Ed Allred’s Toby Sis remained undefeated thanks to a dominant victory, while Parsons Ranch’s The Lady Is A Vamp showed her promise once again as the two remarkable fillies topped the trials to the Grade 2, $260,000 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity on Sunday at Los Alamitos.
Toby Sis, a full sister to the multiple Grade 1 winner London Toby, was the star of the night, as the daughter of Favorite Cartel out of London Laura flew out of the gate from post seven and extended her lead with each stride on the way to a 1 ¼ length victory in sixth of seven trials at 350 yards. Forty-six juveniles competed in the trials with the horses with the 10 fastest times returning here for the final on Sunday, September 14.
Bred by her owner, Toby Sis will get top billing in the final after scoring her third win in as many starts, this trial win in a time of :17.729. Ridden by Gabriel Lara for trainer Scott Willoughby, Toby Sis also won her trial to the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity but missed qualifying to the final, but there was no doubt that she would be a part of the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity final following this victory.
“She had been training fantastic coming into this race,” Willoughby said. “She got away a little slow in her (Ed Burke trial) and come and beat them at the wire. She didn’t quite qualify, and I was disappointed that she didn’t’ qualify, but not in the filly at all because I know she can run a lot. She’s a full sister to London Toby and she’s just getting better every time she comes up here.”
The Lady Is A Vamp did not make the Ed Burke field either after facing trouble at the start of her trial, but since then she’s posted a 1 ¾ length maiden win and now this solid ½ length win in the second fastest time of :17.787. Henry Reynoso Lopez piloted her for trainer Paul Jones.
“This filly has been good from day one and has been one of the barn’s favorites,” Jones said. “We love this filly. She’s (crossed the wire first) in three out of four races. The one race she had a little trouble in she got bumped and knocked around the Ed Burke trials. That was a little disappointing but then she came back and won. Tonight, she ran a flawless race and did her job. Henry said he rode her nice and easy and didn’t have to push her too hard. He said it was just a nice little ride.”
Bred by Jay and Char Parsons, The Lady Is A Vamp is by Apollitical Blood out of the multiple stakes placed mare Another Wise Lady.
The top qualifying male is Cowboy Country 123, who has now posted three straight victories for jockey Cruz Mendez and trainer Paul Jones. The son of Flying Cowboy 123 is out of Haute Cartel, bred by Reginal Rasner and purchased for $96,000 at the Los Alamitos Equine Sale last year. Steve Mickaelian and Juan Moya own the gelding Cowboy Country 123, who posted the third fastest time in :17.821.
Santos Montemayor and Omar Torres’ SM My Valentine, a Kiss My Hocks gelding, was second to The Lady Is A Vamp in their trial, but his time of :17.843 was the fourth fastest of the night. Eduardo Nicasio rode the Montemayor-bred runner for trainer Adan Farias.
Kolleen Ledgerwood’s Fancy Upp, a filly by Favorite Cartel out of the stakes winner Up For It, won for the first time in five career starts while finishing with the fifth fastest time of :17.875. With Irving Lara up for Cesar DeAlba, Fancy Upp a neck ahead of Dennis Jensen and Randy Young’s Elemyntal, who also qualified from this race. Fancy Upp came into this race a maiden, but her record included a third-place finish in the Restricted Grade 1 Governor’s Cup Futurity.
The Quarter Company’s Rich Flex is another trial winning filly, who will be back for the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity final. The Favorite Cartel filly out of Dutch Secret posted a neck victory in her trial with Erasmo Gasca up for trainer Sergio Morfin.
Erik Flores’ Mastros, third to The Lady Is A Vamp, also qualified while racing for only the second time in his career. He’s a Favorite Cartel colt out of the stakes placed Whatta Knockout. The other two qualifiers both came out of the race won by Cowboy Country 123. They are Spencer Tunnell’s Run Don’t Walk, who was second in the John Deere Los Alamitos Juvenile Challenge in his last start, and Thompson Racing, Inc., Alexis Andrade and Paul Jones’ Doodah Cartel, who was fourth in the Ed Burke Million on June 15.
The complete order of qualifiers is as follows: Toby Sis (:17.729), The Lady Is A Vamp (:17.787), Cowboy Country 123 (:17.821), SM My Valentine (:17.843), Fancy Upp (:17.875), Mastros (:17.899), Run Dont Walk (:17.912), Elemyntal (:17.923), Doodah Cartel (:17.928), and Rich Flex (:17.933).
