LOS ALAMITOS, CA— JANUARY 24, 2015—Owned and bred by Denny and Kris Hill, Apolitical Zoom made no mistakes when posting the fastest qualifying time to the Grade 1 $208,850 Los Alamitos Winter Derby in the first of five trials on Saturday night.

Ridden by Cesar De Alba for trainer Bret Vickery, Apolitical Zoom led the 400-yard race from start to finish and her winning time of :20.006 was the fastest from among the 34 sophomores that participated in the trials. Apolitical Zoom and the nine other qualifiers will return for the Winter Derby final to be held on Valentine’s Day, Saturday, February 14.

Apolitical Zoom was picking up her second win in seven career starts, her first victory coming in her racing debut at 250 yards while at Ruidoso Downs last year.

“We were excited to see her run at 400 yards,” Vickery said. “She likes distance and she had race (440 yards) at Ruidoso Downs.”

Vickery was referring to Apolitical Zoom’s second place finish in a trial to the All American Futurity. She had also shown promise at 400 yards when running third in a trial to the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on November 23. The daughter of 2010 World Champion Apollitical Jess will now look to give her owner and trainer another big moment in a Grade 1 stakes race. Vickery saddle Denny and Kris Hill’s champion AB What A Runner to victory in the 2002 All American Futurity and in several other Grade 1 races. He also saddled the couple’s Policy Tacs to victory in the 1999 Bank of America Challenge Championship.

“That was my first Grade 1 win for them,” Vickery said. “I had trained for them a long time before that. They are super owners. They are the kind of owners that you want to have.”

After a tremendous campaign in 2014, De Alba is hoping that horses like Apolitical Zoom help him enjoy a great 2015 season.

“It was an awesome year,” De Alba added. “I’m hoping that this year can be just as good and hopefully better. I’m working hard in the mornings and looking for a good 2-year-old. Apolitical Zoom ran a nice race. When I first saw her time I didn’t think it would be the fastest of night, but she beat some very nice horses. She ran a heck of a race.”

Leland Decker and Bill Absher’s Chowchilla Dreamin finished with the second fastest time after winning her trial by a half-length in :20.117. The filly by Stel Corona also improved her record to three wins in four career starts.

“She leaves the gate great,” said her trainer, John Cooper. “She shouldn’t have lost her last start, but she was running along the rail and she didn’t have another horse to hook up with. Leland Decker does a great job with his horses. I’ve gotten two horses from him and they’ve both have been winners. This filly has a good mother. Chowchilla Dreamin could be any type of a horse this year.”

The list of qualifiers also includes RTM Stables LLC and George Weldon’s Ynot Walk, winner of the John Deere California Challenge and Los Alamitos Juvenile Invitational Stakes, and Lisa Beauprez and Thomas Bradbury and Thomas Bradbury Jr.’s Wild Sixes Cartel, which finished second in the Kindergarten Futurity and qualified to the Rainbow Futurity.

For the complete list of qualifiers, times, sires, dams, owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys CLICK HERE.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.