Dash on a Mission returns from layoff in Bayer trial

Dash on a Mission, winner of the Grade 1, $175,000 Ford Juvenile Challenge Championship, returns from a spring layoff in the trials to the Grade 1 Bayer Legend California Juvenile Challenge at Los Alamitos on Friday night.

The 3-year-olds with the 10 fastest times from the two trials qualify for the 400-yard finals on July 1.

Dash on a Mission - part of the strong 3-year-old contingent in the Denny Ekins barn that includes 2004's champion 2-year-old, Ocean Runaway - is making his first start since a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby on Feb 25. Last year, he won three of five starts, with stakes wins in the California Juvenile Challenge and the Juvenile Challenge Championship.

The first trial will contain Have a Coronary, seventh-place finisher in the All American Futurity, and Gold Medal Jess, winner of two minor stakes at Los Alamitos from four 2005 starts.