With fastest qualifier missing, Governor's Cup Futurity is wide open
The $285,000 Governor’s Cup Futurity for Quarter Horses on Sunday at Los Alamitos will be run without fastest qualifier Golden Token.
Trainer Valentin Zamudio said Friday that Golden Token bled “a little bit” when he won a time trial on July 5 and was not entered back. Races in the fall are targeted for Golden Token, Zamudio said.
The Governor’s Cup Futurity drew a field of eight and is led by trial race winners Niece Laura, Quite Perfect, and Still Standing. Niece Laura won the last of six 350-yard trials on July 5 in 17.73 seconds, while Quite Perfect and Still Standing won trials in 17.74.
James Glenn trains Niece Laura and Still Standing, both fillies, for Los Alamitos track owner Ed Allred. Juan Aleman trains Quite Perfect for Lex Fabrizio.
There will be support for Terrific Favorite, who drew the outside post. Terrific Favorite finished second by three-quarters of a length to Still Standing in the trials after winning a maiden race at 300 yards by an eye-catching 2 1/4 lengths on May 30.
All eight of the finalists will start in their first stakes in the Governor’s Cup Futurity, the last of eight races on a program that begins at 7:25 p.m. Pacific.
The final three races are six-figure stakes, beginning with the $100,000 Spencer Childers Handicap at 400 yards for 3-year-olds and older horses.
Cattail Cove, a 9-year-old gelding, will be favored in a field of eight in the Childers. A winner of 14 of 62 starts, Cattail Cove has been in excellent form this year, winning the Kaweah Bar Handicap at 350 yards on April 25 in his first start of the season.
Trained by Aleman, Cattail Cove was second by three-quarters of a length to the well-regarded gelding Lethal Cowboy 123 in the $142,900 Vessels Maturity at 400 yards on June 28. The Vessels Maturity is the track’s leading summertime race for older horses. Lethal Cowboy 123 is not part of the Childers field.
Cattail Cove has started in the last four runnings of the Childers, finishing third in 2022 and 2023, second in 2024, and first last year. On Sunday, Cattail Cove’s main rival is Boardwalk, who was second in the 2025 Childers.
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Boardwalk was a troubled fifth in the Independence Day Handicap at 300 yards on July 5 in his lone start this year.
The shortest-priced favorite on the program is likely to be Doodah Cartel in the $160,000 Governor’s Cup Derby. Trained by Paul Jones, Doodah Cartel is unbeaten in five starts this year, including the $202,500 Los Alamitos Winter Derby in February and the $185,100 El Primero Del Ano Derby on March 29.
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