11/10/2024..LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA… Bill Price’s homebred superstar BP Cartel Policy won the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby in February, the Grade 2 Golden State Derby in September, and has now added the meet’s richest derby to his resume – the Grade 1, $795,000 Los Alamitos Super Derby thanks to a come-from-behind victory here on Sunday night.
With Armando Cervantes in the irons, BP Cartel Policy was able to catch Dunn Ranch’s AB Seis Corazones in the final stages of the 400-yard Super Derby, crossing the finish line a neck ahead of his game rival while covering the distance in a time of :19.618. Leaving the starting gate from post number five, BP Cartel Policy had a good start and trailed only Lets Leave during the first 25 yards of the race.
AB Seis Corazones, with Jesus Rios Ayala up, took the lead shortly after the start and appeared headed to victory from the outside post number eight. At the midway point AB Seis Corazones still had the lead and was still in front with 110 yards to go. That’s when BP Cartel Policy turned it up a notch and was able to get the victory, his sixth in seven starts this year at Los Alamitos. AB Seis Corazones held on for second place with Barron Racing LLC and Empire Racing LLC’s Lets Leave, the winner of the Grade 1 Ruidoso Futurity last year, finishing third. TYKHE Racing LLC’s Dark Nme, the 2023 AQHA champion 2-year-old filly, ran fourth. RS Shere Khan was fifth and was followed by Boardwalk, Sonny Corona, Try Harder, and Stanley Cartel, who brushed at the start, was slow to get into top gear and never challenged from there. So Can I was scratched.
“(BP Cartel Policy) stood at the gates good,” Cervantes said. ““I was kind of worried about (Stanley Cartel) because he’s a great horse as well, but I couldn’t let go of this horse. I was scared because (BP Cartel Policy) is not really a sharp breaker. This time he broke good and he started rolling. I seen (AB Seis Corazones) on the outside, he’s our partner from the barn, so I just grabbed on and let him roll. He did his job, passed the wire and got it done.”
BP Cartel Policy, AB Seis Corazones and Lets Leave all came from the Monty Arrossa for this race, giving the trainer the top three finishers in the Super Derby. Cervantes, who in the trials had also piloted the then undefeated Stanley Cartel for Weetona Stanley and Dunn Ranch, had to decide which of the two to ride in the final.
BP Cartel Policy earned $320,460 to take his career earnings to $594,554. He also improved his overall record to seven wins from 14 starts. With three derbies now in his bag, BP Cartel Policy is the clear top sophomore in California right now. This win also earned him a presumptive berth to the Grade 1, $600,000 Champion of Champions to be held on December 14. And when it came to ranking BP Cartel Policy’s three derby victories, Arrossa called all three wins comparable.
“I think they’re pretty comparative,” he said. “We think the horse had it (as a 2-year-old) but never really showed it. He really put it together in the Winter Derby and showed that he could be a force to be one of the better 3-year-olds on the ground. In the next derby, he doesn’t get away from the gate good in the trials and barely squeaks in. It’s something that we talked about between him and Stanley Cartel. Armando had a hard time deciding which horse to ride back but he had a ton of success on this horse. Stanley had met every challenge up until tonight. He had a rough go.”
Bill Price, the highly respected owner and breeder from Oklahoma, was on hand for BP Cartel Policy’s win in the Golden State Derby but was unable to visit California for the Super Derby. His son, Bobby, did well representing the Price family in the winner’s circle.
“My dad said he was a runner, and he sure enough was right,” said Bobby Price of Marietta, Oklahoma. “That’s all my dad ever has done, raise good horses. He knows a whole lot more about it than I ever will. It’s exciting to be out here.”
AB Seis Corazones earned $129,710 for his solid runner-up effort. This was his first derby appearance of the season and first stakes race since finishing fourth in last year’s Heritage Place Futurity. Bred by Rancho El Cabresto, the son of Apollitical Blood could make his next start in the trials to the Grade 2 Southern California Derby on December 1.
Lets Leave, who was ridden by Sergio Becerra, Jr., earned $91,560 for finishing third. His earnings here take his career bankroll to $626,676.
“I thought he ran a good race in the trials, but he ran an even better race tonight,” Arrossa said.
Dark Nme, ridden by Francisco Calderon and trained by Romeo Mireles, earned $53,410 for her fourth-place finish. The champion filly has now banked $1,701,335 in her brilliant career.
