LOS ALAMITOS : Four Forty Blast Is Favored to Win Governor’s Cup Derby

In recent years, the nation’s top 3-year-old quarter horse has spent the summer in the Southwest or Midwest and come to California for the major fall races. This time, however, the top 3-year-old has spent all year in California.

Four Forty Blast, the winner of three stakes this year, including two against older horses, is the morning-line favorite in Saturday’s $130,000 Governor’s Cup Derby.

Previously, 3-year-olds such as Rare Form, Refrigerator, See Me Do It and Dash For Speed have won major races in New Mexico or Oklahoma before shipping to California for the fall. But this year, the leading 3-year-olds in New Mexico spent the summer beating each other. And of the few who are expected in California, none are recent stakes winners.

Royal Down Dash, who won the All American Derby at Ruidoso, N.M., on Sunday, is the only other 3-year-old to have won three stakes, but she was also seventh behind Four Forty Blast in the Los Alamitos Derby and is expected to continue the season in New Mexico and Texas.

Other prominent 3-year-olds, such as Some Dasher, King Khalid, Deceptively and First Down And Ten, all major stakes winners in New Mexico and Oklahoma, have not maintained winning form through the summer.

Four Forty Blast, trained by Carlos Lopez, has won the Horsemen’s Quarter Horse Racing Assn. Handicap, Los Alamitos Derby and the Go Man Go Handicap.

He won a Governor’s Cup Derby trial on Aug. 28 by a neck without substantial urging by jockey Eddie Garcia. Owners James Streelman and Denny Boer said, however, that Four Forty Blast has an eye injury that recently has interfered with their training schedule.

The injury has stabilized since the trials, when Four Forty Blast wore a goggle over his right eye, but he will also wear one for the final.

“It’s not getting any worse, it’s just been slow to respond,” Streelman said. “It’s not affecting his performance. He has to be treated every two hours and it throws us out of our routine.

“We think he’ll run a good race in the finals. He doesn’t seem to be in a lot of discomfort, but you can’t make any mistakes in a quarter horse race. Any little aberration in the training routine is a concern.”

Only three trials were held and the first five finishers from the second and third divisions advanced, including California Sires Cup Derby winner Beinbetter and El Primero Del Ano Derby winner Firstdown Touchdown.

In the trials, Four Forty Blast broke slowly but quickly caught early leader Second Time Away in the final half of the 400-yard race. It was his narrowest margin of victory this year.

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Two other horses with championship aspirations ran at Los Alamitos during the holiday weekend. Rare Form, the 1992 champion 3-year-old, won an allowance race Saturday and Junos Request, the 1992 champion aged mare, ran third in Sunday’s Las Damas Handicap.

Rare Form was the fastest qualifier for last year’s Champion of Champions, but didn’t race in the final because of a leg injury. The 4-year-old colt has won 17 of 22 starts, including his last five, all in California.

Rare Form spent the first part of the year recovering from the injury and was also sent to stud at an Oklahoma farm. Owned by Bob Moore of Norman, Okla., he returned to trainer Bob Gilbert at Los Alamitos in mid-July. He won the 350-yard allowance by a head over multiple stakes winner Sweeten The Pot. Steve Treasure, who finished second in the All American Derby with Check Her Twice on Sunday afternoon at Ruidoso, was aboard Rare Form.

“I thought he ran pretty good, but he got a little tired,” Treasure said. “You don’t know how he’ll do until you run them, but he acts like he’s supposed to.”

Junos Request has not run as well this year as she did last year, when she won five of eight starts, including the Anne Burnett Invitational at Hollywood Park. This year, she has won three of six races and only one minor stake.

In Sunday’s $35,000 Las Damas Handicap, one of the few major quarter horse races for fillies and mares, Junos Request trailed throughout, losing by three-quarters of a length to Elie Rey Beduino and Prodigious Cash. Treasure was scheduled to ride her, but he didn’t return from Ruidoso in time.

The Las Damas was Elie Rey Beduino’s first stakes victory since she won the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Breeders Assn. Derby at Hollywood Park last fall. Earlier this year, she finished second, beaten by a nose, in the January running of the Las Damas Handicap and ran second in two allowance races in August. Owned by Sherry Spiers and trained by Brian Koriner, she was ridden by Oklahoma native Brian Green, who scored his first Los Alamitos stakes victory.

“The last time when I used the whip on her, she stopped running on me,” Green said. “This time Koriner told me to not use the whip no matter what happened. She responded very well. The last few times we’ve been getting out of the gates badly. This time we got lucky.”

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Blane Schvaneveldt has cornered the market on 2-year-old fillies this year.

Schvaneveldt, the leading trainer at Los Alamitos, won the California Sires and Miss Kindergarten futurities earlier this year with Jumping Tac Flash and Saturday won the Governor’s Cup Futurity with Totally Illegal.

Totally Illegal was a late arrival at Schvaneveldt’s barn this year. The filly started at Laurel Brown Track near Salt Lake City in May, running second to Jumping Tac Flash in a maiden race. Injuries forced her to the sidelines and she spent most of the summer swimming at Schvaneveldt’s farm.

She didn’t make her second start until the Governor’s Cup Futurity trials on Aug. 21, had a rough trip, but still finished second to Her First Cin. Based on that race, she was sent off as the even-money favorite in the Governor’s Cup Futurity, despite the presence of Kindergarten Futurity winner Daily Triple and trial winner Woodhouse.

Totally Illegal won by three-quarters of a length, running 350 yards in 17.62 seconds. Ridden by Henry Garcia, she is owned by David Payne of Salt Lake City and John Radin of Idaho Falls. Payne also owned Jumping Tac Flash when she won the California Sires Cup Futurity, but sold her before the Miss Kindergarten. He bred both fillies.

Jumping Tac Flash didn’t start in the Governor’s Cup trials and is still at Schvaneveldt’s farm. Owned by John Andreini, she also ran second to All American Futurity winner A Classic Dash in the Dash For Cash Futurity in July and is expected back at Los Alamitos later this year.

Los Alamitos Notes

Friday’s program included three stakes--two for Arabians and the $65,000 Gold Rush Derby for 3-year-olds at 870 yards. Rapid Champ made up three lengths in the final eighth of a mile to win the Gold Rush Derby by a neck, his fifth consecutive victory at the distance. Rapid Champ was the 1-2 favorite. . . . Favorites did not fare as well in the two Arabian stakes. TC Tomahawk, the nation’s top 3-year-old in 1992, won the $30,000 California Derby, his first stakes victory in a year. The 4-year-old colt has won six of eight starts. PL Cavalier, the 6-5 favorite, finished second.

FMR Hadassah won the $35,000 California Oaks for her first stakes victory of the year, finishing half a length ahead of WMA Rachael. The even-money favorite, FH Honey Mellon, finished fourth. . . . Jerry Nicodemus, one of quarter horse racing’s all-time leading jockeys, retired on Monday, his 48th birthday. Among Nicodemus’ victories are four in the Champion of Champions, including the 1976 and 1977 runnings aboard Dash For Cash.