LOS ALAMITOS : Successful Maldonado Stable Shows That a Little Can Go a Long Way

Jesse Maldonado’s three-horse stable is having a season more typical of a barn with 10 times as many horses.

Maldonado, of Garden Grove, began the season in early May with 10 horses, but injuries and sales eliminated seven.

But his Reeds Signature, a 4-year-old filly, won the Miss Princess and Charger Bar Handicaps in May and will try for her third stakes victory Saturday in the $100,500 Vessels Maturity. And Mega Dash, a 2-year-old gelding out of Jonadoo, the dam who also produced Reeds Signature, won the Kindergarten Futurity for 2-year-old colts and geldings Saturday.

Mega Dash and Reeds Signature are owned by Paul Reed, a home builder from Lake Matthews. The third horse in Maldonado’s barn is still a maiden.

Maldonado wanted a smaller, more manageable stable for 1992, instead of the 20 or 30 horses he had trained, but didn’t anticipate being reduced to three. Many of the horses lost to injury might not be back until late in the season or possibly next year. So the Kindergarten victory was especially welcome.

“The little stable needs it,” Maldonado said after Mega Dash won.

Mega Dash’s nose victory over First Down Express in the Kindergarten was his first in three races. He was ridden for the first time by Henry Garcia. Mega Dash was a well-beaten seventh in a maiden race on May 22 and was third in the Kindergarten trials on June 6. Between the maiden race and the futurity trial, Maldonado and Reed decided to geld Mega Dash, who had been difficult to handle both on the track and at the barn.

“I kind of stuck my neck out when we gelded him,” said Maldonado. “Paul didn’t want to, but I said, ‘Let’s do it before the futurity trials because he’ll cost us a lot of money if we don’t.’ ”

Mega Dash’s performance in the trials gave him the 10th, and final, qualifying time for the Kindergarten. The victory was worth $42,000 and makes Mega Dash one of the leading contenders in the Dash For Cash Futurity, trials for which will be run July 11.

Reeds Signature has also developed into a different horse. The filly will be a longshot Saturday in the Vessels Maturity, expected to be a showdown between top qualifier Refrigerator and The Dream Doctor, who has won eight of nine starts. Reeds Signature has shown better form recently, winning two stakes in May and finishing second in another in January.

“She seems a little better-minded,” Reed said. “She matured physically and mentally, especially mentally.”

Garcia’s luck continued on Sunday in the final of the $100,000 Miss Kindergarten Futurity. Garcia was aboard Pip Pip, the 1-5 favorite, who finished in a dead heat for first place with 17-1 longshot First N Four.

Pip Pip’s effort was even more impressive, considering that the 2-year-old filly stepped on the back of her right front hoof with her left rear hoof a few strides away from the gate and returned to the winner’s circle with a visible wound. Undefeated in three starts, Pip Pip is considered the top 2-year-old filly on the West Coast.

Trained by Blane Schvaneveldt, Pip Pip will be pointed to the Dash For Cash Futurity if she can recover from her injury.

Garcia noticed the injury moments after the race. “I said, ‘Man, this horse hurt herself bad.’ Sometimes they just knock the corner off, but she grabbed her (hoof) pretty bad. I hope . . . she’ll be all right.”

Garcia suspects the injury occurred a few strides away from the gate when Pip Pip, who broke from the rail, brushed with First N Four, who was ridden by John Creager.

First N Four became trainer Dean Gallo’s first stakes winner. The First Down Dash filly is owned by Judd and Mildred Morse of San Jacinto. Despite having the second-fastest qualifying time from the trials, the public wasn’t impressed with First N Four, sending her off as the fourth wagering choice.

She was third in her first start on May 23 and won her June 6 futurity trial by a nose.

First N Four is not eligible for any of the other futurities, according to Gallo, and will be rested until the fall.

Bills Ryon returned from a seventh-month layoff and won the Bobby Doyle Handicap on Friday.

Owned by Bobby Cox of Odessa, Tex., and Bill McKibbin of Boyd, Tex., Bills Ryon is the fourth horse to have won a 3-year-old stake at Los Alamitos this season. He was preceded by Dash Down First in the Town Policy Handicap, Waverino in the Los Alamitos Derby and Oh Le Bo in the Cypress Handicap.

Cox purchased 50% of Bills Ryon last summer from McKibbin, who bred the colt on his Florida farm. Shortly afterward, Bills Ryon was second in the Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico. After failing to qualify for two other futurities, Bills Ryon was shipped to Schvaneveldt. He gave Cox his first Grade I victory in the Breeders Juvenile Classic in November.

The Bobby Doyle Handicap was Bills Ryon’s seventh victory in 10 races.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen him win a race,” McKibbin said. “I was afraid I’d jinx it.”

McKibbin is hoping the colt is invited to the Los Alamitos Championship on July 24. The Breeders Championship Classic and the Champion of Champions have also been mentioned as late-season goals.

Los Alamitos Notes

Nolan Ryan, a 2-year-old quarter horse, made his debut Friday and had about as much luck as his human namesake had in Orange County last week. Nolan Ryan finished sixth in a maiden race while his namesake and the Texas Rangers lost to the Angels last Wednesday. . . . Full brothers ran first and second Saturday in the sixth race, an allowance for Arabians. Stiltz, a 5-year-old horse by Samtyr out of the mare HCC Maloska, edged Styx, a 4-year-old colt with the same breeding. Both are owned by Roger Lang and trained by David Williams.