Jockey Guillermo Suarez, right, rides Five Bar Supreme to victory during the Firecracker Futurity marquee race at Grants Pass Downs Tuesday.

Three of the six trials horse races for the Firecracker Futurity produced all 10 of the fastest qualifiers for the Fourth of July finale during Sunday’s action at Grants Pass Downs.

In all, 41 horses entered Sunday’s trials — up from 23 a year ago — in hopes of qualifying for the Firecracker Futurity but even three race winners were unable to accomplish the feat and earn a shot at what will be an $83,000 total purse for the upcoming marquee event.

That purse is $20,000 more than in 2023, continuing an upward trend for GP Downs already this summer for its seven-day meet at Josephine County Fairgrounds.

Sunday’s attendance was 4,440 with a handle of $62,595, creating an opening weekend total of 7,305 in attendance and a $105,018 handle over the two-day stretch.

“Those numbers are way up compared to opening weekend last year, where the attendance was 6,305 and the handle was $86,850,” said Tag Wotherspoon, director of marketing and communications at GP Downs.

Posting the top time in the 350-yard trials races was Tf One Dashin Lajolla, with the 2-year-old dashing to a victory in the seventh race with jockey Guillermo Suarez aboard in 17.554 seconds.

Tf One Dashin Lajolla was one of three horses in the seventh race to qualify for the trials, with runner-up Hunny Moon also posting the second-fastest time (17.577) and Famous Prizes coming in third with the fourth-fastest qualifying mark (17.713).

Trainer Jorge Carmona not only qualified Tf One Dashin Lajolla with the top trials time, he saw two others finish with top-10 marks in Lo Pintas Cartel Jr (sixth, 17.935) and Brand Artist (10th, 18.054).

The eighth race produced three qualifying times as Secretarysbestcard won the race in 17.710 seconds to narrowly finish third overall. After Lo Pintas Cartel Jr, which was second in the race, came One Sweet Rumor, which finished third and will enter the Firecracker Futurity with the seventh-best trials time (17.966).

With jockey Santiago Jimenez on board, Eyez On Corona won the third race to pace four Firecracker qualifiers in that single race. Eyez On Corona posted the fifth-fastest qualifying mark overall (17.932) and was followed by the final three qualifying times by Mighty Panama T (18.023), Bee a Tempting Queen (18.048) and Brand Artist.

Trials winning horses that did not qualify with top-10 times were Aj Rose Gold in the fourth race, Lee Five T in the fifth race and Three Step Plan in the sixth race.

Mario Portillo was the only other trainer to qualify multiple horses into the Firecracker Futurity in One Sweet rumor and Bee a Tempting Queen, while Suarez jockeyed three of the 10 finalists and Jose Guerrero rode two into the finals.

Racing resumes Saturday at GPD, with free admission for those 60 and older. Sunday marks Ladies Hat Day, with free admission for women wearing a hat (baseball hats excluded) and cash prizes awarded in several categories. Post time each day is 1 p.m.