El Primero Del Ano Derby trials split into three divisions; Constituent in final leg

Constituent, the winner of the Governor’s Cup Futurity last July, is the most prominent of 26 3-year-old colts and geldings entered in three time trials for the El Primero Del Ano Derby at Los Alamitos on Sunday.

Trained by Valentin Zamudio for M & G Farms, Constituent will be a heavy favorite in the third division of the trials, the eighth and final race.

The 10 runners with the fastest times, regardless of finishing position, will advance to the final on March 28.

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Constituent, a colt by Seperate Interest, has won 6 of 8 starts and earned $182,431. After finishing a troubled eighth in the Golden State Million Futurity on Nov. 1, Constituent won a trial for the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, but did not qualify for the $1.9 million final.

Constituent won his 2021 debut in a 330-yard allowance race at 2-5 on Jan. 17.

In Sunday’s trial, Constituent could face a test from O Donovan Rossa, who was a troubled fourth in a division of the Los Alamitos Winter Derby trials on Jan. 23. O Donovan Rossa was second in the colts and geldings division of the Black Gold 400 Futurity at Will Rogers Downs in Oklahoma in November, his last start before being sent to California.

The sixth-race field of nine includes BF Outfoosed and Favorite Colossus, who finished in a dead heat for fourth in the Governor’s Cup Futurity, and Gentleman Chuck, a troubled ninth in the $204,000 Los Alamitos Winter Derby on Feb. 13.

The seventh race includes two promising geldings who were recent winners – Glacial Rule, who won an allowance race at 330 yards in his 2021 debut on Feb. 21 for trainer Terry Knight, and Bodhi, the sharp winner of a maiden special weight race at 300 yards on Feb. 20 for trainer Mike Robbins.

The most experienced runner in the seventh race is Thats R Best Card, who was fifth in the Ed Burke Million Futurity last July and fourth in the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Breeders’ Futurity in October.