Page 222 - Speedhorse April 2019

El Primero Del Ano Derby-G3
POWERFUL FAVORITE
by Tracy Gantz
Trainer Christopher O’Dell went into the weekend of March 30-31 a little stiff and sore because his pony fell on top of him. But by the end of the weekend at Los Alamitos, O’Dell felt much better. He won the La Primera Del Ano Derby-G3 with Terrific First Down on March 30 and came back the next night to take the $211,000 El Primero Del Ano Derby-G3 with Powerful Favorite.
“I hurt my knee, my ankle and my shoul- der,” O’Dell explained. “The pony is doing well and I’ll be okay. I was bringing Tac Me Up back after they had stood him in the gate. We were galloping along, and my pony missed the ground and down we go.”
O’Dell’s weekend double also extended to jockey Eduardo Nicasio, who piloted both of the winners.
“Chris has some excellent horses,” said Nicasio. “They were good two year olds, but now as three year olds they’ve grown and are even better racehorses.”
When the gates opened, Powerful Favorite broke in third place from the nine-hole. The sorrel gelding battled with Apollitical Pence, who had the early lead. Powerful Favorite, however, edged past at the wire to grab the victory by a neck. Powerful Favorite com- pleted 400 yards in :19.733.
Powerful Favorite, owned by Rosenthal Ranch LLC, brought a three-for- three 2019 record into the El Primero Del Ano Derby. He qualified the fastest for the Los Alamitos Winter Derby-G1 and then scored in the $198,700 finals with a 1/4-length victory.
Then he duplicated
that by becoming the
fastest qualifier for the El
Primero and acing that final. In the March 10 El Primero Del Ano Derby-G3 trials, Powerful Favorite stumbled but still topped the list with a nose victory. Apollitical Pence followed in second with the second-fastest qualifying position, as well as taking second in the finals.
“Apollitical Pence—that’s a tough horse,” said O’Dell. “He can really run. We had to go catch him. Powerful Favorite can really finish. He had to play a little catch-up, but he’s done that a few times and has come out successful. He’s learning where the finish line is, and that’s a good thing.
“What a stride he’s got,” O’Dell contin- ued. “He’s got all the makings to be a nice
horse. We’ll see how tough the crop of Champion of Champions are this year. He might do something in there. You never know.”
Connie Rosenthal
bought Powerful Favorite
for $90,000 at the 2017 Los Alamitos Equine Sale for her husband, Bob. On March 5, 2018, Bob died, never getting to see Powerful Favorite race.
“We all wish he was
here so bad,” said O’Dell. “Bob started it all,
and we’re just riding along on the coattails that he started. He loved horses. If they had a 20-1 running here, they’d drive out to watch him. They could have stayed home and watched in on TV, but they loved their horses—every one of them—and wanted to see them.”
Connie Rosenthal admitted to being nervous when Powerful Favorite runs.
“It gets more nerve-wracking each race,” she said. “He’s a fabulous horse.”
James Markum and Dr. Steve Burns bred Powerful Favorite out of multiple stakes winner Remember Me Rose, and Burns Ranch consigned Powerful Favorite to the
Los Alamitos $211,000 • 400 yards :19.733 • si 93
Favorite Trick TB
Favorite Cartel
Shenoshercorona
POWERFUL FAVORITE, 16-g.
Corona Cartel
Remember Me Rose
Im Moonlighting
220 SPEEDHORSE, April 2019
Powerful Favorite and Eduardo Nicasio score the win in the $211,000 El Primero Del Ano Derby-G3
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Los Alamitos