LOS AL SUPER DERBY QUALIFIERS

COURTESY OF STALLIONESEARCH.COM & LOS ALAMITOS.COM

NO SECRETS HERE TOPS SUPER DERBY TRIALS


NO SECRETS HERE AND BLUES GIRL TOO HEAD LIST OF QUALIFIERS TO $818,850 LOS ALAMITOS SUPER DERBY

The first meeting between champion millionaires Blues Girl Too and FDD Dynasty will have to wait until the $1 million Champion of Champions after FDD Dynasty was scratched out of his trial to the Los Alamitos Super Derby on Saturday night. Blues Girl Too did run in the 400-yard trials to the Grade 1 $818,850 Los Alamitos Super Derby, which is Quarter Horse racing's richest derby since September of 2005, and she responded by posting the second fastest qualifying time of :19.50 to the November 10 final.


No Secrets Here on his way to the fastest time


The connections of FDD Dynasty, last year's champion 2-year-old colt, decided to skip the trials after the First Down Dash colt came up with some minor health complications. Blues Girl Too and FDD Dynasty, which finished first and second in last year's Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, are eligible to race in the Champion of Champions on December 15. The winner of the Los Alamitos Super Derby will earn a berth to the Champion of Champions. In the event that Blues Girl Too wins the Super Derby, this berth will revert to the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials to be held in late November.

Vessels Stallion Farm and Benny Rosset's No Secrets Here earned the honor of fastest qualifier to the Super Derby after he defeated Blues Girl Too by a neck in a time of :19.455. The winner of last year's All American Futurity, No Secrets Here was picking up his first win since November 24, 2006.

"I'm very happy with the way he performed," said trainer Paul Jones. "He ran a perfect race and showed that he is still capable of doing what he did as a 2-year-old last year. Hopefully he'll win the Los Alamitos Super Derby and earn the berth to the Champion of Champions."

Lucky Seven Ranch's Blues Girl Too broke through the gate prior to the start of her trial. She was quickly reloaded and to her credit she left the gate sharply and finished nicely.

"She was down in the two hole, so she was in the gate for a long time," said trainer Joe Bassett. "She got antsy because she was ready to run. I hated to see her get beat but we qualified to the Los Alamitos Super Derby and that's what we wanted the most. I was upset when she broke through the gate but everything is fine now that we know that she made the Los Alamitos Super Derby field."

"It had to hurt Blues Girl Too when she broke through the gate," trainer Paul Jones added. "That's never a good thing to happen but she still ran a very good race."

Twenty-seven horses competed in three trials and the No Secrets Here race was the most productive of the three heats. Feature Mr Liquidity, Los Alamitos Winter Derby winner A Stoli Mate and Jumpnback also qualified out of this heat to join No Secrets Here and Blues Girl Too in the final.

Felix Gonzalez's A Mere Splash posted the third fastest qualifying time of :19.505 following his 3/4 length win over champion Jess You And I in the second trial. A Mere Splash veered in after breaking from post eight on the way to his sixth win in eight career starts. Rodrigo Aceves piloted him for trainer Adan Farias. A Mere Splash is now two for two when facing Jess You And I, as he also defeated last year's champion 2-year-old gelding in the Grade 3 Vandy's Flash Handicap earlier this year. Jess You And I, who won the Golden State Million Futurity last season, qualified with the sixth fastest time.

Vessels Stallion Farms' Little Bit Of Baja won the first trial at odds of 23-1. The First Down Dash gelding was picking up only his second win in 11 starts. He ran second to A Mere Splash in the Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes earlier this year and fourth to Not A Full Moon in the El Primero Del Ano Derby.

Little Bit Of Baja will have a large cheering section in the Los Alamitos Super Derby final, as he has become a fan favorite to a group of members of the famous Rancheros Vistadores. Frank "Scoop" Vessels is a member of the Rancheros Vistadores, which has members from across the United States, with most originating from the central and western United States. The group meets on ranch land in Santa Barbara and embarks northward on a 60-mile journey across the countryside. John Mitchell, son of a well-to-do Chicago bank president, Naval Aviation Serviceman in World War I, founded the group. After a two-week encampment, Mitchell discussed with some friends about forming the Rancheros. The Rancheros Vistadores had their first full ride in May of 1930. Former United States President Ronald Reagan and former Justice William P. Clark belonged to Rancheros Vistadores.

On Saturday night at Los Alamitos, Paul Deats and Jerry McAlevey, both members of Rancheros Vistadores, were on hand at Los Alamitos rooting on Little Bit Of Baja. Deats served as a commissioner on the California Horse Racing Board for eight years in the 1980s.

"I come and watch every one of Little Bit Of Baja's races," Deats said. "I have a ranch for pleasure horses in Solvang in the Santa Ynez Valley. What I love about Little Bit Of Baja is that he doesn't waste any energy in the paddock. He's calm and he is well behaved.

"I've known the Vessels family for a very long time," Deats added. "I started racing horses here when Scoop's grandfather owned Los Alamitos. His grandfather used to have these spaghetti feeds on Sundays and after eating we would match race our horses. I had a horse that I matched raced here against a horse owned by Bill Lampkin. I went with the Vessels family to President Richard Nixon's inaugural parade. I remember going to a racetrack in Maryland with the Vessels on that trip."

McAlevey has also been involved with Little Bit Of Baja since the horse began his racing career. "He's had bad breaks, he's had bad luck, it's special to see him run like he did tonight," he said. "I'm in shock right now."

Little Bit Of Baja represented the first horse that trainer Adan Farias has saddled for Vessels Stallion Farm. "Scoop called me three weeks ago and asked me if I would train a horse for Vessels," Farias said. "It's an honor to train for Vessels Stallion Farm. I had dreams about training for Vessels but that's what I thought they would always be, just dreams. I never expected Little Bit Of Baja to win this race but what a great feeling it is to get the job done with him."

Dont Let Down, this year's All American Derby winner, broke slow and never challenged No Secrets Here in the final trial.



Race: LOS ALAMITOS SUPER DERBY-G1
Track: LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE
Trials: OCTOBER 20, 2007
Final: NOVEMBER 10, 2007
Purse: $818,850
Age: 3-YEAR-OLDS
Distance: 400 YARDS

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

No Secrets Here c. First Down Dash--Dicey Secret, by Raise A Secret (TB) :19.455 Vessels Stallion Farm, LLC & Benny Rosset Vessels Stallion Farm, LLC (CA) Paul C. Jones Cody Jensen

Blues Girl Too f. Corona Cartel--Run The Dash, by Sixarun :19.500 Lucky Seven Ranch Lucky Seven Ranch (TX) Joe Bassett Saul Ramirez, Jr.

A Mere Splash g. Splash Bac--A Mere Classic, by A Classic Dash :19.505 Felix A. Gonzalez Jose Luis Gonzalez (CA) Adan Farias Rodrigo Aceves

Feature Mr Liquidity g. Feature Mr Jess--Miss Liquidity, by First Down Dash :19.530 Felix A. Gonzalez Michael A. Pohl (TX) Adan Farias Eddie V. Garcia

A Stoli Mate g. Stoli--A Streakin Mate, by Streakin La Jolla :19.575 Jesus Avila & Jesus Cuevas J.E. III, D.C., C.T. Jumonville Adan Farias Rodrigo Aceves

Jess You And I g. Feature Mr Jess--Gold Daze, by Tolltac :19.600 Double Bar S Ranch LLC, Rhonda Rae and Dawn R. List (CA) Jaime H. Gomez J.R. Ramirez

Little Bit Of Baja g. First Down Dash--Bcr Pale Moon, by Kingdom Key :19.625 Vessels Stallion Farm, LLC Vessels Stallion Farm, LLC (CA) Joe Bassett Rodrigo Aceves

Look Her Over f. Check Him Out--Oh La Proud, by Shirley's Champion (TB) :19.625 Edward C. Allred Edward C. Allred (CA) Scott Willoughby Raul Ramirez, Jr.

Jumpnback c. Check Him Out--Imjumpn, by First Down Dash :19.640 R. Sepulveda & H. Hernandez Blane Schvaneveldt/J. Andreini (CA) Jose Antonio Flores Alex Bautista

Ten Oclock Scholar g. Bono Jazz--Dollars Chick, by Chicks Beduino :19.645 Edward C. Allred & Tom Seibly Spencer L. Childers (CA) Dan C. Francisco Raul Ramirez, Jr.

Trial Notes: All American Futurity(G1) winner No Secrets Here won the last of three trials by a neck over Champion Blues Girl Too to post the fastest quaifying time.