LOS ALAMITOS, CA—OCTOBER 27, 2017—Back on Sunday, October 8, things couldn’t be better for Orange Park Acres resident Martha Wells after her homebred, the Matt Fales-trained Yanque, posted the fastest qualifying time to the $129,000 Wild West Futurity to be held this Sunday night at Los Alamitos.

Less than 48 hours after the October 8 trials, Wells had to leave her home due to the mandatory evacuation because of the vegetation fire, dubbed Canyon Fire 2, which surrounded her community during the week immediately following the Wild West trials.

"I was at the doctor and my neighbor called telling me that we had to get out because of the fires," Wells said. "I rushed home and ten minutes later Matt was there with a horse trailer to help evacuate the horses stabled at my home. Fortunately, we were able to bring our horses to Los Alamitos, and so did many other people from Orange Park Acres. We were so fortunate that Los Alamitos provided stabling during such a difficult time."

Wells feels blessed that she was able to return home just a few days later with her horses. "I feel fortunate, but it was a tough,” she added. “A few nights ago the wind was blowing and I couldn't sleep. I got up and started making futurity payments for next year."

After such a scare, Wells can't wait to see Yanque head a 10-horse field in the Wild West final on Sunday. The gelding by Favorite Cartel will enter the 350-yard dash following a 1 ¾ length victory in the trials. His winning time of :17.682 was about one length faster than second fastest qualifier Moonie Blues' :17.833. Yanque has also won three of his last four starts, including The Plan Handicap on September 8. He also qualified to the Governor's Cup Futurity on July 29.

Horses are eligible to compete in the trials to the Wild West Futurity if they’ve raced in the Intermountain and Northwest region, plus Arizona and Nevada. Other runners in this event include Cowgirl N Up, a stakes winner in Arizona, and Krash Your Party, a futurity winner in Utah.

The complete field is as follows with their qualifying time included: Yanque (:17.682), Moonie Blues (:17.833), Favorite Fire Boy (:17.939), CM Once In A Bluemoon (:17.951), Krash Your Party (:17.999), Warhock (:18.015), PF Paddy Dashair (:18.026), Cowgirl N Up (:18.09), L Bar D Classic Trip (:18.104), and R Sturdy Boy (:18.122).

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.