08/15/2021..LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA…. Julianna Hawn Holt’s Aint She Tempting became only the fifth filly this century to win the running of the Grade 2, $197,700 Golden State Derby thanks to strong finish that helped her edge fastest qualifier Reason To Fly Mv by a head in the 400-yard final on Sunday at Los Alamitos.
The winning effort also gave Aint She Tempting her first stakes victory at the Orange County oval after she had settle for runner-up efforts in both the Los Alamitos Oaks on March 27 and the Golden State Million Futurity last November. This time, Aint She Tempting got the winning snapshot in the end, following a very competitive running of the Golden State in which she was bumped at start by EG Domingo before she got flying after the gap to outduel Paulo Otavio Freire Macedo’s Reason To Fly MV. Ridden by Jose Nicasio for trainer Monty Arrossa, the McColee Land and Livestock LLC-bred filly covered the distance in :19.922.
“It was suspenseful race for me because for a moment I thought that maybe the inside horse had beaten us,” said Nicasio, who piloted Aint She Tempting from post number nine. “It was close the entire way, but I think we secured the win in the final three jumps. She didn’t have a great start because we got bumped in the first jump. We lost some ground right there, but the filly kept fighting and fighting and we eventually got the win. I used my left-hand once because she was looking to drift in. She responded and we went from there.”
Girl power was on full display in the Golden State Derby, as the top four finishers were fillies. In addition to 4-5 favorite Aint She Tempting and 2-1 second choice Reason To Fly MV, the superfecta was completed by College Scandal, who finished third at 5-1 odds, and Diva On Fire, who was the longest shot on the board at 51-1 odds. Fifth-place finisher Rox Win was the highest placed male in the race.
By AQHA champion Tempting Dash and out of the Corona Cartel mare Preslee The First, Aint She Tempting scored her fifth win 12 career starts. Her derby score was worth $83,034 to take her career earnings to $727,530. The winner of the Oklahoma Futurity at Remington Park last year, Aint She Tempting now joins Conquering Marie (2019), Alice K White (2009), Blues Girl Too (2007) and Royal Dip (2001) as the only fillies to win this derby in the 2000s.
“(Aint She Tempting) needed her derby trial race,” said Nicasio. “She had not raced since the Los Alamitos Oaks and we thought that she would run much better in the final.”
Aint She Tempting’s granddam is First Carolina, an outstanding producer, and a multiple graded stakes winner of more than $415,000. In addition to being the mother of Preslee The First, First Carolina is the dam of Rainbow Futurity and PCQHRA Breeders Derby winner Ms First Prize Rose and Remington Park Oklahoma Bred Futurity and Mr Jess Perry Stakes winner Coronado Cartel.
Ridden by Cruz Mendez for trainer Jose Flores, Reason To Fly MV was looking to give Freire Macedo his first graded stakes win at Los Alamitos. A leading owner and breeder in Brazil, Freire Macedo bred the Good Reason SA filly, who earned $33,609 for her solid second place finish. Gentry Farms’ College Scandal picked up $23,724 for her third-place finish with jockey Ramon Sanchez and trainer Juan Aleman. The complete order of finish is as follows: Aint She Tempting, Reason To Fly Mv, College Scandal, Diva On Fire, Rox Win, Unstoppable One, Thats R Best Card, EG Domingo, and Dreamland Express.
