Page 76 - 14 September 2012

Golden State Derby-G1
CheCk My ThouGhTS
by Tracy Gantz
Trainer Jimmy Glenn Jr. couldn’t have asked for a better scenario for his first Grade
1 win. His entire family was in town to see Check My Thoughts win the Aug. 26 Golden State Derby at Los Alamitos, including his dad, Jimmy Glenn Sr., who trained during the 1970s and brought his son into the game.
“My mom and dad were there and my wife and daughter—it was real good,” said Glenn, who hails from Yoncalla, Oregon, and rode for several years before following his dad as a trainer.
Glenn was also winning with a horse owned and bred by Ed Allred, head of Los Alamitos. Check My Thoughts is the type of horse any trainer would love to have in his barn—consistent and with plenty of heart.
“He’s the type that even if he gets bumped around, that doesn’t stop him,” Glenn said. “He just keeps going.”
In the Los Alamitos Winter Derby-G1 earlier this year, Check My Thoughts got in a little tight quarters.
“He never gave up,” Glenn said. “He finally got away from those horses and outfinished them. Even with the trouble, he ran third.”
The Golden State Derby also gave jockey Eulices Gomez his first Grade 1 win, a particu- larly important accomplishment considering that Gomez has been riding more Thoroughbreds at Los Alamitos than Quarter Horses.
“I owe Dr. Allred and Jimmy Glenn a lot for the opportunity,” said Gomez. “Hopefully, this win changes things or me and opens some doors.”
Check My Thoughts and Gomez outbroke everyone in the Golden State field except BC Cruiser. It didn’t take long for Check My
Thoughts to take the lead. Do You Do Corona tried to catch Check My Thoughts, who lengthened his stride to win by a half-length in :19.590 for the 400 yards.
“He ran a big one and kind of moved up a level,” said Glenn. “He’s always been a nice horse, but this time he just put it together.”
Consistency is Check My Thoughts’ hallmark. In 10 starts, he has
never finished worse than
third. Glenn said that the
gelding “was a little rough as a two-year-old” when he first began training. Check My Thoughts learned his lessons quickly, however, and by the time he reached the races, “he was Mr. Automatic in the gate,” Glenn said.
At 2, Check My Thoughts
won the California Breeders
Freshman Stakes and the
Golden State Juvenile. Glenn
has given him a few breaks in his schedule, the most recent being some R&R at Allred’s farm after the Winter Derby.
“He’s the kind of horse who runs good after a break, and when he runs back, he runs bet- ter,” Glenn said.
The Golden State Derby trial and final exem- plified that. Check My Thoughts finished second in his trial to fastest-qualifier Zoomdasher and moved forward off of that race.
Glenn hopes to run Check My Thoughts in the $1 million Los Alamitos Super Derby-G1, with trials on Oct. 14 and the final on Nov. 3.
“He can have a little time to rest up and recover,” Glenn said.
Allred bred Check My Thoughts from 2003 Mistletoe Handicap winner Just Think. With four winners in seven starters, the mare has produced stakes-placed Deep In Thought in addition to the Golden State Derby winner. Third dam Bandolanty won several stakes and
is a half-sister to champion Sig Hanson.
Santiago Mendez rode Do You Do Corona (Corona Cartel-MLA Do You
Love Me) for trainer Eloy Navarro and owners Jose and Gustavo De La Torre. Do You Do Corona brought a four-race win streak into the final.
Zoomdasher (Azoom- Dashing Little Reba), also trained by Navarro and owned by the De La Torres,
closed well for third under jockey Adrian Loza. The filly finished third in the 2011 Pat Hyland Handicap and the 2012 La Primera Del Ano Derby-G3.
Completing the field were BD Cruiser (Separatist-Streakin Debut), Last To Fire (Walk Thru Fire-Last Shall Be First), New Look (Walk Thru Fire-Make Over), La Corona Cartel (Corona Cartel-Adashin Runaway), Delight At Night (Corona Cartel-A Delightful Legacy), Eye For FDD (First Down Dash-Eye For Corona), and Last To Check Him (Check Him Out-Last Shall Be First).
Jockey Eulices Gomez, owner Ed Allred and trainer Jimmy Glenn Jr. Check My Thoughts wins the Golden State Derby-G1 by a half-length.
74 SPEEDHORSE, September 14, 2012
Los Alamitos $236,400 • 400 yards :19.590 • si 89
Hennessy-TB
Check Him Out
Check Her Twice
CHECK MY THOUGHTS, ’09-g.
Pritzi Dash
Just Think
Toltackitt
Racing news
Los Alamitos
Los Alamitos