Mutliple stakes winner Train B Taka will make his next start in the trials to the Grade 2, $197,500 Golden State Derby here on Saturday night.

© William Zuazo

LOS ALAMITOS, CA–AUGUST 15, 2025–Multiple stakes winners Train B Taka and Favorite Jesshawk and Defending Champ, who delivered a tremendous knockout punch when winning the Governor’s Cup Derby three weeks ago, will headline an outstanding group of sophomores in the trials to the Grade 2, $197,500 Golden State Derby here on Saturday night.

Twenty-six sophomores will be in action in the derby trials, with the horses with the 10 fastest times advancing to the derby final on Saturday, September 6. To be held at the 400-yard distance, three trials will be contested on the card, starting with race six.

The opening trial will be headed by EG High Desert Farms LLC’s Its On You, who ran a solid third against the highly touted 3-year-olds Defending Champ and Favorite Jesshawk in the Governor’s Cup.

The son of A Mere Felix out of SS Calendar Girl remains a maiden but appears to be coming into his own after posting three consecutive in the money finishes against stronger rivals each time. Ricardo Ramirez will pilot the Jesus Nunez trainee.

Guadalupe Bujanda and Jose Flores’ Walking Tool began his career with four consecutive wins and will be looking to recapture his 2-year-old form as he looks to be a major contender in this race. The Walk Thru Fire colt flashed good quickness in the Governor’s Cup final before running fourth to Defending Champ in the final.

Listen Now is another runner to watch in the opening heat. He finished third against older goes in the Spencer Childers California Breeders Championship also on July 26.   

Owned by Cheryl Stokes, Armando Arreola and Tungsten Racing Partnership, Train B Taka will be in action in the second trial of the night and arrives as one of the most accomplished sophomores in the group.

The runner-up in both the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby and Grade 2 El Primero Del Ano Derby, Train B Taka has won the Dillingham Handicap and the Vandy’s Flash Handicap in his last two starts at the Orange County oval. James Flores picked up the mount aboard the Freighttrain B gelding in place of Edwin Escobedo, who is currently on the mend.

Ed Allred’s Norco, who finished fourth in the Winter Derby in his most recent start, and Flores and Javier Rodriguez’s Big Hurt, a Grade 1 finalist as a juvenile, will also be in action in this trial. Norco ran in the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million final last year and was second in his Winter Derby trial.

Allred will be represented by the red-hot Defending Champ in the final trial, as the gelding by Favorite Cartel goes after his third consecutive victory. Trained by Scott Willoughby and to be ridden by Gabriel Lara, Defending Champ has been leaving the gate better with each of one of his starts this year, and he broke right with the leader in the Governor’s Cup leading to his runaway ¾ length victory in the final. With his derby win, Defending Champ gave Willoughby his 100th Quarter Horse stakes win at Los Alamitos.

EG High Desert Farms’ Favorite Jesshawk, the winner of the Governor’s Cup Futurity last year and the runner-up in the Governor’s Cup Derby, will give Defending Champ all he can handle in the trials. The homebred colt has won five of his 13 starts and has proven to be a strong performer at this distance. Ramirez and Nunez will team up with Favorite Jesshawk from post number six.

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For more information, please get in touch with larace@losalamitos.com. You can also follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @losalracing or visit us online at www.losalamitos.com.

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