Bp Cartel Policy, under jockey Armando Cervantes, set the fastest time from four trials contested Sunday for the Grade 1 $763,000 Los Alamitos Super Derby.

© William Zuazo

LOS ALAMITOS, CA–OCTOBER 20, 2024–Bill Price's BP Cartel Policy continued his tremendous sophomore campaign with a daylight victory over a field that included 2023 AQHA champion filly Dark Nme and six other standouts in the first of four trials to the Grade 1, $763,000 Los Alamitos Super Derby here on Sunday night.

As he's often done this season, BP Cartel Policy dominated from start to finish, winning this heat by 1 ¾ lengths over Grade 1 Heritage Place Futurity finalist AB Seis Corazonez and three-time Grade 1 winner Dark Nme.

A gelding by leading sire Favorite Cartel, BP Cartel Policy also posted the fastest qualifying time to the Super Derby final, covering the 400 yards in a time of :19.519.                                                                                                 

Ridden by Armando Cervantes for trainer Monty Arrossa, BP Cartel Policy's winning time was 2/10ths of a second faster than that of the next fastest qualifier, the undefeated colt Stanley Cartel, who won his trial in a time of :19.722. 

Stanley Cartel, under jockey Armando Cervantes, was a 1-3/4 length winner in the third Super Derby trial Sunday night. © William Zuazo

Arrossa saddled Stanley Cartel and also trains AB Seis Corazonez, who finished with the third fastest time of :19.845.

"(BP Cartel Policy) lugged in a little bit," Arrossa said." Once he laned out he ran a good race. He ran really strong. There was a lot of pressure. Everyone was wondering how we would do against Dark Nme. She's a great filly. I'm happy with the way our horse ran tonight."

BP Cartel Policy has won five of six starts this year and his record includes wins in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby and the Grade 2 Golden State Derby. He also won the Dillingham Handicap by 2 ½ lengths. His only loss of the year came in the trials to the Golden State Derby, but then he returned to win the final by two lengths.

In addition to the top three qualifiers, Arrossa also saddled 2023 Ruidoso Futurity winner Lets Leave, who finished with the eighth fastest qualifying time following his second-place finish to Ed Allred's Boardwalk in the final trial of the night. Lets Leave was also making his first start at the Orange County track.

One of the highlights of the night was the California debut of TYKHE Racing LLC's Dark Nme. The champion filly by Hes Relentless arrived with a tremendous record of nine wins from 12 starts and career earnings of well over $1.6 million. Her top wins have come in the Grade 1 Remington Park Futurity, Grade 1 Rainbow Futurity, and Grade 1 Texas Classic Futurity.

Boardwalk, under jockey Gabriel Lara, qualified in the closing trial on Sunday. © Amber Mendez

Earlier this year, she finished third to multiple Grade 1 winning Dashing Tres in the Grade 1 Rainbow Derby. Her arrival to the Cypress oval led a big crowd outside the saddling paddock before her local debut. The viewing area filled shoulder to shoulder with Quarter Horse racing fans looking to catch a good look at the champion filly.

On the other side of the paddock, Monty Arrossa was saddling his own superstar trainee, the eventual top qualifier BP Cartel Policy. Once Arrossa was done preparing BP Cartel Policy, he allowed himself just a few moments to just be a Quarter Horse fan.

"I was the same (as the fans)," Arrossa said. "I just wanted to take a peek at Dark Nme as well. She's a brilliant filly and it's fun to run against her. It's what's good for Quarter Horse racing."

Ridden by AQHA champion jockey Francisco Calderon for trainer Romeo Mireles, Dark Nme broke in and bumped at the start before finding her rhythm and finishing nicely for third place. She missed second place by a nostril to AB Seis Corazonez and her time was the fourth fastest of the night.

Dunn Ranch and Weetona Stanley's Stanley Cartel is now a perfect five for five after winning his trial by 1 ¾ lengths over Ed Allred's So Can I. Bred by Weetona Stanley, the son of Pyc Paint Your Wagon will be looking to make his first ever start in a Grade 1 final. He qualified to the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity last year, but his victory in the trials to that race was his final start of 2023.

So far, he's posted 1 ¾ length win margins in each of his three starts this year. Armando Cervantes was aboard the Oklahoma-bred.

Owned and bred by Ed Allred, Boardwalk qualified to his fourth derby of the year after a hard-fought neck victory over Empire Racing and Barron Racing's Lets Leave. Steve Giles' RS Shere Khan, a Tarzanito colt who just recently enjoyed his first career win on September 14, finished third and also qualified from this trial.       

As for Boardwalk, the gelding by Favorite Cartel out of the terrific broodmare Nymph has now qualified to the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby, Grade 2 El Primero Del Ano Derby, and the Restricted Grade 2 Governor's Cup Derby.

"He's improved quite a bit the last six months," trainer Scott Willoughby said of Boardwalk. "He qualified to the Governor's Cup Derby and has just gotten better and better. He was a really nice 2-year-old but he's really coming into himself. We set him up for this race well and jockey (Gabriel Lara) is doing a fantastic job. He tries hard every trip and if he gets a good race, he does really well."

The opening trial produced five of the 10 qualifiers. In addition to fastest qualifier BP Cartel Policy, AB Seis Corazones, and Dark Nme, this trial also resulted in Belzabe Murillo's Try Harder and Scott Bryant's Sonny Corona also advancing to the meet's richest derby.

Try Harder, an Allred-bred gelding by Favorite Cartel, came into this race after five strong outings in a row for trainer Jose Flores, while the Chris O'Dell-trained Sonny Corona becomes the only horse to qualify to both the All American Derby and the Los Alamitos Super Derby this year.

CLICK HERE for the complete list of qualifiers, with times, sires, dams, owners, breeders, trainers, and jockeys to the Los Alamitos Super Derby

S-Quarter K LLC and Robyn Gordon's Heza Good Reason was the other trial winner, but his time of :20.049 just missed the top 10 spot by an eyelash.

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For more information, please contact larace@losalamitos.com. You can also follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @losalracing or visit us online at www.losalamitos.com.