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RACING NEWS
Governor’s Cup Futurity-RG1
CONSTITUENT
by Tracy Gantz
Dr. Steve Burns is a well-known breeder throughout the Quarter Horse industry, so it is perhaps no surprise that he bred five of
the qualifiers to the $315,000 Governor’s Cup Futurity-RG1 at Los Alamitos on July 25.
Constituent and Squid Word are both out of the same mare, Tahma Hawk. Valentin Zamudio trains them both, Constituent for M and G Farms Inc., and Squid Word for Cesar Nunez.
Juan Leon piloted Constituent, and after breaking in fourth, they moved up to second behind Opt Out. In a furious dash for the wire, with four horses noses apart, Constituent put his nose on the line first to win in :17.662.
“Constituent is very good out of the gate,” said Leon. “He left with the field and stayed right there. He was there until the end. He stayed there, stayed there, and stayed there until taking the lead at the very end. I thought we were right there the entire way. I feel blessed to have this win.”
“I saddled those brothers last year as well,” Zamudio said. “To finish first and second this year with another set of brothers is a huge thrill. I cannot describe how exciting this is for me. It
is the result of hard work by a lot of people.” Constituent brought his record to three wins and a fourth in four starts, including a victory in
his July 11 trial.
“Constituent ran a strong
race in the trial,” Zamudio said. “He drifted a bit, but hegotthewin.Hehasa big, big heart. He showed it again tonight.”
The trainer said he was happytowinforMandG Farms.
“I started training for
them this year,” Zamudio
stated. “I think this is a big
win for them. Mr. Nunez
almost won this race for a
second time. Constituent is a
very fast horse, but Mr. Nunez’s horse, Squid Word, was flying at the end. It was a good race for both.”
Constituent and three of the other Burns- bred runners in the Futurity came out of the 2019 Los Alamitos Equine Sale. Mauricio
Montano bought Constituent for $27,000. Burns bred Constituent and Squid Word
out of winner Tahma Hawk. She is a half- sister to Paint Champion Judys Cash and has
produced 15 winners from 21 starters.
Ruben Lozano rode Squid Word (Favorite Cartel-Tahma Hawk) to second for Nunez and Zamudio. Jose Flores trains Opt Out (Favorite Cartel-You Can Fly) for owner Bella Valenzuela. Cruz Mendez has piloted Opt Out in all four of the gelding’s outings.
Completing the field were BF Outfoosed (Foose-BF Outrageous) and Favorite Colossus (Favorite Cartel-
Warm It Up) in a deadheat for fourth, followed by Untuckit (Favorite Cartel-Remember The Cartel), Checkn Favorite (Favorite Cartel-Checkn Fire), Cartels Legacy (Favorite Cartel-Apollitical Legacy), Favorite Five (Favorite Cartel-Five Bar Molly) and Single Brad (Foose-Single Sadie).
Los Alamitos $315,000 • 350 yards :17.662 • si 93
Separatist
Seperate Interest
A Delightful Legacy
CONSTITUENT, ‘18-c.
Hawkinson
Tahma Hawk
Takin On The Green
144 SPEEDHORSE August 2020
Constituent and jockey Juan Leon win the $315,000 Governor’s Cup Futurity-RG1 by a nose.
Los Alamitos