LOS ALAMITOS : Vessels Has Pretty Good One-Two Punch

On opening weekend at Los Alamitos Race Course, Meter Me Gone gave Vessels Stallion Farm its first stakes victory of the meeting in the $16,675 Town Policy Handicap. Now, Pretty Sensation will try to make it No. 2 Friday in the $20,000 Miss Princess Handicap.

Meter Me Gone, tough as a 2-year-old but often the victim of bad luck, returned ready to win as a 3-year-old.

“The maturity really helped this colt,” said Kenny Hart, Meter Me Gone’s jockey. “They’ve done a good job with him.”

Hart was referring to Meter Me Gone’s trainer last year, Danny Cardoza, who is now the manager at Vessels Stallion Farm, and this year’s trainer, Bob Gilbert.

Meter Me Gone, who won the first division of the Town Policy by a half-length, will make his next appearance in the trials for the El Primero Del Ano Derby on May 5.

“I’m looking for (Meter Me Gone) hopefully to be one of the best 3-year-old colts in the nation,” said Frank Vessels III, the owner of Vessels Stallion Farm.

Pretty Sensation, Meter Me Gone’s stablemate, will probably make her next start sometime in the next couple of weeks. “She looks really good,” Gilbert said. “From year to year, you never know how these horses are going to change. The first race after a big layoff, things can change a lot.”

But if Pretty Sensation returns to her form of last year, when she won the La Primera Del Ano Derby, and Meter Me Gone continues performing as he did Saturday night, the gold and black silks of Vessels Stallion Farm may be a frequent sight in the Los Alamitos winner’s circle this year.

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In an effort to combat the annual shortage of horses early in the meeting, Edward Allred, president of the Horsemen’s Quarter Horse Racing Assn., has offered trainers a cash incentive for every horse they start.

“It’s been tough every year, so we need to address the issue,” Allred said. “We have almost 1,500 horses and we’re struggling (to fill races) during the first three weeks.”

HQHRA, which set aside money to subsidize training at Galway Downs, has about $75,000 to distribute to trainers on a credit basis. Every quarter horse that starts will earn one credit; Arabians will earn half a credit. Thoroughbreds, which have their own traveling and stabling fund, are not included. Based on the surplus money and the anticipated number of starters, each credit should be worth $70 to $100.

Los Alamitos Notes

The $1,559,287 handle Friday was the second-highest for opening night in Los Alamitos history. . . . The Connie Hall-trained Avison returned to post an impressive victory in the $20,000 Grade 3 Kaweah Bar Handicap Friday.