LOS ALAMITOS : Leader of Pack of Appaloosas Is Twicely

Appaloosas took the spotlight at Los Alamitos last weekend, as Edward Allred’s Twicely won Saturday night’s $22,400 Classic Derby.

Twicely was part of a three-horse entry for Allred and trainer Don Collins, one of the leading Appaloosa trainers. Entered with a horse named Collins, after the trainer, and Doctor Gene, Twicely was sent off at 2-5 odds in the Classic Derby.

Fans might have had some doubts about the entry’s chances when Winter Silence broke like a shot from the gates and raced to a three-length lead. Rounding the turn for home, Winter Silence was still leading but Twicely was making up ground from seventh place.

Down the stretch, Winter Silence was no match for the fast-closing Twicely, who passed the fading leader and finished ahead by three-quarters of a length. The winning time for the 4 1/2 furlongs was :52 2/5.

“At about the quarter pole, I was in a little doubt,” Don Collins said.

At that, the entry nearly swept the top three places, Collins and Doctor Gene finishing third and fourth, respectively.

“I kind of liked all of them,” said Don Collins, who qualified an amazing seven horses for the Classic Derby. “But everybody thinks that filly, Twicely, is the best, and she proved it tonight.”

Twicely, a product of thoroughbred Corwyn Bay and Double R Fun, was making her 12th start. The victory was her third lifetime and her first in a stakes race.

It was also the first Appaloosa stakes victory for Twicely’s jockey, 54-year-old Jerry Lambert. Better known for his three Hollywood Park Gold Cup victories aboard the thoroughbred Native Diver, Lambert has been riding and winning at Los Alamitos for the last few years.

“It takes this filly a while to get her stride,” Lambert said of Twicely. “My filly had leveled, and we were fortunate enough to have clear sailing around the turn.”

Lambert, who has been riding off and on since 1958, has now won stakes races with thoroughbreds, Arabians and Appaloosas.

“It’s always a thrill to win a race,” he said. “I think that really good horses and winning races is what keeps us riding.”

Los Alamitos Notes

Count Double, one of the top older Appaloosas in the country, won the $10,000 Bull Nunneley Handicap on Friday. . . . Trials for the Grade I Governor’s Cup Futurity top the action at Los Alamitos Friday night, and distance horses will face their second major test of the year in the $20,000 Table Tennis Handicap Saturday. . . . Leading the list of Table Tennis nominees is recent stakes winner Speedy Lunch. Notably absent is three-time champion Griswold, who may run in an easier allowance. Other possible starters in the Table Tennis include multiple stakes winner Mr Diddy Wa Diddy, Firstdown Touchdown, Trucklin Six, Rapid Champ and the thoroughbred Western Scout.