Page 120 - June 2015

Kindergarten Futurity-G2
WALK THRU CRYSTAL
by Tracy Gantz
Yanet Rodriguez grew up at Los Alamitos, which made simply qualifying for the Grade 2 Kindergarten Futurity a special moment for the trainer. That Walk Thru Crystal should then win the final almost moved Rodriguez to tears.
“I can’t say much—I’m so excited,” Rodriguez said after the victory. “I used to run around as a kid here at Los Alamitos, and I used to get in trouble with security.”
Rodriguez is a second-generation trainer. Her father, Santiago Rodriguez, won 346 Quarter Horse races during his career, undoubtedly many while Yanet made life dif- ficult for security personnel.
These days, however, Yanet is a respected trainer, with 22 in her barn. She qualified two horses to the Kindergarten—fastest-qualifier Walk Thru Crystal and trial winner/third- fastest qualifier Marko Czech.
The start of the Kindergarten Futurity proved good for Walk Thru Crystal and bad for Marko Czech. Walk Thru Crystal came away smoothly, while Marko Czech was squeezed back to last between horses.
Carnegie Haul on the rail immediately challenged Walk Thru Crystal for the lead, and they battled for the first part of the 300
yard contest. With jockey Alejandro Luna riding, Walk Thru Crystal confi- dently pulled away to win by 1/2-length in :15.399.
“It’s hard sometimes to come through with the fast- est qualifier,” said Rodriguez.
“Everything has to go
right,” she continued. “My
other filly got bumped really
bad out of the gate. But, even
if you have the fastest quali-
fier, you don’t know what to expect. You hope to have a clean start and have a clean trip and get things done.”
Enrique Gonzalez’s EG High Desert Farms owns both Walk Thru Crystal and Marko Czech, the latter a homebred. Gonzalez bought Walk Thru Crystal for $60,000 at the 2014 Los Alamitos Equine Sale.
Rodriguez said that Walk Thru Crystal impressed everyone who has been around her from the time she was broken.
“Alejandro has been on her since we broke her, and he really liked her,” Rodriguez said.
Luna once worked as a groom at Los Alamitos for Bob Baffert, who at that time
trained Quarter Horses. The day before Luna rode Walk Thru Crystal to the Kindergarten Futurity victory, Baffert won Thoroughbred racing’s Preakness Stakes-G1 with Kentucky Derby-G1 winner American Pharoah.
Luna also credited former trainer Kelly Lewis with his success and said that Lewis had texted him good luck
before the race. “It touched me because Kelly is the one who pushed me to get my jockey license back in 1995,” Luna stated. “This win is for Kelly.”
The jockey had high praise for Walk Thru Crystal. “Walk Thru Crystal has a lot more to give,” he said. “I didn’t ask much from her because she was so quick at the start. I just pushed her a little bit at the end. I’ve been working with this horse since last year.”
Rodriguez is very happy to have Walk Thru Crystal in her barn.
She said she always wanted to be a trainer, even when she was attending San Jacinto High School in Hemet, California
Los Alamitos $294,500 • 300 yards :15.399 • si 94
First Down Dash
Walk Thru Fire
Sweet Beduino
WALK THRU CRYSTAL, ’13-f.
Corona Cartel
Corona Crystal
Swiftette
118 SPEEDHORSE, June 2015
Walk Thru Crystal and Alejandro Luna go wire-to-wire in the $294,500 Grade 2 Kindergarten Futurity
RACING NEWS
Los Alamitos Photography