Owned Santos Montemayor, Paul Penuelas and Valentin Zamudio, fastest qualifier Beyond Repair will lead a foursome of undefeated 2-year-olds in the meet’s first futurity of the year, the Grade 2 $275,000 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity, to be held on Sunday night at Los Alamitos.
Beyond Repair, a graduate of the Los Alamitos Equine Sale, is off to a terrific start to her career with victories in both of her outings. The Zamudio-trained gelding by Fly Thru The Fire was terrific in his trial effort on April 19, as he set the top time of :15.681 while posting a ¾ length victory with Ruben Lozano at the controls. His trial win, just like his maiden victory, came from post number one. Lozano will now pilot Beyond Repair from post number 10 in the Kindergarten final.
“I was a little nervous with him racing from post number one (in the trials), but he’s run well for us from that spot, and he’s also posted some very nice gate works,” Zamudio said. “We’ve liked him a lot since we bought him at the Los Alamitos Equine Sale. He’s been very noble, very fast, and has shown us that he has a lot of talent.”
Purchased for $26,000 at the Equine Sale, Beyond Repair is out of Mr Jess Perry mare Sweetest Illusion, who earned over $29,000 in her racing career. The trial won by Beyond Repair also featured three other qualifiers in EG High Desert Farms’ Sentella Olimpia, Dale Boydston’s Relentless Trick DB, and Jesus Avila’s Touch Base.
Meanwhile, there are two other unbeaten juveniles looking to make it three wins in as many starts on the night of the Kindergarten in Keith Nellesen’s ultra talented filly Beuteeful and Bobby and Catherine Simmons’ Wake Up Lil Suze. Larry and Bobbie Rice’s Candy Eyed Suze won her trial in her racing debut and will look to make it two-for-two in the Kindergarten.
Beuteeful came into the trials as the most impressive maiden winner of the meet following a 1 ½ length debut victory on March 29. Out of the 2015 Governor’s Cup Futurity runner-up Budder Think Twice, Beuteeful is a full sister to Grade 1 futurity finalists My Budd and Think Again Kev. The KVN Corona filly won her trial in the second fastest qualifying time of :15.771 while ridden by Rodrigo Sigala Vallejo for trainer Kristen Watanabe.
“She’s a great filly, good to be around with a lot of personality,” Watanabe said. “She’s fun to be around, always playing games and always full of energy.”
Beuteeful will start from post number one in the final.
Watanabe had one other Kindergarten qualifier for Nellesen in Trident IOT, a ¾ length trial winner and the fourth fastest qualifier with a time of :15.783. The KVN Corona gelding is out of the unraced mare My Famous Lady, who is a daughter of the 1999 Grade 1 Rainbow Derby winner My Dashing Lady. Trident IOT worked in the mornings next to Beuteeful and the two McColee Land & Livestock-bred runners will face off again, this time with big money on the line on Kindergarten night. Rodrigo Aceves gets the assignment on Trident IOT.
Just like Beyond Repair and Beuteeful, the filly Wake Up Lil Suze is a perfect two for two to start her career. Owned by Bobby and Catherine Simmons, Wake Up Lil Suze won her trial by a nose over Salvador Flores, Jr.’s Elmer Romero, while posting the third fastest time of :15.777 under jockey Henry Reynoso Lopez. Sired by Favorite Cartel and out of the graded stakes winner and $400,000 earner Suze Returns, Wake Up Lil Suze arrived at the barn of trainer Paul Jones at Los Alamitos after training at Remington Park. She won her local debut by a length at 17-1 odds.
“She came in really good shape,” Jones said. “Clinton Crawford had her at Remington Park and he did a really good job getting her broke and getting her started. When she came here, she was ready to run, and she proved it. She ran a really nice race first time out and came back and repeated that effort tonight. She didn’t break quite as sharp (in the trials) as she did last time, but she did her job.”
Trainer Felix Gonzalez celebrated his birthday on Kindergarten trials night by qualifying Elmer Romero for the Kindergarten final. Salvador Flores and his family sang the “happy birthday” song to Pelillo after the race and will now hope that Elmer Romero sings a winning tune in the Kindergarten final. The homebred gelding is by Jess Being Valiant out of Cava Yee Tah, a five-time winner with over $31,000 in earnings. While one might think that Elmer Romero is named after a person, his name is a clever way of spelling the Spanish term “El Mero Mero”, which a playful way to refer to someone as the “the big boss” or “head honcho”. It can also be used towards an authority figure or to someone who excels at something.
“I was going to name him Jess Cava Yee Tah, but the name ‘El Mero Mero’ stuck because that’s who he is,” the owner said with a smile. “Since he was a baby when he was in the pastures, he would show that he was very quick just like his mother. We have high hopes for him.”
Francisco Ramirez, who has caught the eye this season with 18 total wins, will pilot Elmer Romero.
Owned by the partnership of Flores, Layne Sprouse, and Mark and Marta Winslow, Fireworks Over Paris finished superbly to win his trial by ¾ lengths in the sixth fastest time of :15.797. Ridden by Cruz Mendez, the Oklahoma-bred gelding could provide some late fireworks if he can break the field in this 300-yard dash. His sire is the unraced stallion Ryder Rite, who is the son of great Favorite Cartel. Fireworks Over Paris’ dam is Veuve Clicquot, the dam of G1 Ed Burke finalists Robs Reason. Cavenaugh Quarter Horses-bred Fireworks Over Paris.
To be ridden by Justine Klaiber for trainer Eddie Willis, Candy Eyed Suze won the final trial by a half-length and will look to give Willis his second straight win in the Kindergarten after he saddled Cedar Hill to victory in the 2024 Kindergarten. Candy Eyed Suze, a Jess Good Candy filly out of the $109,000 earner and graded stakes placed mare Brown Eye Suze, will start from post number seven.
As for the qualifiers from the trial won by Beyond Repair, Sentella Olimpia is a homebred filly by A Mere Felix and out of Gimme Back Mybullets, a three-time winner and $14,000 earner. Sentella Olimpia’s granddam is the graded stakes placed mare Nola Darling. Ricardo Ramirez will pilot Sentella Olimpia for trainer Jesus Nunez. This owner/trainer/jockey trio won the Governor’s Cup Futurity last year with Favorite Jesshawk.
Dale Boydston’s Relentless Trick DB, an Oklahoma-bred gelding by Hes Relentless is from the family of 1999 Rainbow Derby winner My Dashing Lady. To be ridden by Eduardo Nicasion, Relentless Trick DB will look to give Jaime Gomez his ninth Kindergarten victory. Gomez is already the stakes record holder with eight wins. Touch Base is a colt by Uncle D out of the Thoroughbred mare Touch Of Bling, a $261,703 earner who won races at Saratoga, Aqueduct and Gulfstream Park West. Jonathan Roman will pilot the Douglas Scharbauer-bred runner for trainer Adan Farias.
Here’s the Kindergarten field from the rail out: Beuteeful, Relentless Trick DB, Trident IOT, Elmer Romero, Touch Base, Sentella Olimpia, Candy Eyed Suze, Fireworks Over Paris, Wake Up Lil Suze, and Beyond Repair.
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