LOS ALAMITOS : Filly Good at 2, but Could Be a Charm at 3

Once trainer Bob Gilbert saw Check Her Twice stride away from the gate in Saturday’s Golden State Futurity, he was confident she would win the race.

The 2-year-old filly had shown excellent gate manners throughout the winter meeting and Gilbert figured the start would make the difference in the most important race of her eight-race career.

“I thought if she got away good, she’d win,” he said. “I didn’t think they’d catch her. She has that much speed.”

Check Her Twice, owned by Zory Kuzyk, defeated Four Forty Blast and Mega Dash, two highly regarded geldings, by three-quarters of a length in the $191,200 race, the richest for 2-year-olds in California this year. The Golden State was Check Her Twice’s third consecutive victory of the meeting, adding to her previous triumph in November’s California Sires Cup Futurity.

“There were a little better horses in this race, but it was about the same deal (as the California Sires Cup),” winning rider Steve Treasure said. “She ran like a person would want her to. She’s learned to leave the gate. . . . I guess you’d say she’s matured.”

The Golden State offered as much of a preview of 1993’s 3-year-olds as this year’s 2-year-olds. Expectations are high for Check Her Twice next year, thanks to her late development and the fact that her 3-year-old full sister, First Femme, was a stakes winner at 3 at Los Alamitos last summer.

Gilbert plans no more races at this meeting, but will have the First Down Dash filly ready in May when quarter horse racing resumes at Los Alamitos. An early goal will be the La Primera Del Ano Derby for 3-year-old fillies and eventually a race against Deceptively, the favorite for the 2-year-old filly champion title.

Deceptively won four consecutive starts at Ruidoso Downs in Ruidoso, N.M., last summer, including the Rainbow and Kansas Futurities, and could draw support for the overall 2-year-old championship, even though she did not run in the All-American Futurity. Other than her, and probably 2-year-old champion colt Dash Thru Traffic, who won the All-American Futurity, all of the potential champions raced in Southern California in 1992.

The award winners are selected by the American Quarter Horse Assn.’s 64-member Racing Committee and will be announced on Jan. 25.

A look at each division reveals horses from major stakes at both Hollywood Park and Los Alamitos this year. Mega Dash, who never left Southern California, is favored for the 2-year-old gelding title, thanks to victories in two grade I stakes and running third in three others.

The three 3-year-old categories are more wide open. Corona Chick, Dash Master Miss and Sound Dash are the leading contenders for the 3-year-old filly title and all raced in the Southland.

Corona Chick’s 3-race winning streak was ended in the Southern California Derby last September and she missed the rest of the year because of an injury. Dash Master Miss won three stakes and a trial for the Champion of Champions, but ran poorly in the final two weeks ago, whereas Sound Dash, who had only one Texas stakes victory to her credit, finished second behind Refrigerator in that Los Alamitos classic.

Despite failing to win a stake in California this year, Femmes Frolic, who won two major stakes at Ruidoso, is the favorite for the 3-year-old gelding title, and Rare Form is expected to be named 3-year-old colt and overall 3-year-old on the basis of his nine-for-10 record, including the fastest 440-yard time--21.21 seconds--run at Los Alamitos at night.

The three older horse categories were determined in Southern California. Refrigerator iced the World championship, champion aged gelding and overall older horse titles with his convincing victory in the Champion of Champions on Dec. 19.

Junos Request, who was fourth in that race, had done enough before to merit the champion aged mare title, including major victories at Hollywood and Remington Park in Oklahoma. The champion aged stallion division was weak this year, but Jazzing Hi’s victories in the HQHRA Championship and Breeders Sprint Classic will probably carry him to the title. The distance horse award, for 870-yard specialists, is open to horses of all ages, but will go to Griswold, a 6-year-old, on the basis of his three stakes victories.

Jockey Bruce Pilkenton will miss the rest of the winter meeting because of injuries he suffered in a spill last Saturday. Pilkenton, who is tied in the riders’ standings with Jerry Yoakum, was aboard Lady Tweedy in the 14th race when the 3-year-old filly broke down 30 yards from the finish.

Lady Tweedy fell heavily, throwing Pilkenton and then landing on him. Lady Tweedy was humanely destroyed. Pilkenton was taken to Los Alamitos Medical Center, where he was found to have a broken rib. He was released Monday and plans to return to his home in McDade, Tex.

Easily A Rogue, who began the year with a stakes victory in the La Primera Del Ano Derby last January, closed with one in Sunday’s California Sires Cup Derby.

The 3-year-old filly, owned by David Clymer and trainer Russell Harris, started from the first post position and was among the first to load. Because of a delay getting the rest of the field in the gate, Easily A Rogue waited five minutes.

That was a concern for Harris because the filly occasionally gets nervous. But she broke among the leaders, then rallied in the last 100 yards under John Creager, beating 70-1 shot Early Secret by a head.

The victory was worth $44,381, boosting Easily A Rogue’s earnings to $214,148. Harris says Easily A Rogue will be pointed for two races at Ruidoso next summer and several stakes at Los Alamitos next fall.

Los Alamitos Notes

Ima Ladys Alibi broke a five-year track record last Saturday in the 300-yard St. Nicholas Express Handicap. The 4-year-old filly ran the distance in 15.21 seconds, beating Gold Coast Express’ mark of 15.23 seconds. . . . There is no racing on Thursday this week. . . . Jockey Eddie Acevs has been suspended for four days--Jan. 1, 2, 3 and 7--for causing interference aboard Lucky Bar Lightning on Dec. 20. Lucky Bar Lightning was dropped from fourth to ninth.