Powerline Road well-prepared for her stakes debut in the La Pacifica

Powerline Road is the rare Quarter Horse 3-year-old whose race record to date does not include a series of trial races for lucrative futurities or derbys.

Powerline Road, trained by Mike Casselman for his brother-in-law, owner and breeder Steve Burns, won consecutive allowance races at Los Alamitos in February and early April that were preps for her stakes debut in Saturday’s $30,000 La Pacifica Handicap for 3-year-old fillies.

A winner of 3 of 10 starts, Powerline Road is by top stallion Favorite Cartel and will race at a new distance of 350 yards in the La Pacifica. Powerline Road won a 300-yard allowance race on Feb. 28 and a 330-yard allowance race on April 3.

The La Pacifica Handicap drew a solid field of 10 in the last of eight races on a program that begin at 6 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

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There are four fillies in the field by Favorite Cartel, who is by 1997 Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Favorite Trick.

Casselman also starts Sassies Blues Girl, who was third in the minor Pat Hyland Handicap for 2-year-old fillies at 350 yards last August. By Favorite Cartel, Sassies Blues Girl was beaten a neck in that race by Counting the Ways, who later qualified for the Golden State Million and Los Alamitos Million futurities.

Aside from Powerline Road, five other fillies in the La Pacifica field won their last starts – Chance It Now, Checkn Favorite, Jess Fortunate, Perrys Everlasting, and Teller Jazz Mrl. Checkn Favorite won a maiden race, while the others won allowance races.

Officially, Teller Jazz Mrl is a track record holder at Los Alamitos, having zipped 110 yards in 6.97 seconds in an allowance race on March 26. But the distance is ridiculously short, and little useful information can be gleaned from such a race other than the filly is quick from the gates.

Teller Jazz Mrl won a 330-yard allowance race on March 6 that serves as a better barometer of her ability in the La Pacifica.

Teller Jazz Mrl, owned by Haras Portofino, has switched trainers since her last start, going from Jaime Gomez to Paul Jones.

Teller Jazz Mrl will be ridden by Ramon Sanchez, who became the second jockey in Los Alamitos to win 150 stakes, on Mental Error in the Kaweah Bar Handicap on May 1. Eddie Garcia holds the all-time mark of 153 stakes wins.