Apollitical Patty breaks quick, holds on in Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity

Apollitical Patty was fussy in the starting gate and a perfect filly through the 400 yards of Sunday’s $1,977,250 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity.

Apollitical Patty ($14) delayed the start for a few moments when she was unruly in the gate. She was better behaved when 37-1 Famous Cartel Jess broke through the gate and had to be reloaded, leading to a further delay.

When the race began, jockey Armando Cervantes had Apollitical Patty away sharply. Apollitical Patty led by a length after 200 yards and held off a sharp rally from 10-1 Flash Bac to win by a half-length, in 19.56 seconds.

Flash Bac finished three-quarters of a length in front of 2-1 favorite Apollitical Gold, who won the $1,104,550 Golden State Million Futurity on Nov. 1.

Apollitical Patty, owned by the family of the late Jim Walker and trained by Monty Arrossa, was the fastest qualifier from the time trials of the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on Nov. 22, but was dismissed as the third choice in a competitive field Sunday.

By Apollitical Blood, Apollitical Patty is a half-sister to Zoomin for Spuds, winner of the Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos in 2016. Zoomin for Spuds was a troubled ninth in Saturday’s Champion of Champions.

Apollitical Patty has won 6 of 8 starts and earned $894,192. The winner’s share of Sunday’s race was worth $815,745.

The Los Alamitos Two Million was Apollitical Patty’s first stakes win. She was sixth in the Golden State Million Futurity. Arrossa mentioned Apollitical Patty as one of his top 2-year-olds in late June. Sunday, the filly proved the 48-year-old trainer correct.