SM My Valentine, a Grade 2 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity winner and Winter Derby finalist, returns to stakes company as one of the headliners in Saturday’s $25,000 James Smith Handicap at Los Alamitos.

© William Zuazo

By Orlando Gutierrez

CYPRESS, CA–APRIL 1, 2026– The sophomore season continues to heat up at Los Alamitos this Saturday night as a talented field of 3-year-olds lines up for the running of the $25,000 James Smith Handicap at 350 yards. Headlining the event are two formidable sprinters coming directly out of the first major dance of the year: SM My Valentine and SG Jacob Jay.

Both runners are fresh off appearances in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby, where they faced off against the division’s current leader, Doodah Cartel. SM My Valentine and SG Jacob Jay now return to action to face one another once again, looking to parlay their graded stakes experience into a visit to the winner’s circle.

SM My Valentine

Owned by Santos Montemayor and Omar Torres, this gelding has one of the most fitting names in Quarter Horse racing right now. Born on Valentine’s Day, he celebrated his birthday in style this year by competing against the fastest 3-year-olds in the country, ultimately finishing a game fifth in the Winter Derby.

SM My Valentine is a top-tier stakes performer who proved his class last year by winning the Grade 2 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. If he can break cleanly and find the late-closing speed he displayed in February, he will be a very difficult horse to hold off in the closing yards. Adan Farias will saddle the son of Kiss My Hocks.

SG Jacob Jay

Also trained by Farias, SG Jacob Jay earned his way into the Winter Derby final with a trial victory of his own. While he finished toward the back of the pack in that Grade 1 event, his qualifying performance in the trials showed he has the gears to compete at the highest level of the division.

Owned and bred by Shane Giles, SG Jacob Jay has shown a professional demeanor and the overall speed and late kick that make him a major factor at 350 yards. A full brother to AQHA Champion Tarzanito, this Favorite Cartel colt will look to replicate the sharp gate speed that earned him a spot in the season’s first major derby while securing his first stakes victory for his connections.

Cheap Bar

The Winter Derby graduates will face the blossoming sophomore Cheap Bar, owned by SR Racing Stables and trained by Juan Aleman. Following his gritty upset in the $98,500 Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes, the California-bred gelding by Apollitical Jess shook some trouble in Maiden trial to to return in the final and outduel the heavy favorite, Hell On Wheels V, by a determined neck. That 350-yard victory, clocked in a sharp :17.464, showed that the Aleman trainee is ready to compete against the top sophomores on the ground.

Aleman said after the Maiden Stakes that Cheap Bar has the ability to thrive as a derby horse with more distance, and Saturday’s matchup against SM My Valentine and SG Jacob Jay offers the Steve Burns-bred runner a prime opportunity to prove that his Maiden Stakes triumph was no fluke, but rather the beginning of a strong sophomore season at Los Alamitos.

Strong contenders complete the field

The James Smith Handicap often serves as a key steppingstone for sophomores looking to bridge the gap between the winter derbies and the summer stakes. While Grade 1 finalists SM My Valentine and SG Jacob Jay are the established names in the field, the James Smith also features a solid cast that includes Edward Allred’s Hurry Up.

Hurry Up is a talented Favorite Cartel homebred trained by Scott Willoughby. A son of the powerhouse broodmare Up For It, he is a full brother to More Of It, who recently finished third in the El Primero final to none other than Doodah Cartel. Hurry Up is also a sibling to stakes winners She Goes Up and Up And Atem.

Hurry Up has been away from the track since breaking his maiden in late September and enters the James Smith following a 350-yard turn-and-work on March 20. Hurry Up remains an intriguing prospect for the upcoming summer stakes, such as the Governor's Cup Derby, making the James Smith the perfect preparation for his summer campaign.

The field will be completed by Mental Lapse, who has won her last two starts, and Val Baby, another multiple winner including an allowance score last year.

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