LOS ALAMITOS : Dash Of Cider Spices ‘Cup Futurity

Dicey Secret might have started the $101,314 California Sires Cup Futurity last Saturday night as the most promising 2-year-old, but Dash Of Cider finished the race as the most accomplished.

Trained by Brian Koriner, Dash Of Cider earned the winner’s share, $38,812, while running the 350 yards in 17.89 seconds. The second-fastest qualifier, behind Dicey Secret, Dash Of Cider left the gate as the 4-1 third choice.

Bettors made Dicey Secret the even-money favorite off her dazzling 17.77-second qualifying time, but were disappointed when she could not repeat that performance. Dash Of Cider broke from the far outside and dug in to beat My Thumb Tack by a neck, with Dicey Secret another half-length behind in third place.

“(Dicey Secret) slipped a little leaving the gate and that shot her in toward the (No. 2) horse,” trainer Danny Mitchell said. “She ricocheted off her, and it took about 100 yards before she really got to run. She tried to recover, but 350 yards doesn’t give a lot of time to recover.”

Mitchell added that the trial two weeks earlier might have taken more out of Dicey Secret than she showed. She came back from Saturday’s race a bit sore, and Mitchell might give her some time off. She’s eligible to run in the Miss Kindergarten Futurity, but those trials are on June 11 and that might be too soon. Mitchell will decide after taking the filly to the track and discussing the matter with owner Cathy Monji.

Dash Of Cider probably will skip the Kindergarten Futurity on June 24 for the same reason, Koriner said.

“He’s paid up for every race through the year, so he doesn’t have to run that soon,” the trainer said, adding that he would consult with owner and breeder Gordon Shultz.

The owner of a steel company, Shultz began racing quarter horses 35 years ago. He owns 22 horses and breeds six or seven mares a year. As for Dash Of Cider, Shultz said, “He’s improved every step along the way. He’s got the body and the breeding to run like this.”

A son of First Down Dash, Dash Of Cider placed second his first time out and won his futurity trial by half a length over My Thumb Tack.

“He has a tremendous stride,” Shultz said. “We expect him to do even better when he gets into 400 yards.”

*

In the upset of the night Friday, Rainbow Sun defeated the favored Moo Vin First to win the $103,500 El Primero Del Ano Derby. The two horses broke together and raced side by side until the final strides, when Rainbow Sun out-finished Moo Vin First by half a length.

“I loved our position,” winning jockey Jim Lewis said. “Anytime you are next to the class horse in the race, you have a great advantage because you can gauge your mount so much better.”

Although Moo Vin First had run the fastest qualifying time and had shown talent while winning both of his races last year, Rainbow Sun’s trainer still held out hope. With four victories and two thirds in 13 starts, the Calyx gelding had earned $54,712 before the El Primero, and then collected another $40,862.

“I was a little disappointed in his qualifying race, but I’ve always been very confident with this horse,” said Dennis Givens, who trains Rainbow Sun for owner-breeder Jim Schlagel. “He just goes about his business.”

Givens, who received Rainbow Sun when the colt’s 1993 trainer left for Texas, is going about his business with increasing success lately.

Through the first 27 days of the meeting, Givens had 12 winners, five seconds and seven thirds in 44 races. A quarter horse conditioner since the late 1970s, he counts this as his most successful start.

“It’s a team operation back there,” Givens said, referring to his barn. “Everyone is happy and that makes a difference.”

*

After the fastest qualifiers in the El Primero Del Ano Derby and the Sires Cup Futurity had been upset, bettors still favored Artesias Special Gal in Saturday’s $113,000 La Primera Del Ano Derby. But it was won by Pretty Sensation, who had the second-fastest time in the trials.

Pretty Sensation didn’t see Artesias Special Gal at the start of their trial--Pretty Sensation broke from the third post position and Artesias Special Gal was on the outside--and Pretty Sensation finished a length back. In the La Primera, there was only one horse between them at the start.

“She’s really competitive and she likes to hook up,” trainer Danny Cardoza said of Pretty Sensation.

Frank Vessels, who owns and bred the filly, gave all the credit to the trainer, saying: “She’s shown a lot, but (Cardoza) had her perfect tonight.”