LOS ALAMITOS : It Has Been a Blast for This Gelding

Four Forty Blast, the 3-year-old gelding who defeated older horses last Friday night in the Go Man Go Handicap, has conquered Los Alamitos, at least for the moment.

Sent off at 1-5, Four Forty Blast won the 400-yard race by 1 1/4 lengths over such notable horses as Wealth and Make Mine Bud, each of whom had won two stakes since the meeting began in late April.

Four Forty Blast has been impressive all year. He’s won five of six starts, including three stakes. In January, he was the only 3-year-old in the Horsemen’s Quarter Horse Racing Assn. Handicap, but still beat nine older horses for his first major stakes victory.

In May, he finished third behind Firstdown Touchdown and Easily A Secret in the El Primero Del Ano Derby, but returned five weeks later, winning the Los Alamitos Derby by half a length.

His victory in the Go Man Go Handicap, which he ran in 19.60 seconds, raised his earnings to $250,149 and gave owners James Streelman and Denny Boer and trainer Carlos Lopez the option of running against 3-year-olds or older horses for the rest of the year. It’s a decision they’ve already faced.

A few weeks ago, they could have supplemented Four Forty Blast into the Dash for Cash Derby, which had a $90,000 final Saturday. They opted for the Go Man Go Handicap, which did not have a trial and did not require a supplemental entry fee.

“I don’t want to go out on a limb and say we’re the best horse, but I think he’s a fan favorite,” Boer said. “It’s been a tremendous year. This has been very exciting.”

The gelding is still eligible for several derbies later this year, or he can be pointed toward races such as the Los Alamitos Championship on Sept. 18 or the Breeders Championship Classic on Nov. 13, both of which carry automatic berths for the $250,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 11, a race that annually has a tremendous impact on yearly honors.

Lopez said that they may take the conservative route. “From now on, I think we’ll stay with the 3-year-olds as much as possible,” he said. “(The Go Man Go) was just as good as the way he ran in the trials of his previous (derbies).”

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Trainer Connie Hall said over the weekend that A Classic Dash, winner of the Dash For Cash Futurity on July 30, will be supplemented into the All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs, N.M., at a cost of $50,000.

Hall is shipping A Classic Dash to New Mexico this week in preparation for the 440-yard time trials on Aug. 20. The $50,000 supplement merely guarantees A Classic Dash a spot in the trials. He’ll need to run one of the 10 fastest times to earn a spot in the Sept. 6 finals, which will have an estimated purse of $1.7 million.

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Harness racing had been scheduled to resume at Los Alamitos in mid-December, but the California Harness Racing Assn., which leased Los Alamitos for a meeting earlier this year, missed a $250,000 down payment for the winter lease on July 1.

Perry De Luna, secretary and treasurer of the CHRA, said he never intended to make the payment, but would like to negotiate another lease with track owners for the winter meeting. He still intends to race there this winter.

“There were reasons for that not being paid,” he said. “We didn’t make it intentionally. I’m confident we’ll be able to get this worked out.”

De Luna didn’t specify the reasons for not making the payment. He did say he planned to talk with Edward Allred, a 50% owner of Los Alamitos and the chief executive officer of the Horsemen’s Quarter Horse Racing Assn., which operates the current quarter horse meeting. Allred said that after the quarter horse meeting ends on Dec. 12, the racing surface will need four weeks of repairs, which would delay any possible harness meeting until after Christmas.

Allred would eventually like to have year-round racing at Los Alamitos for quarter horses, thoroughbreds, arabians and appaloosas.

“I don’t intend to have any more discussions with De Luna. We’ve had no inquiries from any other harness group and do not foresee future harness racing at Los Alamitos in the cards.”

De Luna and Paul Reddam operated the winter-spring harness meeting after longtime harness operator Lloyd Arnold, a 25% owner of Los Alamitos, announced his retirement last fall. Reddam said he was not involved in the recent Cal Expo meeting in Sacramento and does not plan to be involved in any future Los Alamitos race meetings. Reddam met with Allred at the track Friday night.

“As far as I can tell, it doesn’t look good for harness racing,” Reddam said. “I don’t think Ed wants to lease the track to harness interests. I think if you wanted to pay enough, you could do it. It was clear in talking to him that economically it would be tough. He said the rent would have to be raised.”

Los Alamitos Notes

Mega Dash, the champion 2-year-old gelding of 1992, won his first 1993 stakes Saturday in the $90,000 Dash for Cash Derby. . . . Mega Dash, second-fastest qualifier for the 440-yard race, beat Avison by a neck for his second victory in five starts this year. Owned by Paul Reed and trained by John Cooper, Mega Dash has won six of 15 starts. He has finished third or better in all five starts this year, despite undergoing ankle and knee surgery last winter.