With a brilliant summer campaign, A Pollitical Candy V is positioned to secure the title of champion 3-year-old Quarter Horse of 2022. A win in Sunday’s $982,050 Los Alamitos Super Derby at 400 yards would clinch the award. Owned by Sammy Valeriano, A Pollitical Candy V won the Rainbow and All American derbies at Ruidoso Downs in July and early September, two of the sport’s leading races. At the time, A Pollitical Candy V was trained by Santos Carrizales. After the All American Derby on Sept. 4, A Pollitical Candy V was sent to California and trainer Heath Taylor since Carrizales does not race at Los Alamitos. :: Bet the Breeders' Cup with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs. Join DRF Bets. In his debut for Taylor, A Pollitical Candy V finished second in a division of the Los Alamitos Super Derby trials on Oct. 16. He broke slowly and lost by a 1 1/2 lengths to 17-1 Corona Yo. For Sunday’s final, A Pollitical Candy V drew post 2 in a field of 10, and is positioned alongside one of his top rivals in Bomb Cyclone, who starts from the rail. Bomb Cyclone was the fastest qualifier for the All American Derby, but could only manage a fourth by two lengths as the even-money favorite. Bomb Cyclone was much brighter in trials for the Super Derby, winning by three lengths to set the fastest qualifying time of 19.36 seconds. With that trial race win, Bomb Cyclone could be favored over A Pollitical Candy V, who had the eighth-fastest time of 19.81 seconds. While those two will be the focus for many bettors, there are two other runners with outstanding chances in Scoops Dynasty and Golden Boi. Scoops Dynasty, trained by Monty Arrossa, is unbeaten in six starts, and could be involved in the 3-year-old championship discussion with a win on Sunday. Scoops Dynasty’s winning streak includes the Los Alamitos Winter Derby in February and the Golden State Derby in August. Scoops Dynasty won a division of the Super Derby trials in 19.83 seconds after a troubled trip, good enough for the ninth-fastest time. Golden Boi, trained by Valentin Zamudio, has won his last five starts over the last 13 months in a career disrupted by illness. This year, Golden Boi is unbeaten in four races, including the El Primero Del Ano Derby at 400 yards in March. Golden Boi won the Sgt Pepper Feature Handicap at 350 yards in August and won a division of the Super Derby trials in the respectable time of 19.58 seconds. The Super Derby winner receives a berth to the $750,000 Champion of Champions against older horses at 440 yards at Los Alamitos on Dec. 10. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.