Los Alamitos: Time for Jesse Lee seeks first big stakes win in Wild West Futurity

Time for Jesse Lee has already won six races for 2-year-old Quarter Horses this year. The gelding has won twice each at the Gem County Fair in Emmett, Idaho, Les Bois Park in Boise, and Los Alamitos in Southern California.

One of those wins was the $12,300 Gem County Futurity. What’s missing from the season is a lucrative stakes win, which could change when Time for Jesse Lee makes his 10th start in Sunday’s $128,100 Wild West Futurity at Los Alamitos.

Owned by Idaho breeder Jim Walker and trained by Monty Arrossa, Time for Jesse Lee is part of a field of 10 for the 350-yard Wild West Futurity, a race restricted to horses who began their careers in the Northwest and Western Canada.

Time for Jesse Lee set the second-fastest qualifying time of 17.59 seconds in time trials on Oct. 6. The trial was the first start for Time for Jesse Lee since a nose loss in the Los Alamitos Juvenile Challenge on Aug. 24.

“He’s been off about 40 days going into the trials, but he always gives you his best,” Arrossa said. “It’s fun to train a horse like Time for Jesse Lee. He’s been pretty awesome.”

The likely favorite for the Wild West Futurity is Smoothe Movin Chic, the fastest qualifier from the trials. Trained by Paul Jones for Steve McIntyre, Smoothe Movin Chic was timed in 17.55 seconds, winning by 1 1/2 lengths.

A filly, Smoothe Movin Chic began her career at Laurel Brown Track in South Jordan, Utah, winning a maiden race in May. She later won races at SunRay Park in New Mexico and the Sweetwater County Fair in Rock Springs, Wyo., when trained by Ron Moosman.

Smoothe Movin Chic joined Jones’s stable in late summer. She was last of six in The Plan Handicap at Los Alamitos on Sept. 7 before winning a division of the Wild West trials.

“I gave her an out, but she got run over and was nearly knocked down,” Jones said. “She had no chance. I thought she would do better in her second out, but I never expected her to win the way she did.”

The field also includes the trial race winners Avatarr and Beaus Wagon.