GOLDEN STATE MILLION QUALIFIERS

COURTESY OF STALLIONESEARCH.COM & LOS ALAMITOS.COM

Photos by Scott Martinez

Carters Cartel Takes Next Step Towards $1 Million Cash Bonanza

LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA—OCTOBER 19, 2007—Double Bar S Ranch LLC's Carters Cartel is still on track to win the $1 million Los Alamitos Cash Bonanza after confidently qualifying to the second leg of the track's version of the Triple Crown - the $1,202,700 Golden State Million Futurity on Friday.

Carters Cartel won the Ed Burke Million Futurity, which serves as the first leg, and can now earn a $1 million cash bonus if he goes on to win the Golden State Million and the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, which are both contested at 400 yards.

Trained by Jaime Gomez and ridden by J.R. Ramirez, the Corona Cartel colt finished as the sixth fastest qualifier with a time of :19.67 at the aforementioned 400-yard distance. My Lady First and Fighter On Fire finished as the top two qualifiers, giving owners Rancho El Alacran a huge night at Los Alamitos. Adan Farias trained both sprinters for Rancho El Alacran.

Early Morning Bite, who finished third to Wild Six in the Rainbow Futurity, Stylish Jess Br, who won the Ed Burke Juvenile Consolation, and Eye For Corona, who ran second to Carters Cartel in the Ed Burke Million final, also qualified to the big finale, which is scheduled for Friday, November 2. First place in the Golden State Million is worth $486,234 while second place is worth $196,809.

Double Bar S Ranch LLC, winners of this race last year with Jess You And I, are one of three owners to have previously won this race. Ed Allred, owner of qualifiers Really A First and Thinking First, won it with Waymaker in 1989, while Vessels Stallion Farms, owners of Jess Another Habit, won it as co-owners of Dashing Knud in 2000. Jaime Gomez will look to win this race for the third year in a row. No other trainer in this year's Golden State Million has won it before.


Golden State Milioon Trial-by-Trial Recap:

TRIAL 1 - Winner: Early Morning Bite 1/8th time: 09.48 Final Time: 19.65

Marcus Smith's Early Morning Bite figured to be one of the outstanding horses in the trials to the Golden State Million. The scary things about him, however, were the trouble comments from his last two starts, which read "lated bid, vanned off" and "clear, bled, vanned off."

"It was the high altitude in New Mexico," said trainer Donna McArthur of the horse that twice qualified to Grade 1 races while competing at Ruidoso Downs in the summer. "He bled both times but it wasn't anything severe. Sam jumped off of him and he was vanned off. (Champion millionaire) Corona Kool did the same thing when she ran in New Mexico. A lot of times it comes down to the dry air and the high heat. On the day of the Ruidoso Futurity final, it was very hot. He didn't break well and he had to come flying from off the pace. Having to come from behind in hot weather like that will stress a horse a lot more."

Making his first start at Los Alamitos, Early Morning Bite broke cleanly and went on to win the opening trial by a head in a time of :19.65. With Thompson back in the saddle, the Fishers Dash gelding out of Icy Morn, who has faced the likes of Heartswideopen and Wild Six in previous starts, posted his second win in five career starts.

"He broke and that was important," McArthur said. "He got the lead but then Really A First took it away from him. Sam got after him at that point and he said the horse felt awesome running."

Early Morning Bite came into the trials after benefiting from a work under the lights at Los Alamitos on September 20 in which he posted a solid drill of :17.90.

"That work definitely helped him," McArthur continued. "Of course, there's nothing like running under the lights. In the Rainbow final he lost to Possum Fast by only a head and that horse came back to qualify to the Dash For Cash Futurity."

McArthur is looking for her first win ever in the Golden State Million Futurity. "I had Corona Kool, who was the fastest qualifier to this race in 1999. She finished third behind A Delightful Dasher and Separatist."

Smith, a real estate investor in Texas, was all smiles after Early Morning Bite's impressive race. "He didn't bleed tonight so I'm thrilled about that. He's probably my best 2-year-old right now."

The complete order of finish is as follows; Early Morning Bite, Really A First, Thisgirlisafeature, Pappasito, Okie Dokey Boomer, Amstel, A Kool Winner, Ramblin On Down and Make It Rhythm.

TRIAL #2 Winner: Fighter On Fire 1/8th time: 09.38 Final time: 19.52

Rancho El Alacran's Fighter On Fire posted a super effort from post one, as he came home in a sizzling 09.38 clocking to win his third race in seven starts. The Mexican-bred First Down Dash runner easily qualified to his third graded race of the year. Previously, he ran in the Kindergarten Futurity and also ran second in the Ford California Juvenile Challenge. Trained by Adan Farias, Fighter On Fire won the California Breeders Freshman Stakes on July 28 and was third in the Ed Burke Juvenile Stakes.

"I never expected this horse to run as fast as he did tonight," Farias said. "The best part about it is that the horse seems to have come back in great form."

Farias saddled Magical Latin Lover to the fastest time in last year's Golden State Million trials, but the horse suffered an injury and was unable to run in the final.

"I asked (jockey) Rodrigo Aceves about the horse and he said that he did not get tired and that he felt very sound," Farias said. "That makes me happy right there."

Rancho El Alacran is one of the premier racing operations in Mexico. Based in Sinaloa, Rancho El Alacran won one of the top races for Mexican-bred Quarter Horses at El Hipodromo de Las Americas - a race worth $160,000 - with their homebred Simply Jackpot earlier this year.

Located next to el Rio Fuerte in the northern part of the state of Sinaloa, Rancho El Alacran is home to more than 120 horses, including several stallions. Their most noted 'semental,' which is the Spanish word for stallion, is the Chicks Beduino stud Simply Silver Sage, who is the sire of Simply Jackpot. Simply Silver Sage's family includes well-known names such as champion Jaime Jay, champion and All American Futurity winner Teller Carter, Grade 1 stakes winner The Informant, The Fling King, Tell Em Im Gone and Rare King. Fighter On Fire is a highly important horse for the ranch.

"We have great expectations for Fighter On Fire to have a stallion career at our ranch in Mexico," said Gilberto Vega, who operates Rancho El Alacrán along with his father Joaquin Vega Acuña and his brother Joaquin Jr.

"My grandfather operated this ranch and now we're helping our father run it," Vega added. "The ranch has been around for more than 40 years and we're always trying hard to improve our breeding stock. We're busy right now trying to accumulate better mares and better horses. The only way to improve this is to go and compete at the top level and that's why we are here at Los Alamitos. We feel that earning black type here with a colt like Fighter On Fire is a big step forward."

The complete order of finish is as follows; Fighter On Fire, Jess Another Habit, Tsunami Splash, My Jess Perry, Shesnosecretary, Brighter Skies, Gold Medal Ribbon and Agal In Silk.

TRIAL #3: Winner: Eye For Corona, Final 1/8th time: 09.60 Final Time: 19.71

Keilani Farms' Eye For Corona outdueled EG High Desert Farms' Short Czech to win the third of eight trials to the Golden State Million Futurity. Eye For Corona, who ran second in the $1,130,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity earlier this year, was winning for the first time since her trial to the Ed Burke Million. In her previous outing, the daughter of Corona Cartel had a troubled trip, as she was bumped while crossing the wire sixth. She was then moved up to fifth following a disqualification.

Eye For Corona didn't face any serious trouble in this race and the result was a solid win over the talented Short Czech. Eye For Corona escaped any serious trouble at the start of this race and the result was a nice victory. Ramon Sanchez piloted her for trainer Paul Jones.

The complete order of finish is as follows; Eye For Corona, Short Czech, Azure Down There, Feature Mr Regards, Absolve, First Icy Morn, A Rare Stoli, Anda Mija and Strawfly Lady.
TRIAL #4: Winner: Philadelphia Patriot, Final 1/8th time: 09.60 Final Time: 19.785

TRIAL #4 - Winner: Philadelphia Patriot

Christian and Ru Anna Singletary's Philadelphia Patriot finished powerfully to defeat Ed Burke Million Futurity finalist Kiddy Up by a neck in the fourth trial to the Golden State Million. Sired by Fishers Dash and out of the Chicks Beduino mare A Winning Moment, Philadelphia Patriot was picking up his third win in five starts.

"We picked up this son of Fishers Dash for $25,000 at the Andreini/Schvaneveldt Sale last year," said Christian Singletary. "We had been looking at the Fishers Dash babies for a while now and when we saw Philadelphia Patriot we said 'let's try to get him.'

"He's big sized for a Fishers Dash and we really liked the way he moved when we were looking at him at the sale," Singletary added. "He ran fifth in his race prior to these trials but that's because he broke so hard in that race that he dug himself a hole. He's got a big heart and we really like him."

The complete order of finish is as follows; Philadelphia Patriot, Kiddy Up, Pritzis Cartel, Shes Zoomin, Wortherweightingold, Josie Cartel, Hot Czech Chick, Hustled and Tacotyme.

TRIAL #5: Winner: Masters Call Final 1/8th time :09.52 Final Time: 19.770

Masters Call, a Kentucky-bred colt by Hennessy out of Check Her Twice, posted his third win in four career starts on the way to a finishing time of :19.77 in his trial to the Golden State Million Futurity. Ridden by Cody Jensen for trainer Paul Jones, the full brother to Check Him Out outdueled Cartel Of Diamonds for the win. Headed by Ed Allred and R.D. Hubbard, a syndication of top horsemen own Masters Call.

"He broke fairly good for him but he lugged in," said Fred Scane, the stallion manager of Ed Allred's Rolling A Ranch.

He's a nice horse and he's still finishing strong," said syndicate member Ron Hartley.

The syndicate members also include Sharon Brandsness, BR Livestock, Chuck & Terryll Griffeth, Zory Kuzyk, Lisa McMahon, Don Moler, Mark Parsons & Mark Parsons Jr., Harvey & Brenda Pickens, and Alessio, Brown & Davies Llc.

"He has a beautiful closing kick but he's still learning how to break," Parsons said. "And when you're racing for time, that's the hard part. You can see that in the last 50 yards that the horse has a beautiful kick."

The complete order of finish is as follows: Masters Call, Cartel of Diamonds, Leavemon, Streakin Stoli Br, Precious Edna, Tricky Ways, Da Vinci, Bannow Bay, and Hawkinson Ace.

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