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I Am Candy Sweet In Denim N Diamonds At Los Alamitos
I Am Candy wins the $35,000 Denim N Diamonds Handicap at Los Alamitos on Saturday.

© William Zuazo

I Am Candy Sweet In Denim N Diamonds At Los Alamitos

By Orlando Gutierrez

CYPRESS, CA–FEBRUARY 22, 2026– Owned and bred by PV Quarter Horse Farms LLC, I Am Candy had the sweetest start imaginable from post number nine in the $35,000 Denim N Diamonds Handicap. She seized the lead from the first jump and never looked back, capturing the 350-yard sprint on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.

Ridden by Justine Klaiber, I Am Candy established a 1/2-length advantage just 50 yards into the race. From there, the focus shifted to maintaining that lead. She did exactly that for Klaiber and trainer Eddie Willis, holding her 1/2-length cushion at the midway point before fending off a late-flying Silver Bac to win by a neck. The winning time was clocked at :17.645.
 

Justine Klaiber and Kasey Willis in the winner’s circle after the $35,000 Denim N Diamonds Handicap at Los Alamitos. © William Zuazo
Bred in Oklahoma, the 5-year-old daughter of Jess Good Candy is out of Candy Cartels Cat, herself a winner of the Decketta Stakes at Remington Park in 2016. Candy Cartels Cat earned over $162,000 in her 15-race career, and I Am Candy is now closing in on her mother’s earnings mark. With seven wins from 18 starts, I Am Candy has bankrolled $141,009 and is now a multiple stakes winner in California, adding the Denim N Diamonds to her Sound Dash Handicap trophy from last October.

Klaiber, the PCQHRA Jockey Achievement Award winner in each of the past two years, led all riders in stakes victories at Los Alamitos in 2025. This victory marked her first stakes win of the 2026 season.

“She broke really good and stayed on top the whole way,” Klaiber said. “I believe it was the five horse (Silver Bac) who gave us a run for our money, but she dug deep and got it. She was super quiet in the warm-up, and the quieter she is, the better. She was relaxed and all professional tonight.”

Owned by Steve Burns, Mark and Marta Winslow, and Jose Flores, Silver Bac continues to provide high-level consistency in every outing. The daughter of Seperate Interest posted yet another gritty runner-up effort following her second-place finish in the Grade 1 James Dreyer Charger Bar Handicap on January 11. Having also finished second to I Am Candy in last year's Sound Dash, it seems only a matter of time before Silver Bac finds the winner's circle in a Los Alamitos stakes event. Silver Bac earned $7,875 for the effort.

M & G Farms’ Terra Fina broke inward and bumped at the start. Despite a trainer’s objection lodged against her, the racing stewards ruled that Terra Fina was not responsible for trouble encountered by others and there would be no change to the order of finish. Terra Fina earned $4,375 for her third-place finish.

The 7-5 favorite and Parsons Family Limited Partnership’s Rockin With Energy was unable to replicate her recent heroics. After breaking inward and bumping, she lacked a clear path and ultimately finished ninth.

The complete order of finish is as follows: I Am Candy, Silver Bac, Terra Fina, Eyesa Wagon My Tale, Racy Favorite, Phoebes Baby Girl, Favorite Princess, O Seeyalater, Rockin With Energy, and Vgk Zigfield Follies.

 

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