On a night in which 44 juveniles searched for a maiden victory, six outstanding young runners delivered strong victories in their respective racing debuts and all six will now be pointed to the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity trials to be held here on Sunday, May 25.
The maiden winners included three Favorite Cartel fillies with Steve Burns’ French Valley, a full sister to AQHA Champion Trane Station V, Ed Allred’s Toby Sis, a full sister to Grade 1 winner London Toby, and another Allred-bred filly Cheat Sheet, who posted a 1 1/2-length victory on Saturday night. Trainer Jose Flores also enjoyed a great evening of racing, as he saddled three talented juveniles to victory in the form of geldings Tempting Max, Jess A Lucky Charm and Flaming Jess Candy.
Bred by Steve Burns and trained Mike Casselman, French Valley posted an eye-catching victory in her debut as the daughter by Favorite Cartel out of the stakes winner Attack The Cartel posted a length victory at 220 yards in a time of :12.163. Attack the Cartel is the dam of the AQHA Champion and millionaire Trane Station V and was a stakes winner herself at Los Alamitos while earning over $93,000 in her career. French Valley was very professional in her preparation drill for her debut, leaving the gate cleanly and sharply before pulling away to a 12.9 gate work on April 12. In her debut, she was fast out of the gate and pulled away late to easily win on Saturday night.
While French Valley showcased her quickness at 220, all of the other juvenile events were contested at 300 yards on Saturday. Ridden by Gabriel Lara for trainer Scott Willoughby, Toby Sis won her debut by 1 1/4-lengths at 300 yards on Saturday. Her winning time was 15.667. She came into this race off a sharp :12.3 drill on April 12. Meanwhile, Cheat Sheet had the fastest time among all the 2-year-olds that raced on Saturday, winning by 1 1/2-lengths while covering the distance in :15.581. Ridden by Irving Lara for trainer James Glenn, Jr., Cheat Sheet is out of the $89,000earner Deceiver, a six-time winner and 15 time top three finishers from 18 career starts. She posted a 12.3 gate drill prior to her debut.
The Flores winners featured Jess A Lucky Charm, Flaming Jess Candy, and Tempting Max. Owned by Flores and Larry Stewart, Jess A Lucky Charm is an Oklahoma-bred colt by Jess Good Candy out of the Favorite Cartel mare Pieology. She’s a daughter of the graded stakes winner Hawk Kue Pie, who won the Grade 2 Las Damas Handicap at Los Alamitos in 2010. This is the family of Champion of Champions finalist Militarist. With Cruz Mendez up, Jess A Lucky Charm posted a 1/2-length victory while covering the distance in :15.566. He worked with Flaming Jess Candy in preparation for their debuts and both runners got a chance to visit the winner’s circle on Saturday night.
Raul Chavez, Jose Flors and George Villalobos’ Flaming Jess Candy is a colt by Jess Good Candy out of Flaming Chula, a sister of Champion, millionaire and multiple Grade 1 winner Higher Fire. With Mendez teaming up with Flores, the George and Sandra Villalobos-bred Flaming Jess Candy posted a 1/2-length win in a time of :15.676.
The jockey/trainer posed for a winner’s circle picture with Tempting Max after the Tempting Dash gelding won by 3/4-length in a time of :15.725. Owned by Rojas Racing, Tempting Max is out of the unraced mare Might She Go, whose dam is the multiple graded stakes placed mare Go And Dash. He came into his debut after a :12.6 gate drill at 220 yards on April 9.
