Schvaneveldt-trained talent on display

It was only back in December that legendary trainer Blane Schvaneveldt won the richest race of his career with Tres Passes in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity.

The win was part of an autumn of milestones for the 74-year-old trainer, the all-time leader at Los Alamitos with more than 4,000 victories. He won the first seven-figure race of his career last November when Tres Passes won the Golden State Million Futurity.

Schvaneveldt may start the 2-year-old season of 2009 with another futurity win. Saturday, in the trials for the Kindergarten Futurity, Schvaneveldt is expected to have as many as four runners, including Tylerite, who won the first maiden race of the year for 2-year-olds at Los Alamitos on April 3.

Tylerite won his debut in a 300-yard maiden race by a half-length.

"He did what I looked for him to do," Schvaneveldt said. "I wasn't surprised. He was aggressive when I brought him in."

The Kindergarten Futurity trials, run over 350 yards, are the first major tests for 2-year-old Quarter Horses in California. Saturday's program is expected to have eight to 10 trials, pending entries on Wednesday. The horses with the 10 fastest times, regardless of finishing positions, will qualify for the final on May 16. The final has an estimated value of $400,000.

Schvaneveldt's Kindergarten prospects include a promising filly in Dashindina, who was fifth in a maiden race on April 5. She had a poor start, and was unable to recover.

"She kind of hopped out of there and didn't run that well," Schvaneveldt. "She ran a terrible race. She worked with [Tylerite] all the time."

As for Tres Passes, he spent the winter resting on Schvaneveldt's Southern California farm. Tres Passes began galloping a few weeks ago and will be sent to the racetrack in late May, Schvaneveldt said. He will run in major derbys later this year.

The Kindergarten trials will have several first-time starters that have lofty reputations. See Juanito Fly, who has yet to start, attracted attention for his workouts earlier this month - and for an incident that occurred once he crossed the finish line that day.

Trained by Juan Jose Romo, See Juanito Fly worked 220 yards in 12.10 seconds from the gate, and then unseated his rider and crashed into the outside rail. Fortunately, the horse was not injured and was able to be walked back to the barn. A second workout, again in 12.10 seconds for 220 yards, was completed without incident.

Romo said that See Juanito Fly suffered a slight shoulder injury after the first workout, but was able to resume training within a week.

"He's ready," said Romo, who has a 12-horse stable at Los Alamitos. "For one week, he was sore. This is a pretty good horse."