Sweet Tess has stakes-debut victory in Los Alamitos Oaks

Sweet Tess, the third-longest shot in a field of 10, won her stakes debut in Saturday’s $438,500 Los Alamitos Oaks for 3-year-old Quarter Horse fillies at Los Alamitos, giving trainer Patricia Visscher and owners and breeder Ed and Theresa DeNike their third win in the race and first in 12 years.

Sweet Tess broke from the rail under jockey Eduardo Nicasio and was always near the front in the 400-yard race, edging 12-1 Fire Fast Honey by a head.

Fire Fast Honey, who won the Kindergarten Futurity last May, led by a half-length midway through race. Jess Dream of Me, the 4-5 favorite, finished third, beaten a nose by Fire Fast Honey.

Sweet Tess, who was timed in 19.99 seconds, has won 3 of 10 starts and earned $202,805. The Los Alamitos Oaks was her second start of the year, preceded by a second to Jess Dream of Me in a division of the time trials for the Oaks on March 5.

Last year, Sweet Tess won a maiden race and an allowance race at Los Alamitos, but failed to qualify for two futurities.

Visscher, 76, and the DeNikes, of Kent, Wash., previously won the Los Alamitos Oaks in 2006 with Kaniska and in 2010 with Jumpn Beduino when the race was known as the La Primera Del Ano Derby. The track renamed the race, and added more money to the purse, in 2020. Saturday’s race was the richest in the history of the race, first run in 1978.

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