Outtasyght is one of 13 winners to start in the $97,500 Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes trials on Sunday at Los Alamitos.

© Amber Mendez/Los Alamitos

LOS ALAMITOS, CA–JANUARY 31, 2025–Five divisions to the $97,500 Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes for 3-year-olds will headline the eight-race program on Sunday night. Thirty-six runners will be in action in these trials, with the sophomores with the 10 fastest times advancing to the final on Sunday, February 23.              

Don’t let the name of Maiden Stakes fool you, there are plenty of top runners participating in these 350-yard trials. In fact, there are 13 winners in the trials plus 11 horses with at least one top three finish in a futurity trial last year.

Among the winners in these trials, one of them, Dunn Ranch’s Outtasyght, scored his victory in a trial to the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, while one other, Steve Burns and Mike Casselman’s Competent, posted a strong third-place finish in a trial to qualify to the Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity final. And just every year in this race, there are plenty of talented runners that will be in action in these trials.                   

The trials will get underway in race number four with a very competitive heat that will feature five horses with experience in major futurity trials last year.

This group includes Triple Enterprises’ Monticello, a Utah-bred gelding by Apollitical Jess who was second in his 350-yard trial to the Grade 1 Ruidoso Futurity last May. He was also placed third after being disqualified from second place due to the interference in his trial to the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. While he’s still a maiden after four starts, the Heath Taylor trainee has shown the talent to compete against Grade 1 stakes caliber rivals and must be considered one of the horses to watch in these trials.

Competent easily outran his name last year, as he is way more than just competent. He was part of a Golden State Million field that included eventual Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity winner Lethal Cowboy 123. and also qualified to the Restricted Grade 1 Governor’s Cup Futurity, making him the only two-time stakes finalist racing in these trials. Trained by Casselman, Competent remains a maiden after 10 starts last year, but he’s the richest horse with $42,390 in earnings and easily the most accomplished runner competing in these trials. Competent will start in the opening heat from post number five.    

Racing for a syndicate that includes Monte and Katsy Cluck, Jerry Windham, and others, Hott Favorite is surely one of the top horses in these trials and the headliner in the second heat. Having been purchased as a yearling for $725,000, this colt by Favorite Cartel out of the top broodmare Pandorum may just be the most expensive horse to ever run in the Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes trials. Bred by Fulton Quien Sabe Ranches, Hott Favorite broke his maiden with a 3/4-length win in his last start, and before that, he was third to Governor’s Cup Futurity winner Favorite Jesshawk in their trial to the Two Million Futurity. Heath Taylor will saddle Hott Favorite from post number two.                                                                                        

Vaughn Fisher, Tommy Hays, and Ed McNelis’ Safari, who finished fourth to Apollitical Bet in the John Deere California Juvenile Challenge, and Steve Burns, Mark, and Marta Winslow, and Jose Flores’ Bull Market, who finished third in two futurity trials last year, will headline trial number three.                                                                  

L O S LLC’s Apollitical Joy, who was second to Norco in their trial to the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity last year, will lead the field in trial number four, while Outtasyght, who qualified to the $40,000 Los Alamitos Two Million Juvenile Invitational after his trial win to the Two Million, will head the final trial of the night. 

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