Racing from post three with Ramon Sanchez aboard, the First Down Dash colt overwhelmed his sophomores rivals by posting a jaw-dropping 3 1/2 length win in a time of :19.41 on Friday night. Value The Man, last year's Los Alamitos Million Futurity winner, finished a game second after overcoming a slow break.

      Owned by Vaughn Cook, Dan Lucas, Muller Racing LLC and Vessels Stallion Farm, Wave Carver now figures to be strictly the one to beat in the very rich Los Alamitos Super Derby on November 3. Fishers Tale and Volcom also posted strong trial wins, while champion millionaire Higher Fire was among the other noteworthy qualifiers.

      The complete list of finalists to the Los Alamitos Super Derby is as follows: Wave Carver (:19.41), Fishers Tale (:19.44), Finding Nemo (:19.55), Volcom (:19.62), Redwood Creek (:19.66), Higher Fire (:19.66), Armyguy (:19.68), Two Corona Special (:19.87), Dash To La Jolla (:19.87) and Perrys Queen Bug (:19.94). Value The Man and Jesses Sixes just missed qualifying with a time of :19.945.

Final: November 3
Purse: $700,000
Age: 3-year-olds
Distance: 400 yards 

      The winner of the Los Alamitos Super Derby will earn a first place check of $283,080, plus an invitation to face the likes of 2004 World Champion Be A Bono, 2005 champion 3-year-old filly Apollitical Time and Refrigerator Handicap winner Country Chicks Man in the prestigious Grade 1 $600,000 Champion of Champions on December 9. The Champion of Champions has been won by 3-year-olds each of the past three seasons, a fact that should please the connections of Wave Carver after watching the First Down Dash colt blow away his trial rivals.

      "He was amazing tonight," Lucas said. "He stumbled badly out of the gate tonight but once he got a hold of the track he started flying. He put in a final 1/8th that was incredible to watch. Ramon was just cruising on him. Wave Carver travels so lightly on his feet that he just seems to glide over the track. That helps him because he is not hard on himself when he runs. He's never had an operation. He's just an awesome horse."

      A full brother to last year's Champion of Champions winner Ocean Runaway, Wave Carver covered the final 220-yards in :09.30, which is just 6/100ths of a second off the track record set by Be A Bono in the Spencer Childers California Breeders Championship Handicap on July 29.

      "I don't know what to say about Wave Carver right now," Cook said. "I'm still amazed by how great he raced. He even tripped leaving the gate, he took a pretty bad step."

      Indeed, Wave Carver had a little awkward moment about two strides out of the gate but he quickly recovered to take a 1 1/4-length lead after the first 180 yards. The outcome of the race was never in doubt from there.

      When asked to recall his most impressive winner prior to this performance by Wave Carver, trainer Paul Jones had a great response.

      "My last horse to win by a larger margin? It would have to Snowbound Superstar," he said, referring to the outstanding 870-yard specialist.

      Jones had a tougher time recalling a straightaway race with a more impressive margin of victory than the one posted by the gray colt out of Runaway Wave.

      "I expected Wave Carver to run well," Jones said. "He needed a clean break and he got it. He was training great up to this race."

      Wave Carver's connections will also be pleased to see their prized sprinter put behind his second place finish to Startlet Hawk in the Golden State Derby on September 2.

      "We ran him back-to-back twice for a total of four starts, so he wasn't as explosive in the Golden State Derby final as he had been in his previous three starts," Jones said. "He just didn't have the same explosion. Startlet Hawk stole the lead from us and just kept on going."

      "The Golden State was not a slow race," added Lucas about the derby that went in :19.44 with Wave Carver posting a time of :19.46. "You have to give trainer Jose Flores credit because he had Startlet Hawk just right. When Startlet Hawk is at the top of his game he's tough to beat."

      The same applies to Wave Carver, who'll now be very difficult to beat in the Los Alamitos Super Derby final.

      Jim Glover and Ron Shalz's Fishers Tale finished powerfully to win the first trial by 3/4 lengths over Azevedo, Boyles Family Trust, Muller and Horner's Finding Nemo. Redwood Creek and Higher Fire also qualified out of this trial.

      "Fishers Tale ran a fabulous race," said assistant trainer Cody Joiner. "It was as mistake free of a race as you can have. He left the gate almost as fast as when he ran second in the Ed Burke Million Futurity last year. (Jockey Saul Ramirez Jr.) said Finding Nemo had him beat early but then Fishers Tale got going. I can't brag on him enough right now."

      Fishers Tale ran second to Higher Fire in the Ed Burke Million and fourth to her in the Golden State Million last year. This year, Fishers Tale has beaten Higher Fire twice.

      "Higher Fire beat us a lot last year for a lot of money, so it's nice to win a couple of races against her this year," Joiner added. "I wouldn't count her out of the Los Alamitos Super Derby. She was the 10th fastest qualifier to the Golden State Million and she ended up beating everybody in the final."

      Julianna Hawn Holt's Higher Fire, a winner of $1,274,302 in her 14-race career, will enter the Los Alamitos Super Derby as the sixth fastest qualifier. She's yet to visit the winner's circle in five starts this year.

      "She was a little flat early in the race," trainer Jaime Gomez said. "But she came back and ran well in the second half of the race. If she comes back like she usually does, she'll be ready for the final. One win can change the whole season for her; one win can change it all. I hope that wins comes in the Los Alamitos Super Derby."

      P.K. Thomas' Volcom, the winner of the Grade 1 El Primero Del Ano Derby, pulled away in the final 110 yards to post a solid 1/2 length victory over Butte Crest Ranch Inc's Armyguy in the final trial. Also trained by Jones, Volcom has won seven of eight trial races in his career.

      "He ran a good race," Jones said. "I don't think he finished as sharp as he did last year. And he's still not as as sharp as he was in the El Primero, but I think he's getting there. I think his best race could come in the Los Alamitos Super Derby final."

       The 10th fastest qualifier was Juniors Quarter Horse Inc's Perrys Queen Bug, who was making her first start at Los Alamitos since May 20, 2005. In between her local starts, the filly by Mr Jess Perry dominated racing in Colorado, winning four of her five starts in the Rocky Mountain state, including the Grade 2 Mile High Derby.

       "We had big hopes that she would qualify but we're still pleasantly surprised to actually see her make the final field," said Andres Flores of Juniors Quarter Horses. "She's facing the highest caliber of horses in the sport and we're thrilled that she's going to be part of it all. She's only the 10th fastest qualifier, but we're in there and now we have a chance to win."

       A native of Puebla, Mexico, Flores is the owner of three Mexican-food restaurants in his hometown of Denver, Colorado.