John Carter Cash goes longer in California Challenge Championship

The 3-year-old stakes winner John Carter Cash and 5-year-old mare Fenian Faith, who ran in three top races at the Remington Park spring meeting, are part of a field of five in Friday’s $40,000 California Challenge Championship at Los Alamitos.

The winner of the 440-yard race receives a berth in the Bank of America Challenge Championship on Oct. 24 at The Downs at Albuquerque.

John Carter Cash, trained by Valentin Zamudio for Juan Ramos Dorantes, won the Dillingham Handicap on May 16 and was second by a neck to Up and Coming in the Vandys Flash Handicap on June 28. John Carter Cash hopped in the air at the start of the Vandys Flash Handicap, but recovered to lead before being caught in the final strides.

A winner of 4 of 13 starts, John Carter Cash will race at 440 yards for the first time Friday.

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“He’s done well at 400 yards, so we are hoping that the extra 40 yards is to his liking,” Zamudio told Los Alamitos publicity earlier this week. “I feel he’s really fit.”

Fenian Faith was fourth in the $100,000 Charger Bar Handicap at Los Alamitos in January, finishing a length behind Tequila Sangria, a minor stakes winner at Los Alamitos last Sunday.

Fenian Faith had three starts at Remington Park earlier this year, including a second by a neck at 38-1 in the Oklahoma Challenge Championship in March. Fenian Faith was a late third in the Sooner State Stakes for Oklahoma-breds on April 18 and last of 12 in the Remington Park Championship on May 30.

The Remington Park Championship is the top race for older Quarter Horses in the Midwest.

The other three runners in Friday’s field – Ballast Point, Kissed by an Eagle, and Santander – have mixed form in stakes.

Ballast Point has been one of the top 870-yard horses at Los Alamitos in the last year. This will be his first start in a race on the straightaway course since a second in the Barbra B Handicap at 550 yards in January.

Santander and Kissed by an Eagle were seventh and eighth in the $157,400 Vessels Maturity at 400 yards on July 5, the top race for older horses during the summer at Los Alamitos.

Kissed by an Eagle, trained by Roman Figueroa, is the only runner in the field with a win at 440 yards, in an allowance race at Los Alamitos in October 2018.