A Slim Victory for Not For Long

In an extremely close finish, Not For Long, the 3-1 third choice, edged 11-1 shot Jesse James Jr to win the $173,200 Golden State Derby on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.

Owned by Legacy Ranch and trained by Dennis Ekins, the 3-year-old First Down Dash gelding broke extremely well from the inside post under jockey Alex Bautista and was headed by Jesse James Jr approaching the wire but surged late to prevail by the slimmest of noses. The win was the third in a row for Not For Long, a California-bred, and his fourth in 12 lifetime starts. He started his victory streak with a 7-1 upset in the Governor’s Cup Derby, then won his trial for the Golden State on July 24.

Make It Work, who raced coupled with Jesse James Jr as the Donna McArthur-trained entry, finished third, ahead of Hawkish, who has now lost four in a row since his back-to-back victories in the Kindergarten and Ed Burke Memorial last year.

Deeheiress, the 9-5 favorite and the fastest qualifier in the recent trials, finished fifth as McArthur failed in her quest to win the Golden State for the second year in a row and for the third time in six years.

The final time for the 400 yards was 19.53 seconds, the fastest clocking in the race since it was shortened from 440 yards in 1998.