Winter Derby an ideal spot for Matilda Czech

Matilda Czech has the first part conquered.

The Quarter Horse filly won trial races for major futurities last year, but could not duplicate the result in the final, finishing second by a nose in the Golden State Million in November and fourth in the Los Alamitos Two Million in December.

When the year changed, Matilda Czech won another trial race on Jan. 20 – for Saturday’s $215,450 Los Alamitos Winter Derby. This time, Matilda Czech figures to be a leading choice in the 400-yard Winter Derby, which does not have the depth of the late 2017 futurities.

Trained by Lorenzo Campuzano for Enrique Gonzalez’s EG High Desert Farm, Matilda Czech is part of a field of 10 and is one of five trial-race winners in the Winter Derby. Matilda Czech, by Fast Prize Cartel, won a division of the trials in 19.92 seconds, recording the eighth-best qualifying time.

Ditto Head, who won a division of the trials in 19.7 seconds, holds the fastest qualifying time, and has had a similar career path as Matilda Czech. A gelding trained by Mike Casselman, Ditto Head won a division of the Governor’s Cup Futurity trials last June, but was last of 10 in the final. He won a division of the Los Alamitos Two Million trials, but was a troubled eighth in the final.

There are two other fillies in Saturday’s field, including Moonie Blues, who was beaten 1 1/4 lengths by J Fire Up in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. J Fire Up was later named champion 2-year-old filly and overall champion 2-year-old for 2017.

Trained by Jaime Gomez, who also trains J Fire Up, Moonie Blues was second to Yanque in a division of the Los Alamitos Winter Derby trials, holding an early lead before losing by a head.

Last October, Moonie Blues won the Wild West Futurity for horses from the Northwest and other western states that were relocated to Los Alamitos for the fall portion of the season.

Yanque, a gelding trained by Matt Fales, was a troubled eighth in the Wild West Futurity, but was promoted to sixth when a rival was disqualified for causing interference midway through the 350-yard race.

The Winter Derby trials was Yanque’s first start since late October.