LOS ALAMITOS : Field of 10 Set for Saturday’s Derby

Los Alamitos will stage the first $100,000 race of its spring-summer meeting Saturday night when 10 3-year-olds go to the post in the 37th running of the Los Alamitos Derby.

The 440-yard event is also the first Grade I race on the track’s schedule, and the horses who qualified out of the May 2 trials will try to add their names to a notable list of Derby champions, such as Jet Deck (1963), Goetta (1964), Kaweah Bar (1969), Dash For Cash (1976), Town Policy (1978) and Sgt Pepper Feature (1981).

In more recent years, the Derby has been won by such top runners as Prissy Fein (1985), First Down Dash (1987) and Teller Queen (1989).

The fastest qualifier, BCR A Blurr ForSure, seems to be the class of the field as she goes for her fourth consecutive victory and second Los Alamitos stakes triumph in a row.

These are the finalists in this year’s Los Alamitos Derby, listed in the order of their qualifying times:

BCR A Blurr ForSure (21.73 seconds)--Winner of the Town Policy Handicap at Los Alamitos on April 20 and the fastest Derby qualifier, she is expected to be a heavy favorite to give trainer Blane Schvaneveldt a record fourth Los Alamitos Derby title.

Come Azure Are (21.76)-- Trainer Bob Baffert won the Los Alamitos Derby victory with Zure Hope Again in 1988, but it would be considered a major upset if he won with this filly, who scored only her second victory in the second division of the Los Alamitos Derby trials.

Merriette (21.84)--Also trained by Baffert, the filly was claimed away from owner Zory Kuzyk for $5,000 last summer but was reclaimed for $8,000 in February. She since has won three races, including two Bay Meadows stakes. The filly was second to BCR A Blurr ForSure in their Los Alamitos Derby trial.

Dadburn Swift (21.85)--The gelding, an $8,000 claimer last fall, was second in a division of the Town Policy Handicap.

Here Comes The Band (21.87)--This filly was purchased as a yearling for only $1,000. She has now earned $48,000 for her owner, Nancy Brookfield. Trainer Ward Brookfield, son of the owner, will be after his biggest career victory.

Special Elan (21.90)--A $54,000 yearling purchase by owner Felipe Tiscareno, Special Elan was considered to be one of the West Coast’s most promising 2-year-olds before being injured. Special Elan has earned more than $70,000 in his career, and the 440-yard Derby distance should fit his late-running style.

Hugo Streakin (21.91)--Also trained by Schvaneveldt, Hugo Streakin was third in his Los Alamitos Derby trial behind Come Azure Are.

Newmont (21.92)--Trained by Tom Bazley, Newmont’s only stakes victory came on the California fair circuit last year. A winner of more than $18,000, Newmont was fifth behind BCR A Blurr ForSure in the Town Policy Handicap.

Dashin Dee Dee (21.92)--This filly is the richest of the Derby finalists with $205,000 in earnings. As a 2-year-old, the daughter of Sir Cashanova won three major stakes, including the Grade I Breeders Juvenile Classic.

Middock (21.92)--The colt will race as an entry with Dadburn Swift, both 3-year-olds being owned by Ed and Colette Lisenby and trained by Val Dean Call. Middock was second in the Grade I Ed Burke Futurity but was fourth in his Derby trial.

Roman Figueroa will be aboard BCR A Blurr ForSure Saturday night.

Although many of the leading riders in the quarter horse ranks get their starts as teen-agers, Figueroa, 35, didn’t begin until his mid-20s. Before that, Figueroa had been a team roper on the professional rodeo circuit.

From 1978 to 1982, Figueroa made it to the National Finals Rodeo five times, and in 1978 he and his partner were the No. 2-ranked team ropers in the nation.

It wasn’t until his father suffered a heart attack in 1981 that Figueroa considered leaving rodeo for horse racing.

“My dad had some race horses at his ranch, and when he got sick, I went to help him out,” Figueroa said. “I would gallop his horses around our little training track and I kind of liked it.

“I asked him if I could ride these horses, if I could get my weight down. I think the only reason he said yes was because he never thought I would lose the weight.”

Now 25 pounds lighter, Figueroa is in the midst of his most successful year as a jockey. In addition to riding BCR A Blurr ForSure, Figueroa is the regular jockey for the 5-year-old Dashing Val, winner of two stakes at this meeting.

“I had a good year last year, but this year I seem to be geting a chance to ride a little better stock,” Figueroa said. “This filly (BCR A Blurr ForSure) is a dream to ride. She never makes any mistakes.”

In 1986, Figueroa married trainer Blane Schvaneveldt’s daughter, Brenda, so Saturday night it will be his father-in-law who will give him a leg up on BCR A Blurr ForSure.

“We don’t bring up racing around the dinner table unless it’s good,” Figueroa says. “If we get a bad trip or if we get some bad luck and get beat, we try to talk about something else.”

BCR A Blurr ForSure could earn more than $50,000 with a victory in the Los Alamitos Derby. The most money Figueroa earned during his rodeo days was about $28,000 a year--before expenses.

“I don’t get too nervous before these big races, because I’m used to handling pressure from my rodeo days,” he said. “Heck, this is easy compared to when I was roping. We had to put up our own money for those purses. Now that’s pressure.”