Preview Racing


Stablemates Head La Primera Del Ano Derby Final On Friday
Fastest qualifier Terrific Temptation will face stablemate A Political Lady in the Grade 3, $183,800 La Primera Del Ano Derby on Friday at Los Alamitos.

© Scott Martinez
Stablemates Head La Primera Del Ano Derby Final On Friday

LOS ALAMITOS, CA—MARCH 28, 2018—The Parsons Family will be represented by a pair of outstanding fillies in the form of fastest qualifier Terrific Temptation and the Grade 1 stakes placed A Political Lady in the Grade 3, $183,800 La Primera Del Ano Derby on Friday at Los Alamitos.

Ten fillies will be in action in the 400-yard derby, which is scheduled as the eighth and final race on the card at 10:16 p.m. First post is 7 p.m.

Racing for Parsons Family Limited Partnership and saddled by leading Quarter Horse trainer Chris O’Dell, Terrific Temptation has posted two strong wins in 2018. The Tempting Dash filly posted a wire-to-wire allowance victory at 300 yards on January 6 and then sizzled to the fastest time of :19.78 over a wet fast track in her La Primera trial on March 10.

She won that trial race by a length, an impressive return effort after running sixth in an allowance race on February 17 when she threw her head at the start. Terrific Temptation was also scratched out of her Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity trial after breaking through the gate.

Parsons Ranch’s A Political Lady, a filly by Apollitical Jess, enters this race having won her last three starts in terrific fashion. She outdueled a field that included La Primera finalist La Rusa to win the Los Alamitos Invitational Juvenile Stakes on December 17 and has since posted back-to-back daylight wins this season. That included an easy win in her trial to the La Primera when covering the distance in :19.80 over a wet fast track.

She was third in the Golden State Million Futurity to champion J Fire Up last year. O’Dell has been working diligently with his two talented fillies in the past few weeks to help the stablemates be at their best on derby night.

"We’re doing our homework with them," O’Dell said. "With A Political Lady, we’ve been standing her in the gates since the derby trials to help her get a good start. We’ll back her out of the gates and then we load her in gates once again. We’ve done this multiple times with both fillies between the trials and the finals. You have to have them stand quietly in the gates and then fly out of there when the gates open. It’s a lot of work, but fortunately we have a great team.

"With Terrific Temptation, she excels in the mud," added O’Dell while recalling her trial win. "Some horses don’t like the mud, but she loves it. She’ll run on any kind of track. The key is to get her to relax. They’re both spirited fillies. I just want them to be calm while I saddle them on Friday. I can’t ask for two better jockeys to be on these fillies. Eduardo Nicasio will ride A Political Lady and Jesus Rios Ayala will be on Terrific Temptation. They’ve done the work on these fillies and have been standing with them in the gates. I think we’r

e ready for the race and now we’ll just hope for some luck." Lisa Anderson’s Moonie Blues is another of the top contender in the derby final and will be looking for a better trip after facing trouble in her last start. She bumped early and shifted out at the 1/8th pole while still running third in her derby trial against Terrific Temptation. The Washington-bred filly by Freighttrain B won the Wild West Futurity and has finished third in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity and Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby.

The field from the rail out is as follows: Moonie Blues, Checkn Seis, La Rusa, Hard Headed Chick, Pick A Favorite, Summertime Favorite, Perfect Az Can Be, A Political Lady, Terrific Temptation, and Splendid Cause.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.