One Sweet Duck is the 9-5 morning line favorite in the Restricted Grade 3, $96,900 Wild West Futurity on Sunday at Los Alamitos.

© Amber Mendez

LOS ALAMITOS, CA—OCTOBER 21, 2022—Ten talented juveniles from all round the Western United States will get together in the Restricted Grade 3, $96,900 Wild West Futurity on Sunday at Los Alamitos.

Young Quarter Horses with racing experience at tracks like Arizona Downs, Turf Paradise, Pocatello Downs, Laurel Brown Racetrack, Sweetwater Downs, Wyoming Downs, Jerome, Weber Downs, Elko, Grants Pass and Los Alamitos will get together, all with a common goal, to win the top prize in the Wild West at 350 yards.

To be eligible to compete in the trials to this race, horses needed to have at least two starts at tracks in the Intermountain or Northwest regions, or in Arizona, Nevada, and Canada. The 10 finalists from the trial races will meet in the 10th race on Sunday night. First post for the card is 5:55 p.m.

Lex Fabrizio’s One Sweet Duck is the 9-5 morning line favorite after her impressive two length win in the trials on October 2. The victory earned the filly the honor of having the fastest qualifying time, while advancing to the third final of her freshman campaign.

Out of the multiple stakes winning mare Duck Dash N Go, One Sweet Duck ran in the Grade 2 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity in the spring. She’s won three out of her four starts at Los Alamitos. Twice the winning owner of the Wild West Futurity, Fabrizio will be hoping for his third victory in this race with his Utah homebred, One Sweet Duck

“I didn’t own (Duck Dash N Go) until later in her career, after her 3-year-old season,” Fabrizio said. “She ran hard at every distance. She left it all on the track. At 350 and under, she was as tough as they get.

“Monty Arrossa is the one that originally told me about Duck Dash N Go,” Fabrizio continued. “He trained Duck Dash N Go and told me she was for sale and thought she would be a great fit for me. (Monty) put the deal together and I ran her for a few years after I purchased her. She did well everywhere. She did well at Los Alamitos. She did well in the Intermountain region. Monty told, ‘Lex, I’d love to train her babies.’ I told him, ‘You got it.’”

Born in 2020, One Sweet Duck is under the guidance of the same trained her mother.

“One Sweet Duck is her first (daughter) to hit the track and to have the success that she’s had, it makes a guy feel good about the rest of her time as her broodmare,” Fabrizio added. “One Sweet Duck reminds me a lot of her mother. She doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. She tries hard every time. She’s honest. The overhead view of that race was phenomenal. I loved going back to watch the replay from that view. She was pulling away the whole time. It was a fun race to watch.”

Fabrizio shared his thoughts about the benefits of having the Wild West Futurity on the racing schedule during this part of the year.

“This race is big,” he said. “A lot of people in our region point their horses towards this race. This time of the year, it’s kind of the end of the (season). It starts to get cold around here. A lot of the horses are getting rested for their 3-year-old year. To be fortunate enough to win the Wild West twice and hopefully have a chance to win it a third time, that’s very special.”

Armando Cervantes will ride One Sweet Duck from post number seven for Arrossa.

Gary Laramie’s Jessica Cruz posted the second fastest qualifying time after winning her trial. She’s the 9-2 third choice in this race and will be ridden by Adrian Loza and is trained by Elena Andrade.

Purchased for $71,000 at the Los Alamitos Equine Sale, the Double Bar S Ranch-bred Jessica Cruz is out of the multiple graded stakes placed mare Jess Cuz, who Andrade trained for Double Bar S. Jess Cuz ran second to AQHA Champion Aged Mare Quirky in the 2015 Grade 1 Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap.

Arrossa will be a busy man on Sunday night. In addition to One Sweet Duck, he’ll also saddle Suite Caroline, a two-time futurity placed runner, plus Jess Yaya, and Special Gift, who ran third in the Bitterroot Futurity. Steve and Jason Berry’s Monicas Favorite, winner of the Bitterroot, will also be a part of this race.

Sockit Tooya, Secret Warning, My Lethal Jess, and BF Viral Interest will complete the field.

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For more info, please contact larace@losalamitos.com. Follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @losalracing or visit us online at losalamitos.com.