Political Twist Has Fastest Time In Super Derby Trials; Star-Studded Field Set For $641,950 Grade 1 Final

Following a stellar juvenile campaign in 2025—during which he earned AQHA titles as Champion Two-Year-Old and Champion Two-Year-Old Gelding—La Feliz Montana Ranch LLC and Ray Willis’ Political Twist is enjoying another tremendous season. His latest standout performance came on Sunday night in the trials to the Grade 1, $641,950 Los Alamitos Super Derby, as the New Mexico-bred gelding posted the fastest qualifying time while improving his sophomore record to four wins from five starts this year.

Sired by Apollitical Jess and out of the Tres Seis mare C Twister Seis, Political Twist captured the Grade 1 Ruidoso Futurity and the Grade 2 West Texas Futurity last season, while also finishing second in the Grade 1 All American Futurity. During his sophomore campaign, Political Twist won the Grade 1 Rainbow Derby on July 11 before finishing second in the Grade 1 All American Derby on September 6.

Making his season debut at Los Alamitos—and his third career start under the Southern California stars—Political Twist was outstanding in winning the first of three 400-yard trials. Ridden by Luis Martinez and trained by Manuel Rodolfo Rodriguez, Political Twist grabbed the lead right from the start, opened up a one-length advantage shortly after, and dominated the rest of the way to score an authoritative 1¼-length victory in the night's fastest clocking of :19.573. His winning time was 15/100ths of a second faster (approximately one length) than the next fastest qualifier, Doodah Cartel, who captured trial three.

Political Twist has now won 10 of 13 career starts, with two of those victories coming in impressive fashion at Los Alamitos. As a juvenile, he won his trial to the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity by two lengths before a very troubled trip in the final ruined his chances. That rough trip is in the past, and his performance in the Super Derby trials proves he is at home in Orange County.

“He’s acclimated wonderful,” said owner Javier Rodriguez. “He loves it out here. He loves Los Alamitos, he loves to run under the lights, and he hasn’t had any issues at all. He’s trained perfectly and he’s gained some weight. He’s been eating so good and has been doing everything perfectly."

“My team is top notch. Like I’ve always said, from the ranch to the backside, they’re the best. They are the ones doing the hard work and they do it all. Sometimes it’s hard when you have a good 2-year-old to bring them back as a 3-year-old, the campaign sometimes it’s not the same. He’s a very sound horse and that’s the big difference with him. He can do it. We hope that he comes back okay and we’ll get ready for the final.”

Scheduled for Sunday, November 8, the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Super Derby final features a sensational lineup of 10 qualifiers. The ten finalists, listed in order of their qualifying times, are: Political Twist (:19.573), Doodah Cartel (:19.783), Enforce (:19.785), SG Jacob Jay (:19.794), Beuteeful (:19.797), Hi Octane (:19.874), Brother Ray (:19.891), Fear My Legacy (:19.918), Famous Talk (:19.936) and Shiny New (:19.936)

This elite championship field boasts eight stakes winners, six of them graded stakes winners. Leading the lineup is fastest qualifier and multiple Grade 1 winner Political Twist, joined by Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby and Grade 2 El Primero Del Año Derby winner Doodah Cartel; Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity champion Enforce; dual Grade 1 winner Beuteeful, who captured the Los Alamitos Oaks and Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap; Grade 2 Golden State Derby hero Hi Octane; Governor’s Cup Derby winner Brother Ray; James Smith Memorial Handicap winner SG Jacob Jay; and Holiday Handicap winner Famous Talk. Rounding out the field are Shiny New, who placed third in last year's Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity, and Fear My Legacy, a royally bred maiden by Walk Thru Fire out of the great broodmare Fredaville.

This stellar lineup promises to make the Super Derby one of the premier races of the meet, with Political Twist standing as the horse to beat. His connections will focus the next few weeks on keeping him relaxed and focused at the gate.

“He gets in there, goes in a flipping halter and he can get a little anxious,” Rodriguez added. “He wanted the gates to be opened. It looked like he hit the gate a couple of times but (fortunately) it didn’t seem to bother him. I think (jockey Luis Martinez) did great job with him. He didn’t bother him; he just sat on him and let him do his job. That’s another great thing.”

Two others qualified from the opening trial, as Enforce and Beuteeful finished second and third behind Political Twist to seal their spots in the final.

Owned by Alexis Andrade, Paul Jones, and Thompson Racing, Doodah Cartel snapped a two-race losing streak with a sharp performance in the third trial. The son of Favorite Cartel broke cleanly from the gate, hit his full stride immediately, and cruised to a comfortable half-length victory. It marked his sixth win in eight starts this season, with his only setbacks occurring in his previous two outings.

“It was nice to have the real Doodah back,” trainer Paul Jones said. “We took the blinkers off him tonight. He was getting a little ratty in the gate, so we’ve been schooling him. He kept trying to whip his head and get a little bullish in the gate. His father, Favorite Cartel, we had to do the same thing with him, and we also did the same thing with Good Reason SA. Sometimes these colts as they get a little age on them, they don’t get studdy, but they get a little bit playful and bullish, so we took the blinkers off of him and that seemed to help him mind his manners tonight. He got a decent break and basically that’s what it takes, get a decent break and when you get a clean run, his talent is able to show. We figured that we needed to try something different and make a change. We schooled him without the blinkers and it seemed to help; he didn’t want to whip his head around because he could see a little more and it worked. It was nice.”

The victory marked the 4,980th career Quarter Horse win at Los Alamitos for Paul Jones, leaving him just two wins shy of tying the all-time track record of 4,982 held by the legendary Blane Schvaneveldt. Henry Lopez was in the irons aboard the colt, who was bred by Jones and Thompson Racing. Fellow derby champions Hi Octane and Brother Ray also qualified out of this third trial.

In the second trial, Shane Giles’ SG Jacob Jay returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since his victory in the James Smith Memorial Handicap. The Adan Farias trainee benefited from drawing the outside post eight and an equipment change of his own.

“They said that all he was doing was getting in the gate and looking left and right, so they decided to use a flipping halter on him and get him looking down the front. It’s the best he’s left in a long time, so we’ll take it. This is the first time I’ve seen him run with a halter and it seemed to work out well. This is the first time in his racing career that he’s gotten the outside (post). Every time that he’s been a little slow, they’ve taken his (racing) path and then it’s all over. At least he had a little running room this time. We’re very lucky.”

Ricardo Ramirez rode the colt, who was bred by George Fallieras and Nathali Pacheco. By Favorite Cartel and out of the winning mare Ancient Empress, SG Jacob Jay is a full brother to AQHA Champion and Grade 1 winner Tarzanito. SG Jacob Jay was one of four Super Derby qualifiers to emerge from trial two, joined by Fear My Legacy, Shiny New, and Famous Talk.

VIEW FULL LIST OF QUALIFIERS HERE.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stay Ahead of the Pack! Get the latest Quarter Horse racing news, stakes results, breeding updates, and industry headlines delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up for the FREE StallioneSearch.com Newsletter.