LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Hard Hitting set the fastest qualifying time of 17.36 seconds in the 350-yard trials for the Governor's Cup Futurity at Los Alamitos on July 12. He needed 17.35 seconds to win the $495,000 final Saturday, scoring his first stakes win.
Ridden by Cesar DeAlba, Hard Hitting ($4.60) led throughout, winning by a length over Jimmy Delivers. Blue Piranha, a 31-1 outsider, finished third in the field of eight 2-year-old Quarter Horses.
The Governor's Cup Futurity was the most lucrative event on a 13-race program for statebreds.