For Immediate Release<\/p>\n
Amarillo, Texas, May 19, 2006<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c For trainer Jaime Gomez, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be tough to top 2005.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 A Kindergarten Futurity (G1) victory with Gold Nugget Road kindled a flame that just got hotter and hotter after every stellar performance by the gifted filly Higher Fire.<\/p>\n Higher Fire blazed her way through the lucrative futurity season at Los Alamitos last year, capturing the Ed Burke Million Futurity (G1) and the Golden State Million Futurity (G1).\u00c2\u00a0 If not for a half-length, second-place finish in the Los Alamitos Million Futurity, Higher Fire would have claimed a $1 million bonus for winning the big three.\u00c2\u00a0 As it is, she had to settle for a bankroll of $1,242,383 and AQHA Champion 2-Year-Old Filly and Champion 2-Year-Old honors.<\/p>\n Gomez will take the first step in duplicating last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s success as he saddles two qualifiers for Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s $325,900 Kindergarten Futurity (G1) at Los Alamitos.<\/p>\n A win on Saturday would be Gomez\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 second consecutive and his fifth in the Kindergarten.\u00c2\u00a0 His best chance would seem to be with 5-2 morning line favorite Vachetta (Corona Cartel \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Dash Fast Girl by Heza Fast Man), owned by Beltran Ranch, LLC of Denver, Colorado.\u00c2\u00a0 Ironically, the filly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sire, Corona Cartel, was Gomez\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 first Kindergarten Futurity winner in 1996.\u00c2\u00a0 Vachetta delivered an impressive career debut on April 15, scoring a 2 1\/2-length maiden victory.\u00c2\u00a0 She followed with a comfortable 1 1\/4-length victory in her Kindergarten trial, finishing the 300 yards in :15.315, the second-fastest time.<\/p>\n Gomez also conditions ninth-fastest qualifier Check This Runner (Check Him Out \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Make A Run by Calyx) who, with a victory, would give two-time AQHA Champion owners Dutch Masters III a record-tying fourth win in the Kindergarten.\u00c2\u00a0 Check This Runner finished third in his trial in a tight finish behind Corona Deluxe (Corona Cartel \u00e2\u20ac\u201c First Down N Surfin by First Down Dash) and Fast As A Dream (Shazoom \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Sweet Destiny by Game Plan), who qualified sixth and seventh, respectively.<\/p>\n Gomez\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 trainees will have to best a tough freshman field headlined by fastest qualifier Poly Gyve One Corona (Corona Czech \u00e2\u20ac\u201c JTS Starlight by Runaway Winner) and fourth fastest Coyote Code (Separatist \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Saszy by A Classic Dash), who, like Vachetta, are undefeated in two starts.<\/p>\n The contest Saturday will be the 52nd running of the Kindergarten Futurity and will pay $136,878 to the winner.<\/p>\n