Dreams Divine rolls into Los Alamitos Oaks

Dreams Divine is a nose loss away from having a four-race winning streak put together in the last 10 months.

The 3-year-old Quarter Horse filly was beaten by that margin in the $1,070,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity at Los Alamitos last June. She won a trial before that race and has since won twice to gain the role of favorite for Saturday’s $403,500 Los Alamitos Oaks for fillies at 400 yards.

The Oaks was previously known as the La Primera Del Ano Derby and underwent a transformation in the last year with a new name and an infusion of prize money. The 2019 La Primera Del Ano Derby began with a purse of $50,000-added and had a final value of $210,000 once nomination and entry fees were included.

The Los Alamitos Oaks began with a purse of $125,000-added when the nomination process began. This is part of a national movement among Quarter Horse tracks to increase prize money for 3-year-old fillies. This summer at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico, the track will offer the Rainbow Oaks and All American Oaks for fillies for the first time. The Rainbow Oaks has an estimated purse of $250,000, while the All American Oaks has an estimated purse of $500,000.

The field for the Los Alamitos Oaks has changed significantly since time trials were run March 7. Cartel Jess Rockin, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2019, qualified for the final, but has been retired because of a leg injury, trainer John Cooper said earlier this week. Her absence leaves a field of nine.

Dreams Divine, trained by Mike Robbins for Reliance Ranches, set the fastest qualifying time of 19.68 seconds in the time trials. A winner of 5 of 7 starts and $238,739, Dreams Divine is the richest runner in the field and one of three trial race winners along with Southern Wagon and Suite Expectations.

This will be the fifth major stakes final for Kiss Thru Fire, who was sixth in the $2 million All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs last September. At Los Alamitos last fall, Kiss Thru Fire was fifth in the $1,072,900 Ed Burke Million Futurity and fifth in the $1,903,300 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on Dec. 15.

In the time trials for the Los Alamitos Oaks, Kiss Thru Fire finished a head behind Southern Wagon after bumping with a rival at the start.

Southern Wagon was sixth in the Ed Burke Million Futurity. The Los Alamitos Oaks was her first win since a fourth in a division of the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity trials in late November.