FROM ARAPAHOE PARK, AURORA, COLORADO www.facebook.com/ArapahoeRacing
JUNE 16, 2012 FOR MORE INFORMATION: JONATHAN HOROWITZ, (949) 246-7075, @JJHorowitz
LUCILLE ROWE DERBY: BABY I LIKE IT COMPLETES DOUBLE ASPEN STAKES: WALLY VAN WINS FIFTH-STRAIGHT ARAPAHOE STAKES
LUCILLE ROWE DERBY: BABY I LIKE IT COMPLETES DOUBLE
Hugo Barron Sierra's Baby I Like It won the top Colorado-bred race for 3-year-old Quarter Horses, the Lucille Rowe Derby, at Arapahoe Park on Saturday, nearly one year to the day after he won the top Colorado-bred race for 2-year-olds, the Cherry Creek Futurity.
Breaking from the outside in the field of 10 as the 7-5 co-favorite, the Jose Manuel Barron-trained Baby I Like It, ridden by Alejandro Luna as he was in the Cherry Creek, won by a head over Busy Doin Nuthin in a time of 17.80 for the 350 yards. Busy Doin Nothin, who was ridden by Russell Vicchrilli for trainer Farrell Christoffersen and owner Robert Gutke, had also finished second to Baby I Like It in the trial that produced the fastest qualifying time.
Always Furst, the other 7-5 co-favorite, was a neck back in third in the $51,265 race, ending his three-race win streak. All four of Baby I Like It's career victories have come at Arapahoe Park and against state-bred competition, and he is undefeated at the Aurora, Colo., track.
ASPEN STAKES: WALLY VAN WINS FIFTH-STRAIGHT ARAPAHOE PARK
There's something about Wally Van and Arapahoe Park. As a 3-year-old last year, the gray gelding won four stakes races in four starts at the track. After three subpar races in Oklahoma to start this year, Wally Van returned to Colorado and resumed his Arapahoe stakes win streak with a 16-1 upset win in the Aspen Stakes on Saturday.
Last year's Aspen winner, E F Five, had an early two-length lead after fractions of 21.95 for the opening quarter mile and 44.92 for the half mile. Wally Van, owned by Bill Vanlandingham and trained by Tyrone Gleason, moved up four-wide for jockey Michael Ziegler and passed E F Five in the stretch to win by a head in a final time of 1:10.53 for the 6-furlong, $42,332 race for Colorado-breds.
Saturday's race marked the first time that Danzip, who won the Aspen Stakes in 2010 and was named the 2010 Colorado Horse of the Year, lost to other Colorado-breds. He was the 7-10 favorite in his first race at Arapahoe Park since 2010 but faded to seventh in the field of nine after pressing the pace. Wicked Flyer, a veteran of Arapahoe Park allowance races, stepped up to stakes competition and finished third. | 
