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Fresh off a riding title at the recently-concluded Santa Anita season, jockey Juan Hernandez is undefeated through two days of the Los Angeles County Fair meet at Los Alamitos.
Hernandez, who went 1-for-1 Saturday with a victory aboard favored Desmond Doss in the $100,000 Bertrando Stakes, scored with his lone mount Sunday, taking the $63,040 feature aboard 7-2 shot Luvluv.
Trained by John Sadler for breeders Jean-Pierre and Francoise Dupuis and Dr. Michael Neumann, the 5-year-old gelding ran down pacesetter and 6-1 shot Echosmith inside the final sixteenth of a mile to win by a half-length.
A son of Lakerville and the Fasliyev mare Lucera, Luvluv covered the mile in 1:36.60 while winning for the third time in 20 starts. The California bred, who pushed his earnings to $192,782, had collected his previous two wins on grass. He had one third place finish in two earlier races on dirt.
The third choice in the field of six, Luvluv paid $9.40, $5.40 and $2.80. Echosmith, who finished 2 ½ lengths clear of 6-5 favorite Synthesis in his dirt debut, returned $6 and $3.40. The show price on Synthesis, who was claimed for $40,000 out of the race by trainer Jonathan Wong, was $2.10.
Completing the order of finish were Truth Seeker, the 5-2 second choice, Secret Touch and Comradery.
Jockey Ramon Vazquez, who is competing at Los Alamitos for the first time, had his second consecutive double. He followed his two Saturday scores with Sunday wins aboard Bossy Soul in the first and Take a Leap in the sixth.
Diego Herrera, who finished in a four-way tie for second in the 2021 Winter meet standings while still an apprentice, and Edwin Maldonado, who has won more races – 109 – than any other jockey since daytime thoroughbred racing returned to Los Alamitos in 2014, also had two wins each Sunday.
Herrera took the second with first-time starter Nice Guy Clay and the fifth with Wild Arch while Maldondo swept the late double, clicking with Self Taught in the eighth and Rose Girl in the ninth.
Racing resumes Friday at Los Alamitos. Post time is 2 p.m.
