Los Alamitos: Glitter In My Face shows no rust ahead of La Primera Del Ano Derby

A $9,200 investment last December could lead to a handsome payoff when Glitter In My Face starts as the fastest qualifier April 5 for the $223,800 La Primera Del Ano Derby at Los Alamitos.

Glitter In My Face was supplemented to the La Primera for $9,200 last December at a time when the filly was returning to training from a layoff. The supplemental fee was something of a risk with a filly who had not raced since last May. It looked like good value when Glitter In My Face won a division of the La Primera trials by an eye-opening 2 1/2 lengths March 15.

Owned by Antonio Flores and trained by his son, Jose Antonio Flores, Glitter In My Face ran 400 yards in 19.61 seconds in the trial. She will take an unbeaten record into the La Primera Del Ano Derby, which is restricted to 3-year-old fillies.

In her trial race, Glitter In My Face ran 400 yards for the first time in her career. Last spring, she ran in three 300-yard races – a maiden race and a trial and the final of the Kindergarten Futurity. Glitter In My Face won the Kindergarten Futurity by a half-length. She was later found to be suffering from an illness that ended her 2-year-old season.

“I didn’t expect this type of race from her,” Jose Antonio Flores said after the trial. “She had been training well, but I didn’t know if she could run 400 yards. She looked good out there, and she did everything easy.”

Flores will have a strong hand in the La Primera Del Ano Derby. He also has the second- and third-fastest qualifiers in Fiesty Flo and Sis Is Hot. They are not as accomplished as Glitter In My Face. Fiesty Flo was second in the Los Alamitos Juvenile, the consolation for the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, in December. Sis Is Hot was last of 10 in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity.

Fiesty Flo and Sis Is Hot gave Flores a sweep of the three trial races March 15. The other qualifiers are Quirky, Dynasty Of Habits, Chalalita, She Forgives, Babe On Fire, Princess Teller, and Composed Charisma.

She Forgives was second in the Kindergarten last May, while Dynasty Of Habits was second in the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Breeders’ Futurity last October.