Weekend Wrap-Up by Mike Ahrens: May 29 - 31, 2020

In the previous Stable Notes I discussed some of the qualifiers for the finals from Friday's Mountain Top NM Bred QH Futurity trials. One trainer's name surprisingly absent from that list was Wesley Giles who encountered a bit of bad luck throughout the day, notably with horses previously profiled as horses to watch.

For Saturday's Maiden Stakes Trials I refrained from inquiring of Giles about his contenders in advance, worried about putting on the jinx and it looked to pay off. With four entrants in these trials he secured the second-, third- and fourth-fastest times of the day. "When Sunland closed down we were hunting for something," he said. "A couple of them we were trying to get an out in them before and we couldn't so we decided to go in this." The most impressive of his trio from Saturday's trials was Jess Cuz Pyc Can. "This horse is in the Rainbow, so at least we can have a race in him before the Rainbow trials." The fastest time of the day came in the first trial by the name of Hock You from the barn of Roberto Treto, who was coming off a recent maiden victory at Remington Park. The Maiden Stakes restrictions are such that a horse can win after a specific deadline but must be a maiden prior to that deadline. This one was impressive in that recent maiden score and impressive again on Saturday.

The first two-year-old thoroughbred race of the meet was won on Saturday by trainer Todd Fincher who sent out two in the race, with The Pacesetter winning while heavily-favored and paying $3.60 to win. "She's not a sprinter," Fincher said after winning the 4-1/2 furlong event. "She will run a route I think." He also looks forward to next weekend's trials for the Mountain Top Thoroughbred Futurity. "Got plenty of decent ones this year I think. I drew pretty good in the trials for next Saturday."

Sunday's feature was the Dash for Speed Stakes. The unique result was an exacta of horses owned by the partnership of L O S LLC. and Abelardo F. Gallegos, and both trained by Ramon Mendoza. Mystic Blues stumbled at the start but quickly asserted herself, moved clear by mid-stretch, and held on to last over stablemate Walking on Katella who was finishing strongly.