Racing


No Questions, Cc Carolina Win; Opt Out Ready For The Trials
No Questions and Gentleman Chuck completed the exacta in an event for 2-year-olds at 300 yards in the eighth race on Friday

© Scott Martinez
No Questions, Cc Carolina Win; Opt Out Ready For The Trials

LOS ALAMITOS, CA—MAY 31, 2020—Stablemates No Questions and Gentleman Chuck completed the exacta in an event for 2-year-olds at 300 yards in the eighth race on Friday at Los Alamitos.

Trained by Scott Willoughby and ridden by Vinnie Bednar, No Questions broke in and bumped leaving the gate before recovering nicely to score a half-length win in a time of :15.629. The Foose gelding is out of the Hawkinson mare Forgive Her.

"Vinnie did a great job of straightening him out," Willoughby said. "He got him back on track and the horse was an easy winner."

No Questions had previously finished out of the money when debuting on May 3. Allred's Gentleman Chuck, who was fifth in his debut, was a solid second from post three with Alex Carrillo aboard for Willoughby. The Favorite Cartel is eligible to both the Golden State Million Futurity and Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity later in the year.

CC Carolina broke her maiden in her second start Friday night at Los Alamitos Race Course. © Scott Martinez
The barn's most impressive winner of the weekend was the Favorite Cartel 3-year-old gelding Doctor Gene, a half-brother to AQHA champion aged mare Quirky. The Allred-bred Doctor Gene posted a head win over Butte Crest Ranch and Rod Lowe's Up Is Up in a 33o-yard allowance event in a time of :16.720.

"Doctor Gene has really come around," Willoughby said. "He did not race as a 2-year-old. We will just pick our spots with him.

Doctor Gene has won twice and has finished in the money in four of six career starts – all of them during the current year.

Earlier on Sunday night, Valley Farm's the 2-year-old Coronado Cartel filly CC Carolina won her first race in two career starts when scoring a half-length win :15.964 for jockey Cruz Mendez and trainer Jose Flores.

Flores is also looking ahead at the trials to the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity with the talented Favorite Cartel colt Opt Out, a full brother to Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby runner-up You Can Run. Opt Out posted a sharp :12.10 workout, the fastest of 23 drills on May 16.

"I think he can do well in the trials," Flores said. "If he acts a little bit better and him being a stud does not affect him, I think he can post a good time in the trials. In his last work, he did not break very well. We were trying to set him up in the gate, but he just does not like it. The way that he stands, that is how you have to leave him alone. We are learning more about him. We tried to stand him correctly, he broke terrible. We must let him be. He still finished fast. It was an excellent time of :12.10, with a bad break. I have hopes for that colt. Hopefully, he can perform well in the trials."

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Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.