Robert Adair Kindergarten kicks off California's futurity season
History is behind the 2-year-old Quarter Horse Racy Sweet Corona in Sunday’s $275,900 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity at Los Alamitos.
Racy Sweet Corona was the fastest qualifier from eight time trials on April 23, finishing 300 yards in 15.57 seconds. That alone gives the gelding an outstanding chance.
Having a leading contender for the Kindergarten is familiar territory for the Dutch Masters III partnership and trainer Jaime Gomez who start Racy Sweet Corona.
Dutch Masters, spearheaded by Jim Streelman, has won the Kindergarten four times, a record for an owner. Gomez leads trainers on the all-time list with eight career wins in what is annually the first futurity of the year in California.
Racy Sweet Corona, a $40,000 yearling purchase at Heritage Place Sales in Oklahoma City last September, is Gomez’s only hope among 10 finalists in the Kindergarten, the last race on Sunday’s 10-race program.
By Corona Cartel, Racy Sweet Corona won his trial by an eye-catching 2 1/2 lengths as the 2-5 favorite, the widest winning margin in the trials.
The other finalists include five runners trained by Heath Taylor, who was recognized as the outstanding Quarter Horse trainer of 2022 in championship voting over the winter.
Taylor has four runners who are undefeated in two starts – Choosen One, Kevins Knockout, Political Rivalry, and Think Again Kev, all owned and bred by Keith Nellesen of Utah. They all won maiden races in early April and divisions of the trials.
Taylor also runs Brindisi, who was second to Choosen One in the trials.
Think Again Kev was the fastest of the Taylor-trained runners in the trials, winning a division by 1 3/4 lengths in 15.62 seconds.
The only other two-race undefeated runner in the Kindergarten field is Hez Lonesome, who won a trial in 15.71 seconds for trainer Lindolfo Diaz.
While Dutch Masters and Gomez have a historical advantage, the last two runnings of the Kindergarten have been won by Randy Young and trainer Monty Arrossa. On Sunday, they start Double Down 123, who was fourth by three-quarters of a length behind Kevins Knockout in the trials.
Young co-owns Double Down 123 with Taos River Ranch, who did not own Young and Arrossa’s recent Kindergarten winners when the races were run.
Double Down 123 may draw some support with an advantageous outside post, but will have a difficult assignment to beat Racy Sweet Corona and the deep Taylor team.
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