Valeriano Racing Stables LLC’s Toby Sis was bumped shortly after the start but was fortunate enough to avoid trouble the rest of the way, allowing her immense potential to emerge during the second half of California’s richest Quarter Horse race, the Grade 1, $1,929,825 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity here on Sunday night.
Displaying an impressive finishing kick from post number two, Toby Sis held off Corinna Sosa’s AJ Remember Me by a head to win the 26th running of the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity at odds of 11-1. Ridden by Francisco Calderon for trainer Jesus Nunez, Toby Sis completed a terrific juvenile campaign with this victory.
Bred by Ed Allred, the filly by Favorite Cartel out of the Walk Thru Fire mare London Laura improved to five wins from six starts, with her only blemish being a second-place finish in the Grade 2 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. Toby Sis earned $799,187 for the win to take her career earnings to $856,157. This makes her the nation’s fourth leading earner and the highest earning Quarter Horse filly or mare of 2025.
A full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner London Toby, Toby Sis also became Favorite Cartel’s 17th winner of a million-dollar race. The California-bred covered the 400 yards in :19.559. Valeriano Racing Stables were also represented by Whos The V, who was also bumped early, lost his path and had more traffic trouble later in the race while never in contention on the way to running 10th.
Several other horses had rough trips during this race, including Grade 1 Ruidoso Futurity winner Political Twist, who got knocked around heavily after Surprise Temptation, Enforce and Jess Im Worth It all bumped into each other near the midway point of the race. Jess Im Worth It, who was third across the finish line, was eventually disqualified from third and placed ninth. Keith Nellesen’s Hi Octane, who was also bumped during this melee, finished in a huge way, crossing the wire fourth before being moved up to third.
The official order of finish is as follows: Toby Sis, AJ Remember Me, Hi Octane, Beuteeful, Enforce, Brother Ray, Political Twist, Surprise Temptation, Jess Im Worth It, and Whos The V.
“I knew I got left back a little bit,” said Calderon, who rode Toby Sis. “They bumped her left, right but when she started gearing, she started going, she felt comfortable and she did good. She was lugging out about 150 yards before the wire. I really had to gear her and not really ride her, just gear her, which I think it cost her a little bit more, but I needed to go straight. We can probably fix that, a different bit or something. I knew she was going to lug out and being in the two (post) you have more horses to worry about.”
This was also the second consecutive year in which the winner of the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity started from post number two. The 2024 winner Lethal Cowboy 123 famously ended up in post number two after the post position selection event.
Part of the tradition of the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity is for the connections of each horse in the race to have the opportunity to select their post positions. A random draw is held Wednesday morning before the race with the connections choosing their post position later that day. If you have the number one pick in the selection order, then every post position is available for your horse. If you have the 10th and final pick in the order, then the choice has been made for you, and your horse will start from the last spot available.
Toby Sis had the ninth pick this year and with only posts two and three still available, Nunez chose post number two.
“We had pick seven for Whos The V and number nine for Toby Sis,” said owner Sammie Valeriano. “When ‘Chuey’ (Jesus Nunez) called me from the draw with what was available, I told him to take post number four for Whos The V. (Beuteeful) then took the number one post so for Tobys Sis we had either two or three. I said ‘Chuey, which one do you like?’ He told me that he’s always wanted number two, so I told him, ‘Go on and pick that two.’ It was Chuey who chose that spot.”
“They didn’t leave me the seven post, so I took post number two,” Nunez said with a smile. “I knew about Lethal Cowboy 123 and tonight we had the luck. I had a lot of faith on Toby Sis. I thought she had a really good chance to win. She has a lot of class and just kept getting better and training great.”
The winning connections purchased her privately from her breeder after her second-place finish in the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. Nunez knew that his job was to keep her happy at that point.
“She was already a very nice filly and not much that she could learn,” Nunez said. “The way she ran in the trials, I knew we had a good shot to win. She was one of the best in this field. She relaxed a lot and showed a lot of class. This was the (best) chance that I had to win a million-dollar race. She’s paid into the Los Alamitos Oaks next year.”
Valeriano Racing and jockey Francisco Calderon had previously teamed up to win the Los Alamitos Two Million in 2023 with AQHA champion colt Trane Station V, who was also sired by Favorite Cartel. An AQHA champion jockey, Calderon’s experience in big races served him well.
“When it’s 400 or 440, you really have to be patient because the wire is all the way at the end,” Calderon added. “You push too early you might get caught. The money is at the end. She didn’t break but I knew that she’s a filly that needs to get comfortable the first couple of strides. She did that in the trials. It was the first time I had ridden her in a race. She broke good but just wasn’t comfortable running until I gave her ahead and let her run. Then she felt comfortable. She did that today as well.”
Ridden by Edwin Escobebo, who won the Two Million last year aboard Lethal Cowboy 123, AJ Remember Me steadily gained ground to move up from eight to fifth and eventually second place in the race. While he bumped at the start, the 28-1 longshot was also able to avoid additional traffic trouble later in the race.
Saddled by Kelly Castaneda, AJ Remember Me earned $323,480 for his runner-up effort. The son of Apollitical Jess was third to Political Twist in the Ruidoso Futurity earlier this year and third in the Ah Sigh Stakes. He was bred by Rancho El Cabresto.
Nellesen’s Hi Octane, who had the first choice of post position and selected post number six, earned $228,339 for running third. Jose Nicasio piloted the Utah-bred son of Apollitical Jess for trainer Kristen Watanabe. Lance and Tommy Finlinson bred Hi Octane.
Nellesen and Watanabe also teamed up with fourth place finisher Beuteeful, the winner of the Grade 1 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity. Racing from post number one, Beuteeful earned $133,198 for her effort. Rodrigo Sigala Vallejo piloted the KVN Corona filly from the rail.
West Texas Racing Partners’ Enforce had one of the roughest trips of the night. He was bumped around by both Surprise Temptation and Jess Im Worth It and it’s a remarkable feat that he was still able to finish as high as he did for jockey Jesus Rios Ayala and trainer Chris O’Dell. The winner of the Grade 1 Golden State Million final banked $114,170 for his gutsy fifth place finish in this race.
