LOS ALAMITOS : Four Forty Blast Fastest in Trial

It may take the entire seven months of the Los Alamitos quarter horse season to determine the best of the nation’s 3-year-olds.

Trials for the season’s first derbies--the El Primero Del Ano Derby for colts and geldings and the La Primera Del Ano Derby for fillies--were run last weekend and Four Forty Blast and Sables Secret were the top qualifiers.

Neither of those horses got any attention in the year-end balloting last year. Four Forty Blast won only one stakes race at 2, the California Futurity for California-breds at Hollywood Park, and Sables Secret, the heroine of the Dash For Cash Futurity last summer, was sidelined the last five months because of a knee injury.

This year could be different. Four Forty Blast, second in the Golden State Futurity last December, defeated a strong group of older horses in January in the Horsemen’s Quarter Horse Racing Assn. Handicap. It was the first time since 1979 that a 3-year-old had defeated older horses in the HQHRA Handicap when the race was held early in the year.

Last Friday, his 400-yard qualifying time for the May 28 El Primero Del Ano Derby was 19.64 seconds. He was eased in the final 75 yards by jockey Eddie garcia and still beat Avison, the second-place finisher and second-fastest qualifier, by three-quarters of a length.

“He ran a real nice race,” trainer Carlos Garcia said. “I didn’t want to let him go too fast. He has a lot of races (ahead of him).”

Four Forty Blast ran in California, Oklahoma and New Mexico last year. He finished sixth in the Heritage Place Futurity at Remington Park in Oklahoma City last July, but failed to qualify for the All-American Futurity at Ruidoso, N.M., last August.

Since returning to California--with the exception of a fifth-place finish in the Breeders Juvenile Classic--he hasn’t been worse than second in his last seven starts. This year, owners James Streelman and Denny Boer will probably stay at Los Alamitos.

“He’s eligible for the Heritage Place and All-American (derbies later this year), but I won’t make any more payments if he wins this race,” Streelman said. “He’ll stay in California.”

Unless a new star emerges this year, Four Forty Blast, Mega Dash, last year’s 2-year-old champion, and the Texas-based King Khalid figure to vie for the 3-year-old gelding title. Mega Dash is pointing for the Los Alamitos Derby, but King Khalid may spend the entire year in Texas and Oklahoma, where it’s difficult to win championships. Last year, eight of the 10 champions raced in Southern California.

Sables Secret will also stay in California this year. The filly raced four times at Los Alamitos last summer, scoring a victory in the Dash For Cash Futurity, before suffering the knee injury.

“She’s gotten bigger than a mountain,” owner Spencer Childers said. “We wanted to bring her back in the derbies. We probably could have returned last (winter), but we set her aside for her 3-year-old year.”

Sables Secret was an imprEssive winner in her qualifying race. She ran 400 yards in 19.80 seconds, the fastest of three trials. She defeated Chicks Got Pazazz, who beat older horses in the Miss Princess Handicap in early May. The La Primera Del Ano Derby final is May 29.

The 3-year-old fillies’ division includes two other stars, Deceptively and Check Her Twice. Deceptively was undefeated in four starts at Ruidoso Downs last year, including the Kansas and Rainbow Futurities, before a leg injury forced her to the sidelines a few weeks before the All-American Futurity trials. The injury cost her a chance for the quarter horse triple crown, achieved only once, by Special Effort in 1981.

Check Her Twice, on the other hand, raced in California last year and won two stakes last winter, the California Sires Cup and Golden State Futurities. Check Her Twice isn’t expected to start until the Los Alamitos Derby trials next month.

Deceptively started for the first time in 10 months last Saturday in the Kansas Derby trials at Ruidoso. She won easily and had the fastest qualifying time in a much better performance than Dash Thru Traffic, last year’s All-American Futurity winner and champion 2-year-old colt, who finished seventh and failed to qualify for the final.

Deceptively was ridden by Jerry Yoakum, who was suspended for a year in February after an electrical device used to stimulate horses was found in his locker in the Los Alamitos jockey’s room. Yoakum, who was the leading rider at Los Alamitos last winter, was given a stay order by an Orange County judge earlier this month and thus was able to ride Deceptively.

Roger Knight, who owns Deceptively, is considering bringing the filly to California later this year, setting the stage for a showdown with championship implications.

“I just read that Deceptively can’t wait to meet (reigning world champion) Refrigerator,” Four Forty Blast’s Boer said. “We’re not in any hurry to meet (them) now, but at the end of the year we may be looking forward to it.”

Los Alamitos Notes

The remaining qualifiers for the $94,940 El Primero Del Ano Derby are Firstdown Touchdown, Second Time Away, Tango Cash, Easily A Secret, Winter Dash, Spencers Secret, Gitouttahere and Trulino. Firstdown Touchdown, owned by Gordon Shultz, won the first of two trials despite stumbling slightly away from the gates. The First Down Dash gelding qualified for several California futurities last year. . . . The La Primera Del Ano Derby also includes Oh La Secret, Doll Secret, Awesome Blossom, Dashin Sandy, Heart Trick, Legacy Legacy, Rivanne and Aureate.

In trials last Sunday for the $125,000 California Sires Cup Futurity on May 30, A Classic Dash, who broke his maiden on April 30, was the fastest qualifier. He is owned by Abigail Kawananakoa and trained by Connie Hall. Eddie Garcia was aboard. Other qualifiers include Her First Cin, Tolldark N Handsome, Jumping Tac Flash, Tella Dash, RD Tesstac, Double Destiny, Dr Moongoose Two, A Flying Flea and Special Sibs.