Katella Deli one to beat in El Primero Del Ano Derby
Katella Deli, third in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity in December, will be favored to win the first major race of his career in Sunday’s $224,100 El Primero Del Ano Derby for 3-year-old Quarter Horse males at Los Alamitos.
Trained by Jaime Gomez, Katella Deli was 1-2 when he won the first of three time trials for the El Primero Del Ano Derby on March 12. Katella Deli ran 400 yards in 20.14 seconds and is the fifth-fastest qualifier.
Sunday’s final will be more competitive than Katella Deli’s trial
Katella Deli, who races for Paul Blanchard, Jim Streelman, and Denny Boer, has won 3 of 10 starts and $280,352, and has the highest career earnings of the El Primero Del Ano Derby qualifiers.
Trial race winner That Rico set the fastest qualifying time of 20.06 seconds, overcoming a bumping incident at the start to finish a head in front of Stelfast and The Natural Nine, who have the second- and third-fastest times for the El Primero Del Ano Derby.
That Rico is trained by Paul Jones and is co-owned by Jones and Terry Thompson. The El Primero Del Ano Derby will be the first major stakes final for That Rico, who has won 4 of 8 starts.
Trainer Valentin Zamudio has three qualifiers – trial winner Maximo, Stelfast, and Jess Kan Fly, who was second to Katella Deli.
In the trials, Maximo beat What a Corona, who qualified for the El Primero, but will not start after failing a track-sponsored out-of-competition test conducted days after the trials. Trained by Jones, What a Corona tested positive for the breathing medication clenbuterol, according to a statement released by Los Alamitos on Thursday.
The horse will not be able to race again until passing a hair-follicle and blood test, the track said.
As a result of the positive, the Jones-trained Walk Thru Spectacular gained a berth in the field. What Thru Spectacular had the 11th fastest time in the March 12 trials.