Walk Thru Crystal tries to rebound in Golden State Million Futurity

Walk Thru Crystal, the star 2-year-old Quarter Horse at Los Alamitos in the spring, was beaten for the first time in her six-race career when second in a division of the Golden State Million Futurity trials on Oct. 18.

She ran well enough to qualify for Sunday’s $1,049,350 final at 400 yards and is still in the running for an elusive sweep of the track’s three leading futurities. Walk Thru Crystal won the Ed Burke Million Futurity in June. A win on Sunday, and in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on Dec. 13, would make Walk Thru Crystal the first horse to sweep the three races.

First, Walk Thru Crystal must rebound from her half-length loss to Jess a Pollitician in the time trials. Walk Thru Crystal is part of a field of nine that does not include Jess a Pollitician, who bled in the trials and was not entered in the final, according to trainer Jose Flores.

Walk Thru Crystal, trained by Yanet Rodriguez for Enrique Gonzalez, will be ridden by Jesus Ayala, who rode the filly for the first time in the Golden State Million trials. Walk Thru Crystal is one of five fillies in the final, but is the only stakes winner.

Three other finalists have qualified for major stakes, notably Docs Best Card, who was second to Walk Thru Crystal in the Kindergarten Futurity in May and the Ed Burke Million Futurity. Docs Best Card had the fastest qualifying time in the Oct. 18 trials, running 400 yards in 19.77 seconds.