Favored Eastex Is Out to Gain Revenge : Gelding Has Something to Prove in El Primero Del Ano at Los Al

Tonight’s $265,200 El Primero Del Ano Derby at Los Alamitos Race Course could well be called a running of quarter horse racing’s finest 3-year-old colts and geldings or a rerunning of December’s Golden State Futurity or even Eastex’s grudge match against Easy Austin.

Call this 400-yard stakes rematch anything you like, but call it exciting.

Easy Austin, Lanes Leinster and Eastex finished 1-2-3 in last month’s $706,000 Golden State Futurity. The third-place finish for Eastex, the overwhelming favorite in the Futurity, was one of the major upsets in quarter horse racing last year. Eastex, who came into the Futurity as the richest 2-year-old in racing history (any breed) with more than $1.5 million in earnings, got a slow start out of the gate and couldn’t catch Easy Austin and Lanes Leinster.

Easy Austin’s winning time of 19.79 seconds equalled the stakes record for the 400-yard contest and stunned those who believed Eastex to be one of the best quarter horses ever, if not the best ever.

“It just wasn’t his night,” jockey Bruce Pilkenton said of Eastex. “He broke good, but he didn’t have the punch.”

Tonight, however, Eastex looks eager for a chance at a little equine revenge. In the Derby trials, the brown gelding seemed determined to regain whatever respect he may have lost in the Futurity. He won his trial by more than three lengths, posting a swift time of 19.81 for 400 yards. Lanes Leinster and Easy Austin, the second and third-fastest qualifiers respectively, were more than .21 seconds behind Eastex with times of 20.02 and 20.04.

But Eastex’s rematch against Lanes Leinster will have to wait for another night. Friday morning, Lanes Leinster was scratched because of a virus. Trainer Kent Daly said his horse had been ill for several days and was still on medication. California Horse Racing Board medication regulations prohibit racing a horse if medication can still be detected in its system, so Daly withdrew the brown colt from the race.

“He was really sick, but he’s over it now,” Daly said. “But we’re still treating him with medication and can’t run him. . . . There will be lots more races down the road.”

There certainly will be many more races, but few will have the high-powered competitiveness of this matchup between Eastex and Easy Austin. Eastex, trained by James McArthur and ridden by Pilkenton, has won 8 of his last 11 races and has never run out of the money. Easy Austin, trained by Blane Schvaneveldt and ridden by Kenny Hart, has never finished worse than second in 13 starts.

Without Lanes Leinster, Eastex and Easy Austin will undoubtedly be the 1-2 favorites tonight. Rounding out the field are: Alo Nublado, trained by Bruce Jackson and ridden by Steve Treasure; Speed Doctor, trained by Dan Francisco with jockey Danny Cardoza; Candy Man Cass, also trained by Schvaneveldt and ridden by Roman Figuero; Behold A Beduino, trained by Earl Holmes and ridden by Luke Myles; Producer, trained by Sam McCaman and ridden by Thane Zufelt; and, Wrangler Sam, trained by Russell Harris and ridden by John Creager.

Wrangler Sam was the fourth-fastest qualifier, behind The Trio, and won his trial easily with a time of 20.12. If anyone could cause an upset and spoil the rematch between Eastex and Easy Austin, it might be this chestnut colt. But Harris thinks that isn’t a possibility.

“No one can beat Eastex,” Harris said. When reminded Easy Austin and Lanes Leinster did just that in their last running, Harris replied, “Eastex looks real, real sharp now. I don’t think he can be outrun twice.”