Jessa Southern Girl Tops Valley Junction Futurity Qualifiers

Jessa Southern Girl turned in a dominant performance Sunday afternoon at Prairie Meadows, posting the fastest qualifying time from seven trials for the Grade 3, $345,110 Valley Junction Futurity.

Ridden by Armando Alvidrez for trainer Jason Olmstead, Jessa Southern Girl dominated the third trial, drawing away to win by 4 1/4 lengths in :17.750 for 350 yards. The Equibase chart described the filly as “much the best.”

Owned by Robert Brown, Jessa Southern Girl was bred by Leann Burns and is a $103,000 Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale graduate. The daughter of Apollitical Jess is out of the PYC Paint Your Wagon mare Mary Paintyourwagon.

Jessa Southern Girl has now won four consecutive races, improving her record to 6-4-0-0 with earnings of $44,318. She entered the trials off a victory in the Prairie Meadows Juvenile Challenge.

Eyesa Chick Magnet posted the second-fastest qualifying time with a victory in the fifth trial. Ridden by Cristian Esqueda, the Stacy Charette-Hill homebred took over and held clear by a half-length, stopping the clock in :17.833.

Bred, owned and trained by Charette-Hill, Eyesa Chick Magnet is a $30,000 Heritage Place Yearling Sale repurchase. The gelding is by PYC Paint Your Wagon and out of the Country Chicks Man mare Eyesa Candy Chick.

Eyesa Chick Magnet improved his record to 6-4-0-0 with earnings of $49,848. He entered the trials off a fourth-place finish in the Prairie Meadows Gold Futurity.

Counter 44 finished a half-length behind Eyesa Chick Magnet to secure the third-fastest qualifying time of :17.896 under jockey Luis Luna Ramirez. After breaking sharply, the colt produced a strong late run to grab second.

A homebred for Nancy McCoy, Counter 44 is trained by Charley Hunt. The son of Flying Cowboy 123 is out of the Corona Cartel mare Im Gone For A Corona. He now has a record of 5-2-1-1 with earnings of $17,250 and entered the trials off a third-place finish in the Prairie Meadows Juvenile Challenge Stakes.

The $345,110 Valley Junction Futurity (G3) final is set for Sept. 25 at Prairie Meadows.

VIEW FULL LIST OF QUALIFIERS HERE.