LOS ALAMITOS, CA—OCTOBER 19, 2020—Juniors Quarter Horses, Inc.’s Favorite Doc was superb in the second of 12 trials to the Grade 1, $1,104,550 Golden State Futurity, winning his trial by a jaw-dropping 3-½ lengths on the way to posting the fastest qualifying time of :19.467 on Sunday at Los Alamitos Race Course.

Making his first start as a gelding and his first since June 7, Favorite Doc ran flawlessly for jockey Jose Nicasio from post number five. The Monty Arrossa-trainee flew out of the gate and had a two-length advantage by the midway point of the race.

The gelding by Favorite Cartel extended his lead from there, holding a 2 ½ length lead with 110 yards to go and eventually crossing the wire more than ½ a second ahead of his closest rival. Purchased for $102,000 from the Ed Allred consigned at the 2019 Los Alamitos Equine Sale, Favorite Doc picked up his second victory in four career starts. The sorrel gelding is out of the stakes winning mare Look Her Over, making him a half-brother to 2019 AQHA World Champion He Looks Hot.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Johnny Flores of Juniors Quarter Horses. “We’ve been waiting all year for these trials. We are blessed that all went well for our horse in these trials. We didn’t qualify with Pesky (to the Los Alamitos Super Derby on Saturday night), but luck was on our side tonight. In this sport, sometimes things go well and sometimes they do not. That’s a part of it. We gelded Favorite Doc after the Ed Burke Million trials. He took him to Ruidoso Downs with the hopes of running him in the All American Futurity trials. That ended up not being possible, so we brought him back to point him to the Golden State trials. Our plan was to run him in the All American trials. He was in Ruidoso for two months in training. Gelding him really helped him a lot mentally. He became a lot more focused.”

“We have a full brother to He Looks Hot by the name of Could Be Hotter. That was part of the reason that we leaned towards this horse by Favorite Cartel, who is the sire of moment. We found the cross between Favorite Cartel and Look Her Over to be very attractive. Like all owners participating, we all want to win on a night like this and have the confidence in our horses, but not as easily as he did tonight. I’m here with my dad, Andres, and my brother, Andres Jr. Our team has been trying for many years to be in a race like this. Tonight, we had to opportunity to make it happen. We also qualified to the Ed Burke Million Futurity with (Strange Fellow), but it didn’t go that well. To have another chance in this type of a race, this time in the Golden State, it’s a great thrill. You watch the races with the illusion of winning and qualifying, and more than anything enjoying it with our family.”

While a half-brother to He Looks Hot was posting the fastest time, a half-sister to champion Zoomin For Spuds was next in line with the second fastest qualifying time. Owned by Walker Family Trust and bred by the late Jim Walker, Apollitical Patty was terrific in her trial, leading every step of the way in route to a length victory in a time of :19.601. Ridden by Armando Cervantes, Apollitical Patty is trained by Arrossa, who also trains Zoomin For Spuds.

“She is so special,” Arrossa said. “This would be a dream come true for Jim Walker. He would have loved to qualify for a million-dollar race. In her last race, we ran her in the John Deere Los Alamitos Juvenile Challenge. She didn’t perform as well as we wanted, and we later found out that she had a kidney infection. We treated her and brought her back and worked her. She posted a :17.80 and looked awesome. She’s been doing spectacular and I’m happy for Mrs. Walker and her grandson, Brad, who is pretty involved with the horses now. They’re pretty excited.”

Arrossa also talked about the fastest qualifier, Favorite Doc.

“They took him to Ruidoso and I didn’t have him there,” Arrossa said. “They pretty much got him ready and sent him down here. The day when we worked him, Jose Nicasio was on him and his left stir up broke. That horse worked :17.90 with a broken stir-up. I called the owners and said that this horse is the real deal. He has a lot of speed. He likes 400 yards. I put him in a flipping halter. I think that has made the difference. Tonight, the parted away from him. He had a perfect race. He had a little tailwind. That helped him timewise. He is a very good horse from a great family. I have butted heads with He Looks Hot many times. That’s just a phenomenal family.”

M and G Farms, Inc’s Constituent, the winner of the Governor’s Cup Futurity, posted the third fastest qualifying time of :19.731 after winning the fifth trial by 1-¼ lengths. The Seperate Interest colt led every step of the way and has now won his last three starts and four of his five career outings. Ruben Lozano piloted Constituent for trainer Valentin Zamudio. Dr. Steve Burns bred Constituent, who was purchased for $27,000 at the Los Alamitos Equine Sale.

Owned by the partnership of Bujunda, Encinas, Flores & CD Horses, Inc., Counting The Ways posted the fourth fastest qualifying time of :19.770 after running second to Apollitical Patty in the final trial. The Jose Flores-trainee was starting for only the third time after picking up victories in his first two career outings. Prior to this effort, the Ed Allred-bred gelding by Favorite Cartel won the Pat Hyland Handicap on August 23.

Jaime Gomez’s J Best Boogie, a highly regarded filly since the day of her first morning work, posted the fifth fastest qualifying time after winning the 11th trial of the night in a time of :19.798. The filly is a leading first-crop sire Docs Best Card, who qualified to the Golden State Million during his racing career. J Best Boogie was picking up her second win in four career starts.

“That was a perfect race for my filly and also for my stallion, Docs Best Card,” Gomez said. “She’s always been blazing fast runner. She was my fastest 2-year-old. She’s had her minor issues, but she’s always run well. She took on a really strong group in her Ed Burke Million trial and finished second in that race. She’s faced tough runner in all of her starts and has done well. The thing I love about Docs Best Card is that his babies are very smart, very calm and easy-going horses. They don’t act up and have good character. We’re going to face a few jets in the final, but we’re looking forward to seeing how she does.”

Eddie Willis arrived at Los Alamitos with 10 horses, which includes his pony, with the goal of chasing the big money in the Golden State and Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity trials. It was mission accomplished for Willis in the Golden State final, as both of his All American Futurity finalists, HR Princess Jess and Apollitical Gold, qualified.

Larry Rice’s HR Princess Jess won the 10th trial by a length in a time of :19.814 to give her the sixth fastest time, while Grant Cox Revocable Trust’s Apollitical Gold won the eighth by a neck and in a time of :19.922, the ninth fastest time of the night. Willis also qualified Ed Melzer’s Jess Bit Of Candy, who finished with the 10th fastest time.

“Apollitical Gold is a really good horse,” Willis said. “He didn’t run as strong a race tonight as I thought he would, but I’m hoping that back in the finals is a little more. I didn’t work him here. I just trained him a little bit. I think he’ll be nice. That filly that won the All American Futurity, Whistle Stop Cafe, they don’t come around that often. She’s outrun me every time I’ve tried to outrun her.”

“HR Princess Jess, she’s kind of my favorite,” Willis added. “It’s just the way she runs. She goes across the ground so easy. I’ve just always liked her. She’s tough. She’s good in the barn, the nicest thing you’ve ever seen. When you take her out, she’s different. She ran a good race tonight after the layoff. She has been run over both times she’s been in the finals, first in the Heritage Place Futurity and then in the All American. She has had bad luck. If she gets a good start, she will keep herself out of trouble. I have to go back to Oklahoma on Wednesday, but I’ll be back on Monday. I have a bunch to run at Will Rogers Downs. I came out here because there is a lot of money to run for, but also because I am fortunate to have a nice set of 2-year-olds. So far they’ve showed that I was right. I have 10 head here, including my pony. I also have two really good hands here. I don’t have to worry about a thing. They take care of everything.”

Levings Racing LLC and Dunn Ranch’s Aint She Tempting ran second to Apollitical Patty while posting the seventh fastest time of :19.902. The Utah bred filly by Tempting Dash out of Preslee The First ran second in the Heritage Place Futurity and won the Oklahoma Futurity during the Remington Park meet. She had not race since the Heritage Place on May 30. Jesus Rios Ayala piloted the McColee Land & Livestock-bred filly for trainer John Cooper.

Johnny Trotter’s homebred colt Famous Cartel Jess finished with the eighth fastest time of :19.918 after running second to J Best Boogie in the 11th trial. Trained by Justin Joiner, Famous Cartel Jess came into this race after winning his All American Futurity trial by a neck. He has finished in the money in all four of his outings – all of them in Grade 1 futurity trials. Ridden by Raul Ramirez, Jr., Famous Cartel Jess is by Mr Jess Perry and out of Famous Cartel Lady, a half-sister of champion One Famous Eagle.

For a complete list of Golden State Million Futurity(G1) qualifiers with times, sires, dams, owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys CLICK HERE.

The $1,104,550 purse in the richest in the event since the 2012 running.

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Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.