Sass Mo Blue goes for third straight win

Sass Mo Blue, winner of the $109,500 Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes in February, will be favored to win his third consecutive start in an allowance race at 330 yards on Friday at Los Alamitos.

The 3-year-old Sass Mo Blue will be ridden by an energized Jesus Rios Ayala, who returned to riding last weekend after missing seven weeks because of a foot injury that required surgery.

:: Click to learn about our DRF's Free Past Performance program.

Ayala rode Sass Mo Blue in the Maiden Stakes at 350 yards. Sass Mo Blue stumbled at the start and won by a neck as the 8-5 favorite. The race was restricted to nonwinners as of Dec. 1, 2019.

Trained by Mike Casselman for Lucky Seven Ranch, Sass Mo Blue has drawn post 2 in the 330-yard race, which drew a field of six. Giving Freely, third in the Los Alamitos Derby Challenge on May 24, starts from the rail and tries to end a five-race losing streak. His last victory came in the Los Alamitos Juvenile Challenge last August.

◗ Powerful Favorite, winner of three derbies at Los Alamitos in 2019, is the fastest qualifier for the $157,400 Vessels Maturity on July 5 following time trials Sunday.

Powerful Favorite won the second of three 400-yard time trials in 19.64 seconds. The stakes winners Cole Man 47 (19.74) and Mister Apollitical (19.69) won the other trials. The runners with the 10 fastest times from the trials advanced to the final.

The Vessels Maturity is the leading race of the summer for older Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos. The winner receives a berth to the $600,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 12.

Powerful Favorite won for the first time this year on Sunday. Earlier this year, he was third in the Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship in February for trainer Chris O’Dell. In 2019, Powerful Favorite won the Los Alamitos Winter Derby, El Primero Del Ano Derby, and Governor’s Cup Derby.

Cole Man 47 won the 2018 Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Breeders’ Derby. Mister Appolitical made his first start on Sunday since a win in the Southern California Derby in December. Ayala had the first win of his comeback on Mister Apollitical.

The other qualifiers for the Vessels Maturity are Chocolatito, Jess Bet Me, and Kissed by An Eagle, who were second through fourth behind Cole Man 47; Jess Macho Corona and Santander, second and third behind Powerful Favorite; and Get Away Car and Bail Czech, who were second and third behind Mister Apollitical.