GOOD REASON SA WINS THE GOLDEN STATE DERBY
CYPRESS, CA… AUGUST 28, 2010 - The last five racing nights have been good for Brazilian Quarter Horse owners at Los Alamitos Race Course. On Friday, August 20, Benny Rosset’s champion aged mare Stylish Jess Br won the Merial California Distaff Challenge only to be followed by Marcelo Jorge’s The Goodbye Kisser’s victory in the John Deere California Juvenile Challenge this Friday night. Gianni Samaja’s Good Reason SA completed the Brazilian stakes trifecta by winning the $262,500 Golden State Derby on Saturday, giving the winner of last year’s Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity the second Grade 1 victory of his already outstanding career.
“It’s been a good time for Brazil,” said agent Vince Genco, who handles a lot of the Brazilians’ equine business in the United States. “Benny won the Charger Bar Handicap in January with Stylish Jess Br, but after that it had been slow going for those guys. Their 2-year-old crop has not done too well – other than The Goodbye Kisser – so it was a slow spring. Now things are picking up. Their horses are starting to do well and this is the time of the year when you want them to do well. Gianni will be tickled to death with this victory and I can’t wait to talk to him about it tomorrow morning.”
Good Reason SA, who was making only his second start of the year in his Golden State win, earned in this race $112,500 for his neck victory over Los Alamitos Winter Derby runner-up Princelike. The son of Favorite Trick was third during the early part of the 400-yard race and for the first half of the race it looked like that was going to be as good as he was going to do in this race.
“It seemed like he was doing well at the start but he wasn’t going anywhere,” said Cody Jensen, who piloted Good Reason SA for trainer Paul Jones. “He was struggling a little bit but then he started overpowering the horses late in the race. He proved to be a little too big and a little too strong for the field. He was so much better and so much more impressive tonight, because of the way he finished so strongly.”
Good Reason SA covered the distance in a fast time of :19.380, helped in part by his powerful final 220-yard time of :09.32. He came into this race having qualified with a time of :19.32 in his 2010 debut and in his final start of 2009 in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity he won the race in :19.36. Those times indicate that consistency has become a trademark of Good Reason SA, who has now earned $926,515 from five wins in six career starts.
“He had a little surgery in his ankle and knee after the Two Million but his issues were not big stuff to worry about,” Genco said. “We wanted to clean it up in order to avoid any possible big problems later in his career. The key was that we gave him plenty of time to recover from the surgery. This horse has been sound and Paul is the master when it comes to handling horses. The Los Alamitos Super Derby trials (in mid-October) is probably what’s next for him. I would think he’s one of the top contenders.”
Good Reason SA’s is a colt out of Samaja’s prized mare Queen of Appeals. In addition to the winner of this race, Queen of Appeals is also the mother of Get Him Out SA, who also finished seventh in this running of the Golden State Derby. Her son Gemini Special SA ran second in Friday’s Pfizer California Starter Allowance and in past years she has produced multiple Grade 1 finalist Special Queen SA and also a full brother to Special Queen SA that currently stands as stallion for Samaja in Brazil.
“She has done well for Gianni,” Genco said. “Gianni has a good sized ranch in Brotas in the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil. The ranch has citrus, beef ankle and horses. In the past few years Gianni has cut back the cattle and cut back on his Thoroughbred horses. He is concentrating on his Quarter Horses and he keeps a lot of his babies there. He has about 150 horses and that includes Corona For Me (runner-up to A Regal Choice in the Los Alamitos Million Futurity in 2003) and (2006 Los Alamitos Winter Championship winner) Gold Medal Jess. ”
Jones, the perennial AQHA champion trainer and the sport’s all-time leading trainer in earnings, was pleased to do well for his Brazilian friends.
“The Brazilian owners have been very important to my barn over the year,” he said. “These owners and Vince Genco - that team - has been a great attribute to my stable, and they are all great guys. They have all been a pleasure to train for over the years. My wife Marin and I went to Brazil this year for the first time. We enjoyed it so much that we might go back again. We had a chance to go to the Quarter Horse races and we had a lot of fun.”
“The owners in Brazil have such a passion for the Quarter Horses that it’s like pure joy,” said Paul’s wife, Marin. “They enjoy everything that they do with their horses so much.”
Ed Allred’s Princelike posted another solid result and earned $45,535 for his runner-up efforts. The TR Dasher gelding has never finished out of the money in his eight career starts and has only been lower than second once when he was third in the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity last year. Juan Andrade rode Princelike for trainer Jose Flores. Armando Leon’s Danny Cartel earned $32,143 for running third. Divide The Cash, the 350-yard track record holder at Los Alamitos, broke poorly after being fractious in the gate before recovering to finish in fourth place. First Down King, Runaway Tyme, Get Him Out SA, Catchmesmokin and Effectiveimmediately completed the field.