May 7-11 Stakes Recap

Ajax Downs
The 56th racing season at the track near Toronto kicked off May 7 with warm, sunny weather and a big crowd that was thrilled to see Quarter Horse racing return. The opening day card included two trials for the $30,000-added QROOI Open Derby.

It was a great day for owner John Wilson of New Liskeard, Ontario, trainer Scott Reid and jockey Christian Benitez, who combined for two wins, a second and a third on the afternoon, including a win by Sassies Best as the fastest qualifier from the trials.

Purchased in January at the Heritage Place Winter Mixed Sale in Oklahoma for $23,000, Sassies Best had the best start of her six rivals and led all the way, posting a mild upset at 6-1. A Texas-bred by Kiss My Hocks, Sassies Best posted a time of :15.809 for 300 yards, and she was winning for the first time in her sixth career start. She raced in Texas last year, finishing second in a maiden race at Lone Star Park in her final outing as a 2-year-old.

The winner avoided a lot of bumping behind her which resulted in the runner-up Nadir being disqualified and placed seventh. Paint The Meun, bought through the Quarter Racing Owners of Ontario horse-loan program, was moved up to second with Kissin Ella placed third.

It was a different story in the second trial as heavily favoured Had To Be Fabulous coasted to a very easy win for owners Carol and Jaime Robertson and trainer Bryn Robertson. Had To Be Fabulous was ridden by Ismael Mosquiera, who was riding for the first time since July 2024 when he was injured at Fort Erie racetrack. This was the sixth win in seven races for Ontario-bred Had to Be Fabulous, who last year won two stakes, including the Alex Picov Memorial Futurity at Ajax. 

The final for the Open Derby is May 21. Click here to view the full list of qualifiers. 

Century Mile
Making his first start since running in last year’s Adequan Derby Challenge Championship (G3) at The Downs at Albuquerque, Jerry Stojan’s Fired scored a 9-1 upset in Saturday’s $15,821 (US) Old Timers Classic at the Edmonton, Alberta, track. Ridden by Alexander Marti for trainer William Leech, the 4-year-old Walk Thru Fire gelding clocked 300 yards in :15:392 to earn a 104 speed index.

Bred in California by Steve Burns, DVM, Fired has earned $65,959 with five wins, six seconds and a third from 14 career starts. His success last year included a win in the All Canadian Derby and a second in the Adequan Century Derby Challenge. 

Barry and Janice Sather’s homebred Miss Fancy Nancy, winner of last year’s Alberta Bred Derby (R), finished second, just a nose behind the winner. A neck back in third was Flight Club, also owned by Stojan, trained by Leech and bred by Dr. Burns. The 7-year-old Foose gelding went off as the favorite based on his status as the winner of this same race last year and 16-time winner in his 26-race career.

Delta Downs
In honor of Mother’s Day on Sunday, Delta Downs hosted the $35,000 Mother’s Day Stakes on Saturday night. Fans in attendance were treated to a dramatic three-way photo finish where Randall Morein’s Franny B Dove prevailed by a head.

Under jockey Leonardo Rodriguez, Franny B Dove battled for the lead throughout the 350-yard test for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and upward. At the finish line, the Larry Keith trainee beat Patty Wagon Train while race favorite All About Rogue wound up third, just a head behind the runner-up. Fanny B Dove’s running time was :17.830, which earned her a speed index of 89.

The win by Franny B Dove was her third in a row and it marked her second straight stakes victory. In her most recent start, she took the Mardi Gras Oaks at Louisiana Downs on March 28 after winning her trial for the event three weeks earlier. Overall, she had four wins from nine career trips to the starting gate.

The Mother’s Day Stakes win put another $21,000 in Franny B Dove’s bankroll, which now stands at $93,200.

Bred in Louisiana by Phil Guilbeau and Randy Morein, Franny B Dove is a 3-year-old chestnut filly by Stevie Be First Cash out of the Jazzing Hi mare Jazzing Micki.

Los Alamitos
May 10 was National Train Day, marking the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad in the United States in 1869. Appropriately enough on Saturday night, the gelding Train B Taka continued to roll along at Los Alamitos, as the dashing gray posted one of the best come-from-behind stakes victories of the meet, turning a one-length deficit with less than 150 yards to go in the $30,000 Dillingham Handicap into a spectacular nose victory in the 400-yard race.

Owned by Cheryl Stokes, Armando Arreola, and Tungsten Racing Partnership and trained by Marc Jungers, Train B Taka broke nicely from post number three but was no match for the impressive early speed shown by Sandra Lee Ambus’ rocket Paint Horse Kid Cocinero in this race. Kid Cocinero took off from the outside post to take the lead over Ed Allred’s Listen Now as the two neared the midway point, all while jockey Edwin Escobedo worked on getting the most out of Train B Taka with the belief that the gelding by Freighttrain B would find his highest gear at any moment.

That moment came as he approached the finish line, while also taking advantage of Kid Cocinero lugged in and Listen Now having to deal with a shrinking racing lane due to crowding by the horses around him. 

In the meantime, Train B Taka kept digging in, just like had done in his trial to the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby when winning that race as well by the slimmest of margins. Train B Taka did not let his impressive finish go to waste, as he took the lead in the final jumps to earn his fifth in seven career starts at Los Alamitos.

Covering the distance in :19.945, Train B Taka earned $16,500 for the win to take his career bankroll to $169,567. Also the winner of the Holiday Handicap for juveniles on December 28, the gray gelding bred by Rancho El Cabresto added this stakes victory to his second-place finish in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby and his third-place finish in the Grade 2 El Primero Del Ano Derby in what has already been a strong season for him at Los Alamitos.

For Escobedo, the 22-year-old rider has won nine races from 24 mounts at Los Alamitos since arriving here with Jungers late last year. The jockey won the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity (G1) with Lethal Cowboy 123 while riding Train B Taka in all five of his victories here.

“I thought I had the race lost, but he proved me wrong,” Escobedo said. “The last 10 yards, he just flew at the end. The whole way I had pressure on me, since the gates never had a chance to ease up. I had to keep him busy the whole way. He finished strong. He has a really big heart that little horse. Since I was growing up, I always wanted to ride at Los Alamitos. To now come here and win, it’s a really good feeling.”

Ridden by Cesar Franco for trainer Angela Aquino, Kid Cocinero earned $6,750 to take his career earnings to $24,756. The Paint Horse bred by Jon and Brant Barley and sired by Crm Livewire scored an allowance win in his local debut back on April 5. Listen Now, with Gabriel Lara up for trainer Scott Willoughby, earned $3,750 for running third. Misdeal, Favorite Semental, Party Time Tom, Jess Send Kevin, and Gimy A Reason completed the field. 

Weber Downs
Fooseylady proved to be more than ready for her racing debut on Saturday at Weber Downs as she romped to a 2 ¾-length win in the third of four trials for the $30,000-added Hadley-Giles Futurity. Ridden by Minor Arana for trainer and owner Roberto Ortiz, the filly by Foose traveled 330 yards in :16.898 while earning a 92 speed index. She was bred by Antonio Tinoco in Utah out of the winning Ausual Suspect mare Laazteca.

OJD Kali Sunrise also won at first asking to set the second-fastest time of :17.078. The Jess Good Candy filly won the second heat with Jorge Garcia in the saddle for trainer Javier Fuentes and owners Oscar Diaz and Karla Diaz-Gomez.

Click here for a full list of qualifiers for the May 31 final.

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