Jess Dream of Me can break through in Los Alamitos Oaks
Jess Dream of Me, the fastest qualifier for Saturday’s $438,500 Los Alamitos Oaks, has yet to win a stakes in her seven-race career despite starting in six trial races for leading derbies and futurities at Los Alamitos and Ruidoso Downs since last May.
The Los Alamitos Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 400 yards will be her second appearance in a final. Last September, Jess Dream of Me finished sixth after a slow start in the $3 million All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs, Quarter Horse racing’s richest race.
The Los Alamitos Oaks is the richest race for 3-year-old fillies at Los Alamitos, and one of the richest races for the division in the nation. Last September, the All American Oaks at Ruidoso Downs was worth $439,991.
A winner of 4 of 7 starts for owners Raymond Merrill and Gregory Cullum, Jess Dream of Me has every chance for an elusive stakes win against nine rivals in the Los Alamitos Oaks, the last of nine races on Saturday evening. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
Trained by Jose Flores since last fall, Jess Dream of Me won a division of the Los Alamitos Oaks in 19.78 seconds on March 5. Sweet Tess, second to Jess Dream of Me in the trials, holds the second-fastest qualifying time of 19.84 seconds.
Trial race winners La Beverly Hills (19.86 seconds), Majority Interest (19.91), and She Goes Up (19.93) are part of the field, along with First Fast Honey, who won the Kindergarten Futurity at Los Alamitos last May.
Fire Fast Honey, who was timed in 19.91 seconds in the trials, has every right to improve in the final. The trial win was her first start since a fifth-place finish as the even-money favorite in the Governor’s Cup Futurity last July behind She Goes Up.
There will be support for the Arizona futurity winner Chrissy Ledoux, who had a poor start at 1-5 in the trials, finishing a half-length behind 38-1 La Beverly Hills.