Golden State Derby looks wide open
Hi Octane and You Are the Best, a gelding and a filly who zoomed to quick wins in time trials on Aug. 21, are the leading contenders in Saturday’s $171,900 Golden State Derby, the track’s premier race of the summer for 3-year-old Quarter Horses.
Both must show for the first time in their careers that they can rebound from trial race wins and be as effective in a stakes final a few weeks later.
Hi Octane, trained by Kristen Watanabe, has qualified for three stakes and finished third each time, none more prominent than the $1.9 million Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity last December. Hi Octane finished fourth by a half-length in the Two Million Futurity, encountering some trouble late, and was promoted to third when third-place finisher Jess Im Worth It Was demoted to ninth for causing interference.
In May at Delta Downs, Hi Octane finished third by a half-length in the $112,225 Old South Derby at 330 yards as the second-fastest qualifier.
Hi Octane, owned by Keith Nellesen, set the fastest qualifying time for the Golden State Derby, winning the second of three 400-yard trials in 19.91 seconds.
You Are the Best, trained by Paul Jones, was fifth of nine in the $407,190 Los Alamitos Oaks for 3-year-old fillies in March. The Golden State Derby is her second start in a stakes. You Are the Best won the third trial for the Golden State Derby in 19.92 at 8-1, her first win in her fourth try at 400 yards.
In the Golden State Derby, Hi Octane and You Are the Best have drawn posts 8 and 9 in a field of 10 that lacks a major stakes winner.
Doodah Cartel, winner of the $202,500 Los Alamitos Winter Derby in February and the $185,100 El Primero Del Ano Derby in March, is not part of the field after finishing fifth behind Fancy Upp in the first trial for the Golden State Derby.
The absence of Doodah Cartel, and Brother Ray, the winner of the $160,000 Governor’s Cup Derby on July 26, makes the Golden State Derby an open race from a betting perspective. Brother Ray was not entered in the trials for the Golden State Derby.
Fancy Upp, who was timed in 19.96 in the Golden State Derby trials, was fourth by a neck in the Governor’s Cup Derby. The Golden State Derby is her fifth appearance in a stakes final for trainer Cesar De Alba.
Of the runners beaten in time trials, the geldings Hurry Up and Warmly will draw support. Hurry Up, fifth after a slow start in the Governor’s Cup Derby, was beaten a nose by Hi Octane in the Golden State Derby trials and set the third-fastest qualifying time.
Warmly, a minor stakes winner at 400 yards on July 26, was beaten a neck by Fancy Upp.
Hurry Up and Warmly are trained by Scott Willoughby for Los Alamitos track owner Ed Allred, who bred both geldings.
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