J Fire Up wins Golden State Million Futurity by a nostril
J Fire Up solidified her status as the leading 2-year-old Quarter Horse filly in California with a nose win in Sunday’s $904,850 Golden State Million Futurity for Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos.
If there was a margin smaller than a nose, it would better describe how narrowly J Fire Up beat Matilda Czech in the 400-yard race. The outcome was nearly a dead heat.
J Fire Up ($4) ran 400 yards in 19.854 seconds. Matilda Czech, a 16-1 outsider, was timed in 19.855 seconds. A Political Lady, a 46-1 longshot, finished third in the field of 10.
Ridden by Jose Nicasio, J Fire Up had a clean start and led throughout. The win was worth $380,037.
Earlier this year, J Fire Up was second by a head to KVN Corona in the Ed Burke Million Futurity and later won the Governor’s Cup Futurity. KVN Corona did not start in the Golden State Million Futurity trials on Oct. 22.
J Fire Up, KVN Corona, and Matilda Czech are expected to start in the season’s final series – the 400-yard Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, which has trials on Nov. 26 and a final on Dec. 17.
J Fire Up, a filly by Kiddy Up, has won 5 of 7 starts and earned $712,762, all for owners Dan Darling, Ernesto Solis and trainer Jaime Gomez. Gomez bred J Fire Up in California.