Aj Your Favorite leads longshot parade in PCQHRA Breeders' Futurity
Aj Your Favorite took advantage of an ideal start to post an upset win in Sunday’s $290,000 Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Breeders’ Futurity at Los Alamitos.
Ridden by Justine Klaiber, the leading Quarter Horse rider at Los Alamitos through Sunday, Aj Your Favorite won the 350-yard race by a half-length in 17.57 seconds, returning $28.40.
Rational (20-1) finished second, a nose in front of 40-1 Indiana Fever in the field of 10.
Cv Fdddinasty Shan finished fourth as the 1-2 favorite, his first loss in his fifth start. Cv Fdddinasty Shan struggled at the start, appearing to brush with the side of the gate. He closed ground to finish three-quarters of a length behind Aj Your Favorite.
Cv Fdddinasty Shan won the $920,000 Ed Burke Futurity at Los Alamitos in June.
Aj Your Favorite, a filly by Apollitical Jess, has won 4 of 6 starts and earned $139,134. The PCQHRA Breeders’ Futurity was her stakes debut, and third consecutive win. Aj Your Favorite won an allowance race at 220 yards on July 11 and a division of the PCQHRA Breeders’ Futurity trials on Aug. 23, setting the fifth-fastest qualifying time. Cv Fdddinasty Shan was the fastest qualifier.
Aj Your Favorite races for Larry and Bobbie Rice and trainer Eddie Willis.
Beuteeful wins Mildred Vessels
Beuteeful, the lone 3-year-old in a field of 10, delivered by far the best race of her career to win Saturday’s $100,000 Mildred Vessels Handicap for fillies and mares at 400 yards.
Ridden by Rodrigo Vallejo, Beuteeful ($7.60) broke sharply from post 8 and was quickly in command with a one-length advantage. Beuteeful extended her advantage to 1 1/4 lengths at the wire, finishing in 19.44 seconds. The final time was the fastest since Fovee recorded the same time in 2011.
Beuteeful was clear of 6-1 Bold N Beautiful, a 4-year-old filly who finished a head in front of 7-1 Curl Happy Wagon. Kristen Watanabe trains Beuteeful and Bold N Beautiful. Shaken Goin On, the 2-1 favorite, finished sixth, beaten 2 1/2 lengths. Shaken Goin On had won her preceding five starts since last November. She was third in the 2025 Mildred Vessels Handicap.
Saturday’s win moves Beuteeful closer to the title of champion 3-year-old filly of 2026. Earlier this year, she won the $407,190 Los Alamitos Oaks in March, and was third in the $534,426 Rainbow Oaks at Albuquerque on July 11.
Owned by Keith Nellesen, Beuteeful has won 9 of 12 starts and earned $602,515. With the win on Saturday, Beuteeful earned a berth to the $700,000 Champion of Champions at 440 yards on Dec. 12. The Champion of Champions is the nation’s leading race for 3-year-olds and older Quarter Horses.
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