FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANUARY 29, 2010

CONTACT LOS ALAMITOS PUBLICITY
714-820-2690

PRINCELIKE IS THE KING OF THE WINTER DERBY TRIALS

LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA.... Ed Allred's Princelike emerged as the supreme leader of the Los Alamitos Winter Derby trials after demolishing his rivals while posting the fastest qualifying time of :19.421 on Friday night to the $201,750 final to be held on February 19.

Trained by Jose Flores, who saddled three of the four trial winners, Princelike was the runaway fastest qualifier of the evening, as he defeated the solid Harems Last Dash by 1-1/2 lengths while covering the 400 yards in the meet's fastest time. The TR Dasher gelding was 13/100ths of a second faster than second fastest qualifier Mamas Justice. Thirty one sophomores competed in the derby trials with the following 10 horses qualifying to the Grade 1 finale: Princelike (:19.421), Mamas Justice (:19.553), Fire In The Hole (:19.583), Mollys Cartel (:19.634), Headturner (:19.641), Bring The Bling (:19.645), Hoist Mission (:19.659), Harems Last Dash (:19.676), Forrest Fire (:19.691), and Tony Bolony (:19.717).

Allred, the reigning AQHA Champion Breeder, appears to have bred a new star in Princelike. Out of the Raise A Secret mare Queen Mother, Princelike has now won four of five starts and his only blemish was a third place finish in the $416,000 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity.

"With a little bit of luck and he would be undefeated," Allred said. "His mother had other horses but not one of them could run at all. I'm glad that I never got rid or gave up on her as a broodmare. She has that Oh La Ree blood and I am so happy that I kept her."

Allred is also excited about the prospects of his stallion TR Dasher, who is also the sire of 2009 World Champion Freaky, Governor's Cup Derby and Futurity winner Hard Hitting, and Royal Shake Em Futurity fastest qualifier Three Times Even.

"I saw TR Dasher last week at Burns Ranch and he looked great," Allred said. "While Walk Thru Fire has always been an impressive looking horse, I had never thought of TR Dasher in that same way until last week. In terms of looks he was the equal of Walk Thru Fire or even better in my eyes. TR Dasher really looked great. He only has crops of about 60 horses and that's about one-third of what the top sires have, so for him to sire the type of horses that he has already sired is incredible. The mare exposure that he has had has been okay. I've bred him to my second line of mares, which are good mares, but not my best. That's changing. This horse is a really promising stallion."

TR Dasher ran in the 2000 Ed Burke Million Futurity and in the 2001 Governor's Cup and El Primero Del Ano Derby. Princelike's dam, Queen Mother, broke her maiden for her only career win, but her bloodlines trace back to nine-time winner and $111,650 earner Oh La Ree. Oh La Ree, who is the granddam of Queen Mother, is the mother of Oh La Proud, who dropped the likes of champions Hawkish and Hawkinson.

Flores had a memorable evening. The veteran trainer also saddled trial winners Mamas Justice and Mollys Cartel and narrowly missed winning the other trial with Headturner. Rodrigo Aceves piloted Princelike and Mamas Justice, while Francisco Rubio rode Mollys Cartel.

"I have never won three trials in a single night before until now," said Flores. "I want to thank the owners for putting up the money to make these horses eligible to the Winter Derby trials. I am happy that we were able to deliver. Princelike was phenomenal tonight. He has always been a special horse. He always does everything right. This horse always gives you 110 percent. From the first time that I worked him I told Dr. Allred that he had big-time runner. He is the type of horse that is very easy to train."

Eladin Flores' Mamas Justice posted the upset of the night, winning the opening trial at odds of 40-1. The gelding is the son of the Thoroughbred Lit de Justice, winner of the 1996 $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint. Mamas Justice improved his record to three wins from five career starts.

"The owner asked me whether or not he should pay to run him in the trials," Flores said. "I told him, 'this horse has a big chance if he can break cleanly because he can finish. Mollys Cartel is all heart. She had a rough go in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. The outside horse bumped her so hard that it knocked the shoe off of her right left, but that's racing. She tries hard no matter what happens. It doesn't matter if she runs against the boys, she'll be right there all of the time. She'll eventually run in the La Primera Del Ano Derby trials against fillies and that will be good for her. For now, we'll be taking on the boys in the Winter Derby final."

Mollys Cartel was one of a few select runners to qualify to more than one million dollar race at Los Alamitos. She ran in both the Ed Burke Million and the Los Alamitos Two Million for Balgo Racing. Representing the ownership group on Friday evening were Jose and Maria Gonzalez and their three children.

"I'm the one that comes out to the track the most," said Jose, who along with his two brothers composes Balgo Racing. "I'm the one that is sweating it out before Mollys' races. I'm the one that's dying of nerves," he added with a smile.

Balgo Racing has owned horses for the past six years. "Our first start with our first horse in the United States won a stakes race The first horse that we owned, Its Time To Jazz, won a stakes race in Sacramento. We've been with Jose since we started owning horses. We've had good luck with Jose. We've had horses all of my life. I used to go to watch them run in Guadalajara, Mexico. Mollys Cartel has been a special runner for us. She's the best filly that we've ever had. She won easy tonight."

Flores will also have Jose Ramon Sandoval's Headturner in the Winter Derby. The Check Him Out gelding was second in the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity in the only stakes appearance of his career. Finishing second to Isla Vista Racing SS's Fire In The Hole in the final trial, Headturner moved his record to six top two finishes in seven career starts.

"He broke a little sluggish," Flores continued. "He needed this race probably more than my other horses because he is a lot bigger than the other ones. (Jockey) Ramon Sanchez said that he actually made the lead in this race but then just flattened. We'll have three weeks before the final and that's going to be great for all of these horses. I'm just happy for my owners right now. And now let the best horse win."

First Down Dash will be represented by two runners in the Winter Derby in Vessels Stallion Farm and Robert Wood's Harems Last Dash, who ran second to Princelike, and Lucas Racing Inc's Bring The Bling, who was second to Mamas Justice. Bring The Bling is out of the great mare Runaway Wave to make him a full brother to 2006 World Champion Wave Carver and champion millionaire Ocean Runaway.

"Bring The Bling got a little sick last year and then he got sore," trainer Paul Jones said. "That slowed him down. I hope he can show his talent this year. It's a good start to make it to a Grade 1 final. The important part is that he made it and hopefully he will have a good showing in the final."

Walk Thru Fire, the winner of the Three Bars Award for top California-based stallion in 2009, will also have two horses in the finale in the form of trial winner Fire In The Hole and Mimi Wells' Forrest Fire. Fire In The Hole has now won five straight races while moving up the ladder since being claimed for $6,250 on August 13. The son of the outstanding mare Artesia had won back-to-back races against $20,000 claimers before trying his luck in this derby trial. He passed his first trial test with high marks, as he held off Headturner, Grade 2 winner Hoist Mission, and 10th fastest qualifier Tony Bolony, while keeping his winning streak alive.

BACK