Page 129 - April 2016

Mardi Gras Futurity-RG2
RDD LAJOLLANFASTDASH
by Michael Cusortelli
RDD Lajollanfastdash put his talent on dis- play in his first two races, but on March 20 the gray gelding made it pay with a dominating
2 1/2-length victory in the 300-yard $273,054 Mardi Gras Futurity-RG2 for state-bred two year olds at Louisiana Downs.
Ridden by Raul Ramirez Jr., RDD Lajollanfastdash stopped the timer at :15.260 and earned a 101 speed index while aided by a 15-mph tail wind. RDD Lajollanfastdash earned the $122,875 winner’s share making his current bankroll $126,475. Willie Simien Jr. prepped RDD Lajollanfastdash for owner Miguel A. Aguilar of Marion, Texas.
RDD Lajollanfastdash set the fastest qualifying time when he went wire-to-wire winning the sixth of 12 trials by a convincing 3 1/4-lengths on Feb. 20.
But RDD Lajollanfastdash flashed his abil- ity even before his official debut, as he won a 220-yard training race by 3 3/4-lengths under Ramirez on Jan. 29.
“He’s pretty fast,” said Ramirez after the Mardi Gras Futurity. “He’s honest, and he’s so easy to ride. He’s mature, doesn’t make any mistakes, and he runs hard from the gate to the wire.
“I’ve never had to ask him for his best in any of his races,” added the rider. “He does
everything so easily and so professionally.”
Aguilar purchased
RDD Lajollansfastdash from breeder Richard Dale Domingue of Youngsville, Louisiana, for $10,000 at last year’s Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders’ Association Yearling Sale.
The gelding’s sire, Heza
Fast Dash, is one of the
state’s top stallions. A Grade
2-winning son of Champion Heza Fast Man, Heza Fast Dash has sired the earners of more than $3.3 million and seven stakes winners since Jan. 1, 2015.
RDD Lajollanfastdash’s dam, La Jollan Queen, is a 10-year-old daughter of the stallion Streakin La Jolla. The mare has produced three winners from as many starters, including RDD Fishers Favorite, a 1/2-sister to RDD Lajollanfastdash who ran sixth in the 2012 Mardi Gras Futurity.
RDD Lajollanfastdash’s second dam, the winning First Down Dash mare Its Good To Be Queen, ran fourth in Champion Hawkish’s ’04 PCQHRA Breeders’ Derby-G2 at Los
Alamitos. The gelding traces back to his third dam, Fishers Favorite, a multiple stakes winning daughter of Beduino TB and full sister to Bedawee, the dam of Grade 1 winner and leading sire Mr Eye Opener.
RDD Lajollanfastdash con- tracted strangles when he was a weanling. His dam also was stricken with the illness, and both horses were sent to the
Louisiana State University Veterinary Hospital, where they spent three weeks in isolation.
Both La Jollan Queen and her baby recovered. RDD Lajollanfastdash recovered well enough to catch the eye of Aguilar at the LQHBA Sale.
“I saw how much Miguel loved this horse at the sale because he kept going back and forth looking at him,” Simien recalled. “The horse just turned out to be a natural.”
Simien added that RDD Lajollanfastdash would be pointed to the Louisiana Breeders’ Laddie-RG2 and Lee Berwick Memorial-RG1 futurities during Delta Downs’ summer meet, which opens April 22.
Another goal might be the 400-yard $1-mil- lion LQHBA Futurity-RG1 at Evangeline Downs - Louisiana’s richest race for any breed
- in November.
“We’d like to save him for the end of the year because I know Miguel would really like to win that race,” Simien said. “We think he’s a good enough horse to win it.”
Gamepatriotdeluxe (Game Patriot-Corona Deluxe) ran second for owner Ten For Ten LLC. Joe Badilla Jr. rode the bay gelding for trainer Michael Taylor.
Rogelio Marquez Jr.’s Mardi Gras Futurity trial winner San Lorenzo Corona (Coronas Leaving You-In The Open) finished third, 2 3/4 lengths behind the winner. David Alvarez rode the gray colt for trainer Martin Trejo.
Jess A Little Star (Jess An Idea-Little Eye Opener), Lundi Gras Dash (Sir Runaway Dash-Mi Chile), Banditoe Gold (Best Advice- Toast To Tot), Chocolatebyelajolla (Dashin Bye-Rockin Chocolate), Shaded Oak Tree (Oak Tree Special-Shaded Sins), and Runaway Jasmine (Sir Runaway Dash-Eyes Wacky) completed the order of finish.
Louisiana Downs $273,054 • 300 yards :15.260 • si 101
Heza Fast Man
Heza Fast Dash
First Prize Dash
RDD LAJOLLANFASTDASH, ‘14-g.
Streakin La Jolla
La Jollan Queen
Its Good To Be Queen
RDD Lajollanfastdash and Raul Ramirez, Jr. go wire-to-wire, pulling away to win the 10th running of the $273,054 Mardi Gras Futurity-RG2 by 2 1/2-lengths
SPEEDHORSE, April 2016 127
RACING NEWS
Lou Hodges Jr/Hodges Photography