LOS ALAMITOS, CA—JULY 24, 2021—The trials to the John Deere California Juvenile Challenge proved to be a showcase for a pair of Washington-bred out of the great broodmare Dasha Freda. Bred by S-Quarter K LLC, Dasha Dynasty and his half-brother Dasha Good Reason both won on Saturday night at Los Alamitos, as they each shook off a bit of early trouble on the way to impressive late runs to win their respective John Deere California trials.

Owned by Robyn Gordon, Juan H. Moya and S-Quarter K LLC, Dasha Dynasty enjoyed his first career victory when posting the fastest qualifying time to the John Deere California.

The colt by FDD Dynasty was bumped early in the race, but that did not stop him from taking an early lead, which he carried through to a runaway 1 ¼ length victory in the fastest qualifying time of :17.846. For Dasha Dynasty, this was his first career win after posting a pair of runner-up efforts to the Grade 1 futurity finalist Black Coffeee. Ramon Sanchez piloted Dasha Dynasty to victory for trainer Jose Flores.

"It looked like the (outside) horse came over a little bit and bumped him, but I have to give jockey Ramon Sanchez a lot of credit," said Don Meneely of S-Quarter K LLC. "(Ramon) stayed extremely patient, in good position on him and got him rolling. Once he started rolling, he really got into that nice stride that his mom has produced on her horses. He finished strong and we’re pleased with that. There’s always little things that you’d like to see horses improve but the bottom line is he won the race and he’s shown that he’s got some talent. You’d like to see him get out of the gate a little faster than that, but it’s always so good to win."

In the second trial, Flores saddled both the winner, Dasha Good Reason, and the trial runner-up Good Trouble. With Irving Lara in the irons, Dasha Good Reason improved to three wins in as many starts after rallying from sixth place at the start to win this heat by a head over Good Trouble. The colt by Good Reason SA covered the distance in the second fastest qualifying time of :17.962.

"It was a good night," Flores said. "Both of them did their job. Dasha Dynasty got bumped a little bit by the outside horse. Hopefully, they can get a clean trip in the final and they should be tough. As for this this horse, even though he’s never lost a race, I just think that the longer it gets for Dasha Good Reason, the better he’ll get. We are just hoping for them to develop for the end of the year."

"I was really happy with (Good Trouble)," Flores said of the horse he co-owns with George Seward. "He got a little bit washy. We’ll come and school in the paddock a few times and get him straightened out. He should be a lot stronger for the final too."

It’s not often that a broodmare is represented by the two fastest qualifiers of a stakes race, but Dasha Freda is not your typical mare. A graded stakes winner in her racing career, Dasha Freda is also the mother of 2015 AQHA champions Heza Dasha Fire and Ima Fearless Hero, both of whom are Grade 1 winning millionaires for the Meneelys.

"She’s incredible," Don Meneely said of Dasha Freda. "We’ve got a Favorite Cartel weanling out of her and have a full-sister to (Dasha Dynasty), who is a yearling. Dasha Freda just keeps producing horses that seem to want to run hard. We are blessed to have her and we enjoy her babies."

The John Deere California Juvenile final will be held on Saturday, August 14.

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

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For more info, please contact larace@losalamitos.com. Follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @losalracing or visit us online at www.losalamitos.com.