Tell Cartel, Kiss Thru Fire top qualifiers for Los Alamitos Super Derby

Tell Cartel, the winner of two derbies in February and March, and Kiss Thru Fire, second in the All American Oaks at Ruidoso Downs last month, are the two leading qualifiers for the $1,052,350 Los Alamitos Super Derby on Nov. 8 after Saturday's time trials.

Tell Cartel, trained by Matt Fales for owner and breeder Mimi Wells, ran 400 yards in 19.59 seconds to win the second of six trials, setting the fastest qualifying time. Tell Cartel won the Los Alamitos Winter Derby in February and the El Primero Del Ano Derby in March, but lost his next three starts.

In Saturday’s trial, Tell Cartel ($12) finished 1 1/4 lengths in front of Cattail Cove, who qualified for the final. Tell Cartel was ridden by Ruben Lozano.
Circle City, the winner of the Golden State Derby on Aug. 16, finished last of seven after rearing at the start. Cattail Cove was second in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity last December.

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Kiss Thru Fire ($10.20) won the first division of the time trials in 19.62 seconds under jockey Raul Valenzuela, finishing a head in front of the filly One Sweet Change who also qualified. Nomadic, the 1-2 favorite, finished third after a poor start and did not qualify.

Kiss Thru Fire was beaten a length by Ratification in the All American Oaks on Sept. 6.

Two other well-regarded runners – Inaugurator and Runforyourlife – failed to qualify for the Super Derby.

Inaugurator, second in the All American Derby at Ruidoso Downs on Sept. 6, won the sixth race as the 2-5 favorite, but was disqualified and placed fifth for causing interference. Inaugurator’s final time of 19.97 seconds was outside of the 10 fastest qualifiers.

Runforyourlife, the winner of the 2019 Golden State Million Futurity, finished fourth as the 6-5 second choice in the seventh race. The first two finishers of that race – Really First Down and Oatman Creek Senator – qualified for the final.

The full list of finalists consists of Tell Cartel, Kiss Thru Fire, One Sweet Change, John Carter Cash, Really First Down, Mental Error, Cattail Cove, Oatman Creek Senator, Mr Ricks, and Pay Me In Front.

The winner of the Super Derby receives an automatic berth to the $600,000 Champion of Champions against older horses on Dec. 12.