Jockey Andrade relocates to Ruidoso

The Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity trials will have nine divisions at Los Alamitos on Sunday, and will be held without one of the track’s top Quarter Horse jockeys.

Oscar Andrade, Jr., 19, has relocated to Ruidoso Downs for the summer. Through the April 25 program, Andrade was tied for fifth in the standings with 8 wins since the season began on Dec. 26. At the 2020 meeting, Andrade was second in the standings behind Jesus Rios Ayala.

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Andrade, who began riding in the fall of 2018, will ride at Ruidoso Downs for the first time when the track’s spring-summer meeting begins on May 28.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to come to this circuit,” Andrade said from Ruidoso on Friday.

Andrade leaves Los Alamitos at a time when the track has struggled to draw significant number of horses. Through April 25, Los Alamitos averaged 6 runners per race, a comparable figure to the same time last year.

Sunday’s nine-race program is in better condition, with seven or eight runners entered in each 300-yard trial. The horses with the 10 fastest times, regardless of finishing position, advance to the $297,700 final on May 16.

A majority of the runners have started in maiden races at 220 or 300 yards in recent weeks.

Trainer Jaime Gomez, who has won the Kindergarten a record eight times including last year with La Jaconde, has starters in each trials, notably the maiden race winners Docs Fastlane in the first race, Woman Secrets in the second, FG Jess Seis in the fifth and Southern Best in the seventh race.

Woman Secrets won a 300-yard maiden race in the sharp time of 15.63 seconds on April 3 and figures to be a strong favorite in a field that includes Commander Cartel, the winner of a 220-yard maiden race on April 2.

The first-time starter Midnite Fling will draw support in the sixth race. Trained by Terry Knight, Midnite Fling worked 220 yards from the gate in a quick 12 seconds on March 27. A filly, Midnite Fling is a half-sister to the three-time winner Twostrikesurprise, who was fourth in the $203,950 Los Alamitos Winter Derby in February.

In the fourth race, there are high expectations for Valente One, a gelding who won a 220-yard maiden race in 12.15 seconds on April 2 for trainer Juan Aleman.