A brilliant summer campaign led to a tough October for Giver Not a Taker, who will start from the rail in Sunday’s $100,000 King Glorious Stakes for 2-year-old California-breds at Los Alamitos. Giver Not a Taker won his first two starts, including an attractive win in his stakes debut in the I’m Smokin for statebreds at six furlongs on Sept. 9 at Del Mar. The winning streak ended with a ninth-place finish in a field of 11 in the Grade 3 Zuma Beach Stakes at a mile on turf Oct. 9 at Santa Anita. “That was more of a function of the surface,” trainer Peter Miller said. “He didn’t care for the grass.” Bettors forgave Giver Not a Taker, making the gelding the 3-10 favorite in the Golden State Juvenile for statebreds at seven furlongs on Oct. 29 at Santa Anita. While Giver Not a Taker had a tough start, he led by two lengths in the stretch only to finish second by a length to the Northern California shipper Passarando. “He had a rough trip, a very wide trip, and kind of missed the break,” Miller said. “He made an early move. We felt like we were the best horse that day, but it doesn’t always work out that the best horse wins.” The one-mile King Glorious Stakes drew a field of eight and is race 10, the final race on the final day of the Los Alamitos December meeting. The program begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. Santa Anita begins its six-month winter-spring meeting Dec. 26. :: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now! Giver Not a Taker, who races for owners and breeder Kirk and Judy Robison, will be ridden in the King Glorious for the first time by Flavien Prat. From an inside post, Giver Not a Taker is likely to race from a tracking position behind runners such as Belly Up and Please Focus, who won maiden races at Del Mar in late November from the front. “He’s shown the ability to rate,” Miller said. “I think that is what Flavien will do.” Belly Up starts at a mile for the first time for trainer Michael McCarthy. On Nov. 27, Belly Up disputed the pace throughout a six-furlong race for statebreds and pulled away to win by 1 1/4 lengths. The King Glorious is the stakes debut for five entrants, notably Geezer who has won his last three starts, all at six furlongs, for trainer Hector Palma. Geezer has shown speed and raced as a stalker. He closed from fourth in a field of six to win an allowance race for statebreds by a half-length on Nov. 27. The one-mile distance should not be an issue for Tom and Jazzy, who in his last start was the 22-1 upset winner of an Oct. 22 maiden race for statebreds at a mile on turf at Santa Anita. Since that race, Tom and Jazzy has been acquired by Panic Stables and transferred from trainer Jim Cassidy to George Papaprodromou. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.