Train B Taka will look to keep his perfect record in the Grade 1, $173,350 Los Alamitos Winter Derby on Saturday night.                               

© William Zuazo

LOS ALAMITOS, CA–FEBRUARY 13, 2025–Armando Arreola, Cheryl Stokes and Tungsten Racing Partnership's Train B Taka will look to make it a perfect four for four since arriving in Southern California when he heads the field to the Grade 1, $173,350 Los Alamitos Winter Derby to be held here on Saturday night.                               

Ridden by Edwin Escobedo for trainer Marc Jungers, Train B Taka will enter the 400-yard final after a stellar yet hard-fought head victory when posting the fastest qualifying time in the derby trials three weeks ago.

Train B Taka's perfect record at Los Alamitos started with an allowance win here on December 9 followed by an impressive win in the Holiday Handicap on December 28. In the Holiday, Train B Taka displayed a powerful kick, as he went from leading by a neck to posting a ¾ length win in the 350-yard dash.                            

Train B Taka showed that his potent finishing ability in the trials, as he trailed the Grade 1 stakes placed runner Brown Coffeee by a head as they approached the wire, before hitting his next gear and going on to win by ¾ lengths. Bred by Rancho El Cabresto, the gray gelding by Freighttrain B was also a winner during the last Ruidoso meet before traveling to the Golden State.                                     

Monte and Katsy Cluck and Ross Roark's Brown Coffeee, who finished with the second fastest time will look for his first stakes victory after another solid trial effort. Bred by Silver Racing Farm, the gelding by Good Reason SA was the fastest qualifier to the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity before running second in the Two Million final. He's already started five times at Los Alamitos and has finished in the top three in every one of those starts. 

Johnny Trotter's homebred Cartel Perry, who was one of the top finishers in Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity, will enter the Winter Derby final after winning the most productive derby trial back on January 25.

Five of the 10 horses in the final qualified from that heat, which was dominated by Cartel Perry, as he finished a half-length ahead of David Hinkins' talented Vgk Zigfield Follies.  Chris O'Dell trains the Texas-bred son of Mr Jess Perry.           

"We love Cartel Perry," O'Dell said. "He's a barn favorite. I love him. I've spent a lot of time with this horse. He never breaks really good, so we've been working with him on that. We broke him out of the gate multiple times (preparing for this race), and he broke better tonight. He's so big and wide between the front legs that it's hard for him to break like a rocket like we want him to. Once he learns how to break, he's going to be dangerous. It goes back to how Catchmeinyourdreams was. Once he learned how to break, he was dangerous. (Cartel Perry) is a great horse and can go the distance."                                                                                                   

Clanfield Act Stables' homebred Favorite Semental defeated a strong field in a trial that included qualifiers Norco and Powerful Wise Lady while racing from post number one. The Favorite Cartel colt moves to post number two for this race and trainer Felix Gonzalez is confident that his trainee can improve even more.

"He seems to be maturing, and he seems to be getting better with each passing day as a 3-year-old," Gonzalez said. "I was surprised to see him do so well from the rail and how strong he finished. He was always close last year to winning some big races (last year)."

In his 2-year-old campaign, Favorite Semental was second to Brown Coffeee in their Two Million trial and second to Catching Waves in their Golden State Million trial. He was fourth to a red-hot Walking Tool in the Ah Sigh Handicap and second to Governor's Cup Futurity winner Favorite Jesshawk in the Los Alamitos Two Million Juvenile Invitational. Favorite Semental's victory in the Winter Derby trial was his first at 400 yards.

Henry Reynoso Lopez, currently the meet's leading Quarter Horse rider, will pilot Favorite Semental.

Ed Alled's Norco will be making his third start since returning to action after a five-month layoff. The talented Favorite Cartel gelding won his first two career starts and then ran seventh in the Ed Burke Million Futurity final on June 16. He returned to action with a second-place finish in his Two Million trial on November 24 before chasing Favorite Semental when in their Winter Derby trial.

With two races in his holster, his third outing since his break could be the charm for the Scott Willoughby trainee. As for Willoughby, this would be a milestone stakes victory as he's one away from 100 career stakes wins at Los Alamitos. Gabriel Lara will pilot Norco from along the rail.

David Hinkins' Vgk Zigfield Follies and Parsons Ranch's Powerful Wise Lady are the only fillies in this race, but they've combined to finish in the money in eight of their 20 career starts. Vgk Zigfield Follies is a three-time winner, including a half-length victory in her Golden State Million trial.

Keith Nellesen's Jess Send Kevin was part of the Ed Burke Million field last year and an easy winner in his Two Million trial when starting from post number four. He'll start from that same spot in this race.

CD Horses, Jose Flores and Robyn Gordon's Fire Tools 123 was fourth to Cartel Perry in that very productive Winter Derby trial and now makes his stakes debut. The gelding by Flying Cowboy 123 has shown a solid finishing kick but has been hampered with bad luck in several of his starts. If he can break with the leaders, he could surprise his rivals in the late going.

Kaye Russell's Apollitical Bet enjoyed a three-race winning streak in the middle of last year but enters this race looking for a return to top form. He was the fifth place finisher in that very productive Winter Derby trial won by Cartel Perry.

Here's the field from the rail out: Norco, Favorite Semental, Vgk Zigfield Follies, Jess Send Kevin, Apollitical Bet, Cartel Perry, Train B Taka, Fire Tools 123, Powerful Wise Lady, and Brown Coffeee.

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