'Margaritas' Heads Wild West

Fastest qualifier Margaritas N Coronas looks for third straight win.

October 18, 2012

Robert Hickman’s Margaritas N Coronas looks to continue his successful fall campaign at Los Alamitos when he tries for his third-straight win in the $113,900 Wild West Futurity (R) on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.

The 350-yard Wild West Futurity is for juveniles who have raced in the Northwest.

Margaritas N Coronas (Corona Czech-Fly Margarita by Strawfly Special) came to Los Alamitos with the Bret Vickery stable and, after finishing a troubled sixth in his Los Alamitos debut, he stepped up with a pair of wins. The gelding showed his gameness with a head victory in The Plan Handicap.

On the board in five of eight starts, Margaritas N Coronas moved forward off that win to race to a three-quarter-length win in the first of three Wild West Futurity trials. He topped the qualifiers list with a :17.547 time.

Spackman Racing and Lin Melton’s Dynasty Red (FDD Dynasty-Red High Heels by Corona Cartel) was a close second in the Bitterroot Futurity (RG3) and third in the John Deere Les Bois Juvenile Challenge, each at Les Bois Park. The Melton-trained gelding was third while making his Los Alamitos debut in the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity trial and then came through with a half length win as the 1-2 favorite in his Wild West Futurity trial. His time of :17.650 was the second-fastest qualifying mark.

J.P. Sample and Emily Lawrence’s Checkspeed (Check Him Out-Speedy Speedette by Red Hot Rhythm) has been second behind Margaritas N Coronas in his latest two starts. He was the narrowly beaten 5-2 favorite in The Plan Handicap and then was second in their Wild West Futurity trial after a troubled start. The John Wells-trained gelding recorded the third-fastest qualifying time of :17.687.