 and then came this half-length victory in the trials.

"The recovery time between his procedure and a typical castration wasn't that much different," Jones added. "It's helped him become a pretty good racehorse."

Daddy Dasher Looks Like His Old Self

Second by a neck to Carters Cartel in the Kindergarten on May 19, Ed Allred's Daddy Dasher was razor sharp in his first outing since that runner-up effort, as he posted an easy length victory in the third Breeders Futurity trial.

"He needed that race," said trainer Scott Willoughby. "He'll improve a lot off of this race going into the futurity final. He wasn't eligible to any other futurities until these trials. That's why we gave him time off."

The son of TR Dasher was also making his first start at 350 yards but his connections were not concerned. "He loves the distance," Willoughby added. "It seems like all TR Dashers like the distance. My experience with the TR Dashers is that they're smart, easy to get along with and they try extremely hard. That pretty describes Daddy Dasher."

Big Scare Doesn't Bother Bikers Bono

Bikers Bono, third in the Governor's Cup Futurity in his last start, equaled Carters Cartel's margin of victory in the Breeders Futurity trials, as he also came away victorious to the tune of a 1 1/4 length victory. Owned by a partnership made up mostly of Orange County residents, Bikers Bono was always in control of this race en route to covering the distance in :17.475.

"It's like magic every time he runs," said Laurie Marine.

Just 10 days ago, Bikers Bono gave his owners a big scare as he bumped hard into the inside rail during morning exercises.

"We have an exercise rider that usually takes Bikers Bono out in the morning," Marine said. "This time (Jockey Rodrigo Aceves) came to give him a workout. Bikers Bono felt something was different and he took off. He ran into the rail and had a gash in the left hind leg. There was about six or seven of us owners here and we just gasped. It was a big thud when he hit the rail. The rider went down but hopefully he was okay. We could see Bikers was bleeding. Our only concern at that point was that he would be okay. (Trainer Charles Treece) took him to the barn and by the time we got there Casey Porter had already stitched him up."

Porter, who is part of Dr. Rick Overly's team of equine sports medicine practitioners, used a new technique that allowed the injury to heal faster than previous techniques allowed.

"When he bumped the rail he got a laceration," Treece said. "Casey went to work on him right away. He did a magnificent job. He took care of this horse every single morning, every day of the week. I was the most worried but Dr. Overly assured me that the injury wouldn't be a problem and he gave the go ahead. I asked the owners what they wanted to do and they left it up to me to decide. 'It's completely your call,' they told me. I went back to talk to Dr. Overly and Casey and they told me that the horse was fine to run. That's why we decided to run him."

Bikers Bono's injury prevented him from training like he normally would prior to a race. The gelding's lack of activity prior to the race was not a big concern Treece said.

"I know for sure that he can run 400 yards when he's completely fit," Treece said. "If he's not 100 percent, I still feel confident that he can run 350 yards. Due to his breeding and his talent, I knew that he would handle 350 yards even with limited training. When he gets older, Bikers Bono will run 440 yards."

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com