Polk County Derby Qualifiers

Stephen Moyle’s AJs Favorite IA won the first of two trials on Monday at Prairie Meadows to earn the fastest qualifying time for the $125,000-estimated Polk County Derby (R). Sent off as the 4-5 favorite, the Favorite Cartel gelding sprinted to a three-quarter-length win under Cristian Esqueda with a time of :20.430 for 400 yards. The Iowa-bred is trained by Alex Wessels.

Bred by Darling Farms out of the multiple graded stakes-placed Apollitical Jess mare DF AJ Green Leaves, AJs Favorite IA has never finished off the board in eight career starts, all at Prairie Meadows, and is undefeated in four outings as a 3-year-old. He has two stakes wins this year in the $57,290 Cyclone Derby (R) and $40,000 Cy-Hawk Stakes (R). He also finished second in last year’s $163,460 Jim Bader Futurity (R), and his career bankroll stands at $111,180 with a record of 8-5-2-1.

The complete list of qualifiers to the September 27 final is as follows: AJs Favorite IA (:20.430), Jesszees Girl (:20.565), Talk About Me Later (:20.603), Kiss Me I Am Famous (:20.679), Divas Lil Wagon (:20.693), Hes A Wild Dream (:20.801), Summerhill Fly Girl (:20.852), Happyhoursomewhere (:20.889), CR Freighttrain (:20.952) and PYC Force (:20.982). 

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