Arrossa has six trial winners for PCQHRA Futurity

Only one trainer reached the winner’s circle in the six time trials on Aug. 25 for Sunday’s $285,000 Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Breeders’ Futurity at Los Alamitos.

Bottle It Up, Fear N Fridays, Midnight Mood, Party Time Tom, Up to Party, and Ultimate Battle won the third through eighth races that evening. All were saddled by Monty Arrossa, and all won. They are six of the 10 finalists in Sunday’s field at 350 yards.

“I’ve never had a night like that,” Arrossa said upon reflection earlier this week. “It was once-in-a-lifetime.”

The domination was reminiscent of what trainer Rodney Reed accomplished in trials occasionally at Blue Ribbon Downs in Oklahoma in the late 1980s and early 1990s, or what Jack Brooks achieved at Sunland Park or Ruidoso Downs in the same period.

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Now, Arrossa must win the PCQHRA Futurity. His qualifiers are a strong list of accomplished runners.

Up to Party, Ultimate Battle, and Fear N Fridays were first, second, and sixth in the $970,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity at 350 yards at Los Alamitos on June 16. Party Time Tom and Midnight Mood were second and third in the $270,000 Governor’s Cup Futurity at 350 yards on July 27.

Bottle It Up was second in the $66,291 California Juvenile Challenge at 350 yards on Aug. 10.

“The horses came out of the trials in good shape,” Arrossa said. “We’re happy with where they’re at. I feel really good about all of them.”

Bottle It Up set the fastest qualifying time of 17.57 seconds, the gelding’s second win in six career starts.

Up to Party, owned by Matt and Bendi Dunn, will be favored on the strength of his win in the Ed Burke and a two-length trial win in 17.63 seconds. Up to Party starts from the outside post on Sunday and will be ridden by Armando Cervantes, who is closely allied with Arrossa.

Arrossa and Cervantes teamed to win the PCQHRA Futurity in 2022 and 2023.

Sunday’s race will be the third stakes final for Fear N Fridays, who was ninth after a poor start in the $256,200 Kindergarten Futurity at 300 yards on May 12.

Arrossa has called on riders from the Midwest to help his team. Francisco Calderon, the Quarter Horse champion jockey of 2023, will ride Party Time Tom for the first time.

The other runners in the field are Bull Market, D Fawn, Malynche, and Snow Bound.

Snow Bound, trained by Paul Jones, was second by a neck to Midnight Mood in his first race since a poor start in the Governor’s Cup Futurity. Malynche, trained by Lindolfo Diaz, was fourth in the Governor’s Cup Futurity and second by a head to Fear N Fridays on Aug. 25.

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