LOS ALAMITOS, CA--FEBRUARY 14, 2018--C.K. and Laurel Allen's Grade 1 stakes placed runner Strawfinders Jessee will be joined by four local stakes winners when a field of nine top aged mares gets together on Saturday for the $35,000 Denim N Diamonds Handicap at Los Alamitos.

The Denim N Diamonds is named in honor of the AQHA champion aged mare and Champion of Champions winner of 1981.

Trained by John Cooper, Strawfinders Jessee will enter the Denim N Diamonds after posting a game third place finish to multiple stakes winner Kiddy Up Cowgirl in the Grade 1 Charger Bar Handicap on January 7. Strawfinders Jessee was dueling for the early lead in that race before having to settle for third place against a tremendous cast of mares. Cesar De Alba, who is red-hot after winning both Grade 1 events last week, will be aboard.

The stallion One Sweet Jess is well represented in the Denim N Diamonds. He's the sire of Strawfinders Jessee and also of J. Francisco Diaz's One Sweet Runner, who finished fourth in the Charger Bar last month. One Sweet Jess is the sire of three other mares in the Denim N Diamonds in One Sweet Winner, One Jess Mas, and Maggie Durant. That gives the stallion more than half of the field in this race.

Burns' One Sweet Winner enters this race after scoring a head victory in an allowance race on January 13, while Burns and Oscar Andrade's Jess Mas comes in after running sixth in the Charger Bar. Trained by Elena Andrade, Jess Mas is one of the most accomplished mares in this race, as she was third in the Las Damas Handicap last year and fourth in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Super Derby after dueling for the early lead. She's also the richest mare in this field with $164,117 in earnings.

Spackman Racing and Lin Melton's Maggie Durant is the other daughter of One Sweet Jess in this race. A multiple stakes winner at Los Alamitos, Maggie Durant won the Matron Stakes in 2017 and the Merial California Distaff Challenge in 2016. A winner in eight of 24 career starts, Maggie Durant enters this race after sharpening her quickness with solid back to-to-back efforts at 100 yards in her last two outings. She won an allowance race at that distance on December 15 and then came back to run third in the Blink Of An Eye Handicap also at 100 yards on February 2.

Adrian and Atilano Gonzalez's Precious Dominique won the Blink Of An Eye by a neck and cannot be ignored in the Denim N Diamonds. Trainer Jose Hernandez said after the Blink Of An Eye that the 100-yard race was a great prep for the 4-year-old Precious Dominique so she should be ready to contend in the Denim N Diamonds at 350 yards. It's also worth noting, that Precious Dominique won at 350 yards when taking the Bobbys Angel Handicap back in October of 2016.

Socorro Vargas Hurtado's Zendaya and Alberto Duenas' Scholarly are other two stakes winners in this field. Zendaya has either been a big hit or a big miss during her racing career, but she's coming off of a nice allowance victory on January 7 for trainer Ricardo Guillen. Scholarly won the California Breeders Freshman Stakes in 2016 and the Blue Grass Bounce Handicap last year, and returns to facing mares after taking on the boys in the A Ransom Handicap in her final start of 2017.

The field from the rail out is as follows:

1. One Sweet Winner
2. Jess Mas
3. You Can Fly
4. Strawfinders Jessee
5. One Sweet Runner
6. Scholarly
7. Maggie Durant
8. Precious Dominique
9. Zendaya

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.