A Busy Weekend for Gomez

Talk about a busy guy.

Trainer Jaime Gomez has 13 horses entered in tonight’s trials of the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Assn. Breeders Futurity.

He’s following that by entering two of the most successful horses of the year, Babe Watcher and Sassy Smith, in Saturday’s PCQHRA Derby trials. Gomez’s horses swept the events last season.

Among the 2-year olds trained by Gomez that are expected to make it to post tonight are Suzy Cartel (sixth), Special Queen Sa (fifth), Azyoucansee (second), Corona Man (fifth) and Strawfly Te (fourth). The first three have already finished in the money in at least one major futurity this season.

In the seventh, jockey Joe Badilla will be aboard Super Caper, another Gomez entry who is coming off a successful stint at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.

A total of 65 horses are expected to compete in eight trials of 350 yards each. Horses with the top 10 times advance to the $345,000 final on Sept. 28.

The picks: 1. Brite FX. 2. Corona Magic. 3. Azyoucansee. 4. Stel Corona. 5. Special Queen SA. 6. Lonely Moon Sign. 7. Style N Grace. 8. Pats Charming Guy. 9. Deefirst. 10. A Dash Of Apollo.

Four! Brite FX in the first race, Corona Magic, Red Lipstick and Dashnlitia in the second, Azyoucansee in the third and Strawfly Te, Stel Corona and Throwin A Fit in the fourth.

Shots in the dark: And who does Gomez like in the futurity? He thinks Corona Man in the fifth could be a darkhorse after failing to show his potential in early races. In the seventh, Royal Classic Express looked good in drills at the end of August. Will it be back to top form in the fifth against Corona Man? Loves That Gold in the eighth race has won back-to-back starts at the claiming level and is still 8-1 on the morning line.