Los Alamitos: La Primera Del Ano Derby wide open after defection of top qualifier

The $223,800 La Primera Del Ano Derby for 3-year-old Quarter Horse fillies Saturday at Los Alamitos is not the race handicappers expected after the March 15 trials.

Fastest qualifier Glitter in My Face was not entered in the final for undisclosed reasons. Trainer Jose Antonio Flores did not return a phone call Wednesday seeking comment. Glitter in My Face won the Kindergarten Futurity at Los Alamitos last May.

Without Glitter in My Face, the 400-yard race has a different complexion, according to trainer Jimmy Glenn, who starts the contender Quirky.

“I think it opens it up quite a bit,” Glenn said.

Quirky, who races for Los Alamitos track owner Ed Allred, was second to the Flores-trained Sis Is Hot in a division of the time trials. The trial was Quirky’s third start after a layoff caused by sore shins last summer. Quirky was third in an allowance race in February.

“She probably wasn’t 100 percent,” Glenn said of that race. “I’m hoping her best race is the Derby. The main thing is to be good in the gate.”

Aside from Glitter in My Face and Sis Is Hot, Fiesty Flo and She Forgives were trial race winners March 15. She Forgives was second in the 2013 Kindergarten Futurity and ended the year with a win in the minor Holiday Handicap. She Forgives was rested earlier this year because of a sore back. An equine chiropractor was hired to aid in her treatment, trainer Jaime Gomez said.

“She’s been doing good in her last few races,” he said. “She had some trouble with her back, and I fixed it. I think my filly has the class.”

Flores starts Sis Is Hot and Fiesty Flo, both capable of winning. Babe On Fire, Chalalita, Dynasty of Habits, and Princess Teller are the other qualifiers. Dynasty of Habits, second to Fiesty Flo in the trials, was second in the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Breeders’ Futurity last October.

Trainer Paul Jones runs Composed Charisma, third to She Forgives in the trials, and the maiden Brighterthanthesun, who joined the race after Glitter in My Face was not entered. Brighterthanthesun was fourth behind She Forgives in the trials.

“I’ve got a few underdogs,” Jones said Wednesday. “I don’t have any standouts that look like solid contenders.”