LOS ALAMITOS, CA—JULY 29, 2016—One of the best group of horses to ever come together for the trials to the Adequan California Derby will be featured in a pair of qualifying heats on Sunday night at Los Alamitos.

The field will be headed by Steve Burns’ Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity winner Little Talks, which will be making her first start of 2016. The Favorite Cartel filly will be in action in the first of two trials at 400 yards. Her trial will feature nine top sophomores, while the second heat will feature a field of eight.

The horses with the 10 fastest times will return here for the final on Saturday, August 20. The winner of the Adequan final will represent California in the $200,000 Adequan Derby Challenge Championship to be held here on Bank of America Challenge Championship night on Saturday, October 29.

Trained by Mike Casselman and ridden by Cesar De Alba, Little Talks won four of eight starts and earned $461,870 in 2015. Her Golden State Million win was the big highlight, as she outdueled the terrific Docs Best Card to win the $1,049,000 race on November 1. Little Talks also finished fourth in the Governor’s Cup Futurity. She reared back and was eighth at the start of her Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity trial and was never in contention for a qualifying spot. With that behind her, Little Talks has since posted several nice works in preparation for her sophomore debut.

Grade 1 finalist El Compa JV and Wild West Futurity winner Zoomin For Spuds will also compete in this trial. Daddys Dollars, third in the Bitterroot Futurity and a finalist to the John Deere California Juvenile Challenge will also compete in this trial.

The second heat is an outstanding event headed by John and Cina Sperry’s La Primera Del Ano Derby finalist Jess Good Reason and Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes winner My Favorite Check.

Trained by Paul Jones, Jess Good Reason will come in after running a strong second in the Vandy’s Flash Handicap despite a troubled trip. The daughter of champion sire Good Reason SA hit the board in eight of her nine career starts. Carlos Marquez will ride the Oklahoma-bred filly.

Ron Hartley’s My Favorite Check has been a model of consistency in an already busy 2016. The homebred Favorite Cartel gelding has made seven starts and has hit the board in all seven this year. In addition to his Maiden Stakes win, My Favorite Check has also finished second in the El Primero Del Ano Derby and third in both the Dillingham Handicap and Vandy’s Flash Handicap.

Spackman Racing’s Time For Jess, an impressive allowance winner in her last outing, will also compete in this heat. The Apollitical Jess filly ran in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity last year and was second to the stakes winning older mare Vivid in the Miss Princess Handicap two races ago.

The stakes placed Timely Delivery and Fames Jess Sweet will also race here.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.