LOS ALAMITOS, CA—AUGUST 14, 2020—After splitting the win honors in their first two meetings of the year, Ed Allred’s impressive fastest qualifier Circle City and Mimi Well’s superstar colt Tell Cartel will square off for the third time this season when they headline the field to the Grade 2, $204,200 Golden State Derby on Sunday at Los Alamitos.

Ridden by Vinnie Bednar for trainer Scott Willoughby, Circle City was spectacular in his trial victory on August 2, rocketing out of the gate on the way to a two-length advantage early on.

The Favorite Cartel gelding cruised to a 1-¼ length victory from there and posted the fastest time of :19.65, which was 2/10ths of a second faster than second fastest qualifier Tell Cartel. With Ruben Lozano aboard for trainer Matt Fales, Tell Cartel made his usual big move in the second half of the race, but Circle City had simply too big of an early lead.

"He broke well, he got away great and Vinnie did a great job letting him run," Willoughby said. "(Circle City) put it all together (in the trials)."

Circle City will look to join his full-brother and stablemate Nomadic on the list of derby winners at Los Alamitos this season. With Bednar and Willoughby also on his side, the Allred owned and bred Nomadic won the Governor’s Cup Derby on July 25. The homebred Circle City will now look to become the second derby winner out of Allred’s broodmare Moonlight Corona over a 23-day span.

"The two full brothers are pretty sharp," Willoughby added. "They are hard to beat when they are running well. Nomadic was the fastest qualifier last time and Circle City is the fastest qualifier this time. Maybe we can have the same result (a derby win) with Circle City. Hopefully, he comes back and runs well in the final."

The 2-1 morning line favorite, Circle City has drawn post number two on Sunday and will start to the inside of Tell Cartel, who will start from post number three as the 5-2 second choice in the morning line. Owned and bred by Wells, Tell Cartel has been the top sophomore in California this year.

He defeated a field that included Circle City in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby and then came back to win the Grade 3 El Primero Del Año Derby in incredible fashion, turning a neck disadvantage into a 1 ¾ length victory in the final 200 yards of the race. Tell Cartel went into the derby trials having not raced since the El Primero on March 29. He did have a turn-and-work at 350 yards two weeks prior to his return to the races.

"Having that start will help Tell Cartel," Fales said. "The horse is looking tremendous physically and his mentality is on point. Circle City is a big-time horse. There are a lot of outstanding horses in this field. It is a great group and I am a bit nervous going into it, but I feel that my horse is ready to roll. If Tell Cartel gets away sharply, look out."

Tell Cartel is hoping to make it a triple of derby wins at Los Alamitos. The AQHA champion Moonist is the only horse to have won four derbies at the Orange County oval. Tell Cartel will look to join AQHA champions Separatist and Ah Sigh plus Powerful Favorite and Forget It as the only horses with wins in three of the nine derbies currently held at Los Alamitos.

Howard Nichols’ Long Time Favorite enters with the third fastest qualifying time after upsetting the 1-2 favorite You Can Run in their derby trial. Ridden by Oscar Andrade Jr. for trainer Jose Flores, Long Time Favorite flew out of the gate and then held off Steve Burns’ homebred You Can Run by a neck.

"This horse always showed us a lot of talent," Flores said. "I’m just glad Howard and his wife, Laurie, were patient and let the horse develop. Hopefully, he can break like that and finish like that in the final. He had never quite left the gate, but he left (in the trials). That was the key."

Trained by Mike Casselman, You Can Run was second to Tell Cartel in the Winter Derby earlier this year. Lucky Seven Ranch’s Sass Mo Blue, winner of the Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes earlier this year, is another horse to watch based on his consistency. The gelding by Apollitical Jess has hit the board in six of his eight career starts.

Meanwhile, Barry Woodhouse’s Taco Twosday, who finished third to Circle City and Tell Cartel in the trials, is lightly raced, should improve, and has appears ready to make an impact on the big stage.

The field will be completed by James Smith Handicap runner-up Pay Me In Front, two-time allowance winner Spring Favorite and El Primero Del Ano finalist Corona Required.

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Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.