NOCONI HAS FASTEST QUALIFYING TIME IN GREAT NIGHT OF WINTER CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS All-time greats Noconi and Jess You And I and rising stars Senor Toby and Dash Back Perry won their respective trials to the Grade 1 $226,050 Los Alamitos Winter Championship on Sunday night and will now be part of what’s looking like one of the most exciting runnings in the event’s history to be held on Sunday, February 19. The winner of the Winter Championship will earn the first of 10 automatic starting berths to this year’s $750,000 Champions of Champions and it will take a monster effort to come out of the race on top. R.D. Hubbard and Johnny T.L. Jones’ Noconi set the pace on trial night, as he was spectacular in winning his trial by ¾ lengths over Dr. Steve Burns’ Walkin Bac. Noconi posted the fastest qualifying time of :19.685 in what was his first start at Los Alamitos Race Course since finishing fifth to Jess You And I in the 2007 Champion of Champinos. Trained by Paul Jones and ridden by Ramon Sanchez, Noconi was outstanding in victory, as he broke sharply and ran powerfully to record his 14th win in 31 starts. Noconi earned $3,300 for his trial win to take his career earnings to $1,278,833. A New Mexico legend, the 7-year-old son of Mr Jess Perry was the 2008 champion 3-year-old gelding and the 2010 champion aged horse. The complete list of qualifiers is as follows; Noconi (:19.685), Senor Toby (:19.710), Jess You And I (:19.736), Dash Back Perry (:19.75), BF Farm Boy (:19.759), El Aguila Real (:19.759), Walkin Bac (:19.811), Parsons Rock (:19.814), Feature Honor (:19.826) and Sparky E Boy (:19.843). DENIRO DELIVERS WINNING PERFORMANCE IN WINTER DERBY TRIALS On a day that featured sunny weather in the low 80s and not a cloud in the sky in beautiful Southern California, nothing was as picture perfect as the winning performance by Shane O’Leary’s Deniro in the fourth and final trial to the $197,700 Los Alamitos Winter Derby. Making his first start at the Orange County track after arriving via Portland Meadows, Deniro flew from the outside post eight and blew away the fastest qualifying time for the Winter Derby finale by covering the 400 yards in :19.518. His winning time was :17/100ths of a second faster than the next fastest qualifier who happened to be trial runner-up Check My Thoughts. Deniro’s time was more than two lengths faster (36/100ths of a second) than the next fastest trial winner of the night, the talented Long Gone, who won the opening heat. Trained by Ugo De La Torre and ridden by Adrian Loza, Deniro was picking up his third win in seven starts. He came into this race after finishing fourth in the Far West Futurity at Portland Meadows and four races back he was second in the Firecracker Futurity at Grants Pass. Bred by Gregory and Renee Hickman, the Desirio gelding’s previous victory was a trial to the Firecracker back in June 19. The complete list of qualifiers is as follows: Deniro (:19.518), Check My Thoughts (:19.681), Eye For FDD (:19.806), Long Gone (:19.854), Testing The Ice (:19.875), Kobe (:19.885), BF Farm Girl (:19.893), One Ramblin Lady (:19.914), Flame N Flash (:19.917), and Flyin Rose (:19.936). STAFF ANALYSIS DISCUSSION AND ACTION REGARDING THE FEASIBILITY OF AMENDING CHRB RULE 1658, VESTING OF TITLE TO CLAIMED HORSE, WHICH ALLOWS A CLAIM TO BE VOID IF A CLAIMED HORSE SUFFERS A FATALITY DURING THE RUNNING OF THE RACE OR BEFORE IT IS RETURNED TO BE UNSADDLED Medication and Track Safety Committee Meeting January 10,2012 BACKGROUND Business and Professions Code section 19420 provides that jurisdiction and supervision over horse racing meetings in California and over all persons or things having to do with such meetings is vested in the California Horse Racing Board (Board). Business and Professions Code section 19440 states responsibilities of the Board shall include adopting rules and regulations for the protection of the public and the control of horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering. CHRB Rule 1658, Vesting of Title to Claimed Horse, provides that title to a horse which is claimed shall be vested in the successful claimant from the time the field has been dispatched from the starting gate and the 'horse becomes a starter; and said successful claimant becomes the owner of the horse whether it is sound or unsound, or injw'ed during the race or after it as specified. Subsection 1658(b) states the stewards shall void the claim if the horse suffers a fatality during the running of the race or before the horse is returned to be unsaddled. In July 2011, the Board adopted an amendment to Rule 1658 that requires the stewards to void a claim if the horse suffers a fatality during the running of the race or before it can be returned to the unsaddling area. The intent of the amendment is to protect horses and riders by discouraging the racing of horses that should not be competing for soundness reasons. On December 2, 2011, the mare Dave's Revenge was pulled up just pas the wire after rruming second in the fourth race at Hollywood Park. By order of the racing veterinarian, she was removed from the track in the horse ambulance, and shortly thereafter she was euthanized. There was an $&,000 claim for the mare. Based on their interpretation of Rule 1658, the stewards allowed the claim to stand because death did not occur before the horse was returned to be unsaddled. Rule 165& states that a horse must suffer a fatality during the running of the race for a claim to be voided. If the horse is removed from the track and later euthanized, the claim stands. It is accepted industry and racetrack policy to move an injured horse off the track if possible. This is done in the best interests of the horse. The decision to remove a horse by ambulance is made by the official racing (track) veterinarian, based on his or her professional veterinary evaluation. The racing veterinarian also makes the decision about on-track euthanasia. The December 2 incident caused considerable discussion about the clarity of Rule 1658 and how it might be applied under various scenarios. At its December 15, 2011 Regular Meeting the Board discussed the feasibility of amending Rule 1658 to provide clarity. A draft text that provided suggested language was also reviewed. After discussion, Chairman Brackpool stated 11-1 the issue would be moved to a future Medication and Track Safety Committee meeting for further review. At its January 10, 2012 meeting, the Medication and Track Safety Committee discussed proposals to amend Rule 1658. The committee agreed on changes to· the text that it believed would provide a workable regulation to void claims on racing fatalities and nearly all horses euthanized immediately post-race. ANALYSIS The proposed amendment to Rule 1658, which was provided by the Board's Equine Medical Director, Dr. Rick Arthur, retains the provision that voids a claim if the horse suffers a fatality during the running of the race. The amendment adds a new subsection 1658(b)(2), which states that a claim shall be void if the racing veterinarian is of the opinion that the horse is injured so severely that the horse may not survive. This will allow the stewards to void claims when a horse is removed from the racetrack by ambulance and later euthanized. This item is presented for Board discussion and action. RULE 1865, ALTERING OF SEX OF HORSE AND POSSIBLY CHRB RULE 1974, WAGERING INTERREST, IN RECOGNITION OF REPEATED PROBLEMS IN REPORTING THE GELDING OF HORSES IN THE PRESCRlBED MANNER. Regular Board Meeting January 19,2012 BACKGROUND Business and Professions Code section 19420 provides that jurisdiction and supervision over meeting in California and over all persons or things having to do with such meetings is vested in the California Horse Racing Board (Board). Business and Professions Code section 19440 states responsibilities of the Board shall include adopting rules and regulations for the protection of the public and the control of horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering. Busine~s and Professions Code section 19460 (b) states that all licenses granted under this chapter are subject to all rules, regulations, and conditions prescribed by the board. Business and Professions Code section 19562 states the Board may prescribe rules, regulations, and conditions under which all horse races with wagering on their results shall be conducted in California. CHRB Rule 1865 states in part: (d) A trainer who enters a horse, or who causes a horse to be entered on his behalf, is responsible for ensuring that the true sex of the entered horse is listed on its certificate of registration on file in the racing office. (l) If the true sex of a horse is not corectly identified in the official program for the race in which the horse is entered, the trainer of the horse shall be subject to a minimum fine of $l,OOO. Despite concerted efforts by the CHRB and racing officials, violations of Rule 1865 continue usually because the trainer fails to notify the racing office that a horse has been gelded. In many cases this information is not made public until the horse reaches the receiving pam about 45 minutes before the horse is scheduled to race. By the time the horse identifier at the receiving bam notifies the stewards of the sex change, it is too late to include that horse in multi-race wagers (e.g. Pick Six) that began with races already run. In 2007, the stewards issued 44 rulings against trainers who had not reported the gelding of horses by entry time for their first race after the operation. There have been 18 such rulings in the last 19 months. Staff contacted the stewards, CHRB investigators, and racing secretaries in an effort to determine whether there were any violations beyond these 18 rulings against trainers that were attributable to racing offices or others. The sketchy information received suggests there have been very few cases involving someone other than the trainer. When the Board last considered this problem in 2008, one option was to increase the penalty to a minimum fine of $1,000 for a trainer if the true sex of the horse was not listed in the official program. A second option was to scratch the horse. After a discussion of both proposed amendments, the Board opted to increase the fine to $1,000. 10-1 At its December 15, 2011 Regular Meeting the Board discussed the ongoing problem of miss~ reporting the true sex of horses entered to race. The possibility of amending Rule 1865 to increase the fine to more than $1,000 andlor scratching the horse was explored. Having the horse run for purse money only was also suggested. Following its discussion, the Board determined the issue would be deferred to the Medication and Track Safety Committee to work out a proposed solution. After the December 15, 2011 Regular Meeting the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) stated it would research each 20 II violation of Rule 1865 to determine what went wrong with the reporting process. The CTT announced it would also commit to working with horsemen to reduce the number of violations to as close to zero as possible. The goal would be to convince the Board that increasing the fine allowed under Rule 1865 is unnecessary. At its January 10, 2012 meeting the Medication and Track Safety Committee held an extensive discussion about Rule 1865. Options discussed included increasing the fine and scratching the horse for failme to notify. the public no later than 30 minutes prior to post time of the first race of the day. The Committee determined it would make no changes to the current regulation. Instead, the Committee agreed to allow the CTT to continue to work with horsemen and the industry to significantly reduce the number of violations of the rule. The CTT will return to a future Medication and Track Safety Committee meeting to report on the results of its program. CALIFORNIA HORSE RACING BOARD TITLE 4. CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATIONS ARTICLE 15. VETERINARY PRACTICES RULE 1865. ALTERING OF SEX OF HORSE Regular Board Meeting January 19,2012 1865. Altering of Sex of Horse. Any alteration to the sex of a horse from the sex as recorded on the certificate of foal registration or the eligibility certificate or other official registration certificate of the horse shall be reported to the racing secretary and the official horse identifier if the horse is entered to race at any race meeting. (a) If a racehorse is gelded or castrated on the premises of a licensed racing association, or-other facility under the jurisdiction of the Board, the trainer shaH report the alteration within 72 hours. (b) If a racehorse is gelded or castrated off the premises of a licensed racing association, or other facility under the jurisdiction of the Board, and the horse has been previously entered to race at any race meeting in this State, the owner and/or trainer shall report the alteration at the time the horse is next entered to race. (c) A report of gelding or castration will include the name of the veterinarian performing the alteration and the qate of the alteration, and shall be recorded on the official registration certificate and the official horse identification record of the horse. (d) A trainer who enters a horse, or who causes a horse to be entered on his behalf, is responsible for ensuring that the true sex of the entered horse is listed on its certificate of registration on file in the racing office. 10-3 (1) If the true sex of a horse is not correctly identified in the official program for the race in which the horse is entered the trainer of the horse shall be subject to a minimum fine of $1,000. (2) Deviation [TOm the minimum fine in subsection (d)(l)ofthis regulation is appropriate if the trainer can demonstrate mitigating circumstances. Mitigating circumstances may include, but are not limited to: (A) Errors made by other parties in recording information correctly provided by the trainer. Authority: Reference: Sections 19420, 19440, 19460 and 19562, Business and Professions Code. Sections 19420, 19562 and 19661, Business and Professions Code.STAFF ANALYSIS DISCUSSION AND ACTION BY THE BOARD REGARDING THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF CHRB RULE 1663, ENTRY OF CLAIMED HORSE, TO CHANGE THE REQUJREMENTS FOR RUNNING BACK A CLAIMED HORSE WITHIN 25 DAYS OF THE CLAIMING RACE IN WHICH IT WAS CLAIMED Regular Board Meeting January 19, 2012 BACKGROUND Business and Professions Code section 19420 provides that jurisdiction and supervision over meetings in California and over all persons or things having to do with such meetings is vested in the California Horse Racing Board (Board). Business and Professions Code section 19440 states responsibilities of the Board shall include adopting rules and regulations for the protection of the public and the control of horse racing and pari~mutuelwagering. Business and Professions Code .section 19562 states the Board may prescribe rules, regulations, and conditions under which all horse races with wagering on their results shall be conducted in California. Board Rule 1663, Entry of Claimed Horse, provides that a horse claimed out of a claiming race is eligible to race in California immediately after being claimed. The rule also provides that a horse claimed out of a claiming race is not eligible to start in another claiming race for 25 days for less than 25 percent more than the amount for which it was claimed. Lou Raffetto of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) has submitted a proposal to amend Board Rule 1663, Entry of Claimed Horse. ANALYSIS The proposed amendment to Rule 1663 would change the requirements for running back a claimed horse within 25 days of the race in which it was claimed. Rule 1663(a) currently states that if a claimed horse is run back (in a claiming race) with 25 days, it must run for 25 percent more than the amount for which it was claimed. The TOe amendment would apply that provision only to horses that were winners of the claiming race from which they were claimed. The proposed amendment also provides that within 25 days of being claimed, horses that were not winners of the races from which they were claimed must start in claiming races for at least· the same amount at which they were claimed. This means that within 25 days of being claimed a horse that did not win its claiming race does not have to be run back at an increased price. The horse may start in a clailJling race for the same price at which it was previously claimed. The TOC states the proposed amendment will encourage trainers to run claimed horses back sooner, rather than leaving the horses in barns for weeks at a time. The change would potentially help the racing office by increased fields, which would benefit the entire industry. The proposed amendment would also repeal subsection 1663(b), which has been suspended since 2009. The suspension was the result of potential legal problems with the 60-day jail time. In addition, the proposed amendment repeals subsection 1663(b)(1), as it does not serve a purpose if California no longer imposes a "jail time" on claimed horses. RECOMMENDAnON This item is presented for Board discussion and action. The Board may wish to hear from TOC representatives. GOOD REASON SA AND KAWANANAKOA TOP AWARD RECIPIENTS AT THE PCQHRA BANQUET Champion of Champions winner Good Reason SA was named the 2011 Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Horse of the Year while Abigail Kawananakoa was honored with the prestigious Frank Vessels, Sr., Memorial Award in appreciation of her outstanding contributions to the sport of Quarter Horse Racing during the PCQHRA Awards Banquet held on Thursday evening in the Finish Line Room at Los Alamitos Race Course. Owned by Gianni Samaja and trained by Paul Jones, Good Reason SA received Quarter Horse racing’s top honor in California after a campaign in which he won the Los Alamitos Winter Championship in February and the Champion of Champions in December and competed in a slew of outstanding Grade 1 events the rest of the season. Good Reason SA was also honored as the top aged stallion. Kawananakoa, who was the winning owner of the inaugural running of the Los Alamitos Million Futurity with Evening Snow in 1995, and has campaigned major horses like A Classic Dash, Time For Royal Cash and Divide The Cash to named a few, was introduced by Los Alamitos Race Course owner Ed Allred. “She has been involved in American Quarter Horse racing from the word go,” said Allred during his intro. “She’s active at the horse sale, breeds outstanding horses and has stallions standing in California. She is involved in every facet of the industry. She has two executive memberships in the Vessels Club and we better be ready when she comes to the track. She wants things to be done right. She is the Princess of Quarter Horse racing and we treat her as a princess and we respect her as one.” Abigail described her Vessels honor as the “zenith” of her life in horse racing. “It is a pleasure to accept this award and what it means to me. Quarter Horse racing has been part of my life and I can’t remember ever being disappointed by it even when it was a year between wins. There’s always a good camaraderie between those involved in racing.” “I remember when I visited Vessels Stallion Farm once and I was waiting for Millie Vessels when I saw this great white stallion. I was staring at him because he was so beautiful. He started coming towards me and just kept on coming. All of the sudden I started thinking, ‘He’s coming straight at me!’ Just before he got to me he put on the brakes. Millie then came out and I just asked her ‘Who is that?’ That was Beduino. “(PCQHRA President) Bud Alessio called me earlier this week to ask if I was coming to this awards banquet,” Kawananakoa said. “I asked him if I was getting an award and he said ‘maybe’. I told him, ‘Okay, I am going to go, but if I don’t get an award I’m going to be upset with you.’ You’ve made this night the zenith of my life in horse racing.” Allred was named owner and breeder of the year, while a special recognition awards for owner went to Double Bar S Ranch LLC and a special recognition award for breeder went to Burns Ranch. Paul Jones was the trainer of the year and trainer special recognition went to Juan Aleman. Rodrigo Aceves was the Jockey of the Year while Eduardo Nicasio received the Jockey Special Recognition award. The Val Tonks Memorial Award for top up and coming jockey went to both Cruz Mendez and Antonio Alberto. Thoroughbred honors went to owner Mike Flory, trainer Charles Teece and jockey Ramon Guce. Other top awards went to the Walk Thru Fire Syndicate’s Walk Thru Fire as top stallion and Childers Ranch’s Last Shall Be First as top broodmare. Wade Siegel was the recipient of the Sam Thompson Memorial Award for his great leadership for the Los Alamitos racing community. Siegel is on the PCQHRA board and serves on the boards for both the Quarter Horse Benevolent Foundation and the Los Alamitos division of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America. Top divisional racing honors went to Igotyourtac as top 2-year-old colt; I Like The Odds as top 2-year-old gelding; Separate Fire as top 2-year-old filly; One Sweet Jess as top 3-year-old colt; El Aguila Real as top 3-year-old gelding; Miss Racy Jess as top 3-year-old filly; Good Reason SA as top aged stallion; Jess You And I as top aged gelding; Fovee as top aged mare; Pathological Liar at top distance horse; Senor Toby as most improved; and Dudek Custus as iron horse. DASH BACK PERRY HAS EASY TIME IN CHARGER BAR HANDICAP Joe “Bear” Bassett earned his nickname when he was only a year old. The story goes that when baby Bassett would wake up for feeding time, his food had to be hot and ready or he would turn into an angry “bear”. “And if my mom would stop giving me scoop after scoop of food for even one second, I would get extremely upset,” said the 28-year-old. “I was so bad that my dad started calling me ‘Bear’ and it stuck. All these years later and people still call me by that name. ” Bassett, a two-time winner of the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, has embraced it to the point that his training stable goes by the moniker of Bear Dog Racing. The best part of it all now is that Bassett is gobbling up stakes victories at Los Alamitos Race Course in the same way that he used to put away his food as a toddler. Bassett’s latest stakes winner is Johnny Trotter’s Dash Back Perry, a 4-year-old mare, that had little trouble scoring a 3/4 length victory in the Grade 2 $100,000 Charger Bar Handicap on Sunday night. Ridden by Saul Ramirez Jr., Dash Back Perry had previously won the Las Damas Handicap for Trotter and Bassett by a half length on November 26. In between those two stakes wins, Bassett also saddled I Like The Odds to victory in the track’s richest race ever, Grade 1 $2,236,300 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on December 11. Bassett had a cold streak during the first 10 months of 2011, but his recent exploits with the Trotter-bred Dash Back Perry and I Like The Odds have made him one of the hottest trainers at Los Alamitos. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. “Everything has come together,” Bassett said. “Dash Back Perry runs with her head to the ground and the farther she runs the lower her head gets. That’s just her racing style. I think this is a more impressive win (by Dash Back Perry) because there were four or five mares that were not in the Las Damas that were in this race that are simply fantastic mares. (Champion of Champions finalist) Fovee and a couple of the others are outstanding mares and Dash Back Perry won this race just as easy as when she won the Las Damas.” NOTABLE CHANGE TO BLANE SCHVANEVELDT HANDICAP FORMAT The 6th running of the $40,000 Blane Schvaneveldt Handicap will be held on Friday, October 5 honoring the great Quarter Horse racing tradition of the Northwest and Intermountain regions. Named in honor of the legendary Hall of Fame Quarter Horse trainer and breeder, the Blane Schvaneveldt Handicap is a 400-yard race for Quarter Horses 3-year-olds and upwards. Quarter Horses are eligible to run if they’ve raced in the Northwest and/or Intermountain states of Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming since January 1, 2012. New this year, horses racing or based at Los Alamitos in 2012 that travel to the Northwest and Intermountain regions to race will not be eligible to compete in the Blane Schvaneveldt Handicap. More information on the Blane Schvanevelt Handicap will be announced in the weeks to come. For questions or inquiries, please call the Los Alamitos Racing Office at 714-820-2788. SANCHEZ REACHES MILESTONE AND GETS HOLIDAY WIN Two-time AQHA Champion Jockey Ramon Sanchez became the ninth jockey in the 61-year history of Los Alamitos Race Course to win 1,500 Quarter Horse victories on Sunday night. Sanchez reached the milestone after leading Paul Jones, Robert Cunningham and Thompson Racing Inc’s Lookin At A Winner to victory in the evening’s sixth race at 300 yards. The AQHA Champion jockey in 2002 and 2009, Sanchez wasted no time in picking up win number 1,501, as he came back to win the seventh race on the card aboard Don, Dan and Esther Wilson’s Jess Wilson at 350 yards. Sanchez wrapped up a great first night of 2012 by piloting Mark and Mary Parsons’ Kobe to win the $20,000 Holiday Handicap. “I’ve been lucky to win a lot of big races and a lot of nice championships and I would have to rank reaching 1,500 wins as one of my favorite accomplishments,” Sanchez said. “It’s a humbling feeling to get to this number of wins because you’re joining a group of jockeys that includes some of the greatest Quarter Horse jockeys ever. I’m 35 right now and I think I can still ride another 10 years. I’d love to have a chance to become the all-time leading rider at Los Alamitos.” Eddie Garcia is the all-time leading jockey at Los Alamitos with 2,611 victories. In the winner’s circle, trainer Paul Jones had one wish regarding Sanchez’s victory mark. “I want him to win another 1,500 more,” he said. Sanchez looks like he could add a few more wins to his total if he keeps riding the high flying Kobe. The colt by Mr Eye Opener picked up third win in a row while earning $11,000 for his ½ length victory over Ed Allred’s Check My Thoughts in the Holiday. Bred by his owners, Kobe covered the distance in :17.64. “Mark taught Kobe how to run,” joked Mary Parsons while referring to her husband. “Mark would put on his tennis shoes and we would go to Double Bar S Ranch to visit Kobe when he was about six months old. Mark would get into the paddock with Kobe and he would run up and down that paddock and Kobe would chase him all over the place. It became a ritual that Mark would run with Kobe every time we would pay him a visit.” If Mark got Kobe going, Jones has sharpened his skills. Under Jones’ tutelage, Kobe won a trial to the Kindergarten Futurity over PCQHRA Breeders Futurity winner Ima Chickie Two in early May before coming back to win an allowance race over Rainbow and Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity finalist Hez Our Secret. His only loss in four career starts was a third place finish to multiple major futurity finalist Long Gone. “He a sore tibia after his Kindergarten trial,” Mary Parsons added. “We gave him time off and we are so thrilled with the way he has returned. He’s eligible to run in the Los Alamitos Winter Derby trials (on January 28) and also the El Primero Del Ano Derby trials (on March 18). We’ve felt that Kobe is a special horse and this stakes win brought tears to my eyes of happiness.” Golden State Juvenile Stakes and California Breeders Freshman stakes winner Check My Thoughts earned $4,500 for running second while Deleyco Race Team’s Eye For FDD earned $2,500 for finishing third. Markel Handicap winner Testing The Ice, Personal Mission, Properly Snowbound, BF Farm Girl, Red Dirt Bono and Our Kinda Magic completed the field. Here are the all-time leading Quarter Horse jockeys by wins at Los Alamitos highlighted by the nine riders with over 1,500 wins. LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE ALL-TIME LEADING QUARTER HORSE JOCKEYS BY WINS Thru January 1, 2012 1.Eddie Garcia 2,611 2. Danny Cardoza 2,528 3. Kenneth Hart 2,215 4. John Creager 2,108 5. Alex Bautista 1,888 6. Robert Adair 1,705 7. Steve Treasure 1,663 8. Rodrigo Aceves 1,560 9. Ramon Sanchez 1,502 10. Joe Badilla Jr. 1,452 SIX RACES CANCELLED AT LOS ALAMITOS DUE TO HEAVY FOG Only four races were contested during Friday’s opening night at Los Alamitos Race Course, as the remainder of the 10-race program was cancelled due to extremely foggy conditions. A total of six races were cancelled - races five through 10 - on Friday. The Pick Three that was to end in the fifth race paid $26.50 to tickets with two out of three. There were refunds in the Pick Three that started in race number four. Races five, six and seven were all Thoroughbred races set to be contested around the turn at the 4 ½ furlong distance. Racing officials waited for over 15 minutes for the heavy fog to lift in order to improve the visibility around the track, but with no end in sight to the fog, the remainder of the card was cancelled. Track management noted that the most important thing during heavy fog is the safety of the riders and the well being of the horses. This is the first time that fog has caused races to be called off at the Orange County track since November 30, 2008 when one race was cancelled. The last cancellation at Los Alamitos took place on closing night of the 2010 racing because of a storm. Live racing resumes at Los Alamitos on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, December 31 with first post set for 5 p.m. Racing will also be conducted on New Year’s Day on Sunday, January 1, 2012 with the featured race being the $20,000 Holiday Handicap. For more information, please call 714-820-2690. LONGSHOT I LIKE THE ODDS WIN CALIFORNIA’S RICHEST HORSE RACE OF 2011 Less than an hour after Kim Kessinger, Tom Bradbury and Howard Nichols’ I Like The Odds had secured his place as one of the 10 Quarter Horses running in the richest race ever contested at Los Alamitos Race Course, trainer Joe Bassett lounged around in the Vessels Club bar, talking about the post position he would want for his horse in the $2,236,300 futurity final. “I’ll take the one hole right now,” Bassett said with a smile after I Like The Odds’ trial victory on that cool and wet November night. Bassett wasn’t kidding about the rail for I Like The Odds, who came out of the 400-yard trials as the second fastest qualifier. At the post position selection show on Wednesday, December 7, the trainer could only choose from two spots. He could either take post position number one or number three. It was not a contest. “Bear Dog”, as he is known around the track, took the one hole, just like he had predicted he would on trial night. On Sunday, December 11, racing for California’s largest purse for a horse race in 2011, I Like The Odds left no doubt as to who was number one. GOOD REASON SA SAYS GOOD BYE WITH CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS VICTORY What a way to say goodbye. Making the final start of his racing career, Good Reason SA posted an upset victory against a world class field of older Quarter Horses to win the 40th running of the prestigious Grade 1 $750,000 Champion of Champions on Saturday at Los Alamitos. Racing for Brazilian owner Gianni Samaja and saddled by nine-time AQHA champion trainer Paul Jones, the 15-1 longshot broke sharply from post number eight and then flew in final 100 yards to outduel the surprising Sparky E Boy by a nose in the 440-yard classic. Ridden by Eduardo Nicasio, who was winning the Champion of Champions for the second year in a row, Good Reason SA covered the distance in :21.440 while earning a first place check of $375,000. Chivalry SR finished third and was followed by Jess You And I, who was the 5-2 favorite, Louisiana Senator, Llano Teller, Miss Racy Jess, Snitcher, Favorite Cartel and Fovee. The victory makes Good Reason SA only the third horse to win the two most important races currently being conducted at Los Alamitos Race Course – the Champion of Champions and the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. The other two are 2007 World Champion Blues Girl Too and multiple champion Ocean Runaway, who won the 2004 Los Alamitos Million Futurity and the Champion of Champions the following year. Good Reason SA, Blues Girl Too and Ocean Runaway all retired from racing after completing the track’s most prestigious stakes double. Good Reason SA will begin the next phase of his life, as he’ll stand at stud at Royal Vista Ranches in Wayne, Oklahoma, where he’ll join 2006 Champion of Champions winner Wave Carver in the ranch’s stallion lineup. “The greatest thing is that he’s going out in the best way possible, as winner of the Champion of Champions against some great competition,” said Vince Genco, who manages the horse racing interest in the United States for Samaja. LONGSHOT WINNER SCORES FASTEST TIME TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DERBY Bianca Mendez’s El Aguila Real shocked a field that included champion Flying Fig and stakes winners Kips Kitten, Loose Perry and Buying Snow to win the first of four trials on Sunday to the Grade 1 $171,750 Southern California Derby while posting the fastest qualifying time to the 400 yard final to be held on the meet’s closing night on December 18. Ridden by Cruz Mendez for trainer Vince Smith, El Aguila Real led from start to finish on the way to posting a half length victory in a time of :19.685. Sent off at 27-1 odds, the Corona Czech gelding has now recorded back-to-back wins with Smith in charge. His previous win was allowance decision when he was sent off as the 9-5 favorite. Bred by Enrique Gonzalez, El Aguila Real ran like a big favorite once again, as he flew out of the gate and even when lugging out a little during the race, he was still too much for his rivals to overcome. Earlier this year, El Aguila Real was second to the aforementioned Buying Snow in the Jens List California Breeders Memorial Stakes. Steve Burns’ Walkin Bac finished second in this trial and qualified with the fourth fastest time of :19.743, while Muller Racing and Legacy Ranch’s Flying Fig finished third and was the 10th fastest qualifier with a time of :19.743. Flying Fig, the AQHA Champion filly last year after running second in all three of Los Alamitos’ million dollar futurities, will be going after her first ever stakes victory when she makes her fifth career start in a Grade 1 race. The fourth trial was the most productive of the night, as four qualifiers came out of the heat that was won by Gustavo and Jose De La Torre’s Eddie Ray Vaughan. With the familiar combination of Adrian Loza and Ugo De La Torre, Eddie Ray Vaughan held a neck advantage over runner-up Feature My Corona the entire way en route to posting the second fastest qualifying time of :19.725. The lightly raced colt by Corona Cartel improved his record to three wins in six career starts. Eddie Ray Vaughan finished sixth in last year’s La Primera Del Ano Derby. Feature My Corona, Lifes Been Good and Enjoy The Walk all qualified out of this trial. Owned and bred by Michael Pohl, First Black Wagon delivered another strong effort to win the third trial of the night with the third fastest time of :19.740. Trained by Paul Jones, First Black Wagon has now won four straight races at Los Alamitos and has now improved to six wins in nine starts. The Oklahoma-bred gelded son of PYC Paint Your Wagon came into this race after winning the John Deere Stakes on Bank of America Racing Challenge Night. Rancho El Alacran’s Vivid Lady was the other runner to qualify from this trial after covering the distance in :19.862. Childers Ranch LLC’s Hawks Dream Girl posted a solid half-length victory to become the only qualifier out of the second trial. The Hawkinson filly was third in last year’s Governor’s Cup Derby, but this only her third start of 2011. Bred by Hall of Fame owner/breeder Spencer Childers, Hawks Dream Girl has improved as she’s raced this year. She was seventh in her season debut, but then posted a fourth place finish when facing tough runners in the Town Policy Handicap. She’s now back to the top of her game with this trial win that came in a time of :19.882. The complete list of qualifiers is as follows: El Aguila Real (:19.682), Eddie Ray Vaughan (:19.725), First Black Wagon (:19.740), Walkin Bac (:19.743), Feature My Corona (:19.751), Lifes Been Good (:19.775), Enjoy The Walk (:19.822), Vivid Lady (:19.862), Hawks Dream Girl (:19.882) and Flying Fig (:19.922). LAST TO FIRE HAS FASTEST TIME TO LOS ALAMITOS TWO MILLION FUTURITY Jesus Avila and Jesus Cuevas’ Last To Fire was an absolute standout in the 400-yard trials to the $2,236,300 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on Sunday, as the Walk Thru Fire gelding easily delivered the fastest qualifying time to the richest race in the track’s 61-year history. The Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity is the richest horserace of any breed contested in California in 2011 and the second richest Quarter Horse race of all-time. It will be held on Sunday, December 11. The post position draw for the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity – and also the $750,000 Champion of Champions – will be shown live on TVG on Wednesday, December 7. Ridden by Francisco Rubio for trainer Juan Aleman, Last To Fire dominated with a three length victory and a winning time of :19.724 in the 13th of 14 trials. His final clocking was 14/100ths of a second faster than that of second fastest qualifier I Like The Odds, who scored in the final heat with a time of :19.868. This is the second time that Last To Fire has posted the fastest time to a million dollar race. He also posted the top time to the $1,218,500 Golden State Million Futurity back on October 16. In the Golden State Million, Last To Fire followed his fastest qualifying time with a third place finish to Double Bar S Ranch’s Igotyourtac. The two will meet again and this time it will be for nearly twice the money in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity finale. Igotyourtac qualified after winning the seventh trial with the 9th fastest qualifying time of :19.985. Other top qualifiers include Billy Smith and Pat Guthrie’s Terrific Synergy, the only horse to make the Ed Burke Million, Golden State Million and Los Alamitos Two Million futurities this year, and Johnny Trotter’s Hez Our Secret, the invader who earlier this year qualified to the Rainbow Futurity, but had to be scratched out because of colic. The complete list of qualifiers is as follows: QUALIFIERS TO THE $2,236,300 LOS ALAMITOS TWO MILLION FUTURITY Last To Fire g. Walk Thru Fire - Last Shall Be First by Strawfly Special :19.724 Jesus Avila and Jesus Cuevas Estate Of Spencer Childers (CA) Juan G Aleman Francisco C Rubio I Like The Odds g. Corona Cartel - Fancys First Affair by First Down Dash :19.868 Bradbury, Kessinger and Nichols Tom Bradbury & Kim A Kessinger (OK) Joe Bassett Saul Ramirez, Jr Eye On Corona c. Corona Cartel - Louisiana Eye Opener by Mr Eye Opener :19.916 Desiree Princess Ranch LLC J E III/D C/C T Jumonville (lA) Jose Antonio Flores Rodrigo Aceves Hit It Big c. Walk Thru Fire - Chickasis by Chicks Beduino :19.926 Theresa or Edward DeNike Edward C Allred (CA) Patricia D Visscher Cody Jensen Terrific Synergy g. FDD Dynasty - Terrific Energy by Mr Jess Perry :19.938 Smith, B.G. and Guthrie, P. The Parsons Family Trust (CA) Cody Joiner G R Carter, Jr Bps Jumpin Frisco g. Jumpn - Frisco Fling by Dash For Cash :19.941 Bill B. Price Bill Price (OK) Jaime H Gomez Alejandro Luna Last To Check Him f. Check Him Out - Last Shall Be First by Strawfly Special :19.964 Ugo De La Torre Estate Of Spencer Childers (CA) Ugo De La Torre Adrian Loza Madoff c. Separatist - Dash For Kate by First Down Dash :19.969 Alessio, Brown and Davies Alessio/Brown/Davies LLC (CA) Dennis Ekins Francisco C Rubio Igotyourtac g. Tac It Like a Man - Budderfly Effect by Strawflying Buds :19.985 Double Bar S Ranch LLC Double Bar S Ranch LLC (CA) Paul C Jones Saul Ramirez, Jr Hez Our Secret c. First Down Dash - Secret Separation by Separatist :19.985 Johnny Trotter Vessels Stallion Farm LLC (CA) Trey Wood Ricky Ramirez Of the 10 qualifiers to this year’s Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, five are out of broodmares that won stakes races at the historic Orange CHIVALRY SR QUALIFIES TO CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS Track record holder Chivalry SR qualified to the prestigious $750,000 Champion of Champions after posting the fastest qualifying time in the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials on Saturday at Los Alamitos. Racing for Stern Ranches, the son of Walk Thru Fire won the first of two divisions in a time of :19.377 to easily top the 400-yard trials. Chivalry SR is the only horse right now from the Directors Trials with a spot in the Champion of Champions. If another spot opens up it will go to Reed Pierson’s Sparky E Boy, who finished second to Chivalry SR with a time of :19.595. Brad Lohr and Daniel Reynoso’s Senor Toby won the other trial while finishing with the third fastest time of :19.641. The son of Mighty Invictus is next in line after Sparky E Boy to earn a berth in the Champion of Champions, which will be held here on Saturday, December 10. Saddled for the first time by Francisco Ramirez, Chivalry SR was outstanding in his trial race. The winner of the Spencer Childers California Breeders Championship Handicap in a 400-yard track record time of :19.067, Chivalry SR looked just as impressive in these trials, as he busted out of the gate to daylight advantage before cruising to a 1 ¼ length lead. Ridden by Rodrigo Aceves, Chivalry SR improved his stat line for the year to three wins, two seconds and third in six starts. In addition to his victories, Chivalry SR also finished second to Snitcher in both the Vessels Maturity and Go Man Go Handicap and was third to the great Jess You And I in the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship. “I was a little worried coming into this race because I know that anything can happen in these races,” said Albert Stern. “He’s tripped in the last two races and in the last out we found that he had a hot nail in his left front. It’s always a horse race and unexpected things can happen. I was so pleased to see him run the way he did. He is a special horse and we are proud to be the owners of such a wonderful horse. When you have a great horse you are always hoping that he lives up to his form. I think he should be able to do that in the Champion of Champions. We are also thrilled because we own his mother (Artesias Beduino), a full sister and two half sisters. We also have two embryos that are his full siblings. We are excited about his entire family.” In his career, Chivalry SR has won seven of 18 starts and has now earned $164,097. He will enter the Champion of Champions as one of the hottest horses in the field, as he’s picked up six wins from his last 10 starts. Sparky E Boy, One Sweet Jess, Divide The Cash, Spit Curl Diva and Onemoreglassofwine completed the field in this race. Hot Hitter was scratched. ACEVES GETS 100TH WIN AND THEN WINS 100-YARD RACE One hundred was a good number for jockey Rodrigo Aceves on Friday night at Los Alamitos. The jockey picked up a meet leading 100th Quarter Horse win of the season aboard the Paul Jones-trained Girl Fooler in the evening’s eighth race before guiding Teller Shez Wicked to victory in 100-yard The Blink Of An Eye Overnight Handicap in the ninth. Having now won 101 Quarter Horse races this year, Aceves is headed to his fifth riding title in the past six seasons at Los Alamitos. The jockey won titles in 2006 through 2009 and only Francisco Rubio’s 160-win season last year stopped him from making it five straight. Aceves is back on top in 2011 and has a 13-win advantage over Cruz Mendez in the Quarter Horse standings. Aceves was sharp in the saddle aboard LJM Ranch’s Teller Shez Wicked in the 100-yard dash. A fun and popular race, The Blink Of An Eye lured a full field of 10 and action was fast and furious. The top eight finishers were separated by about a length, but it was the Teller Cartel filly who dominated the race. Leading from start to finish, Teller Shez Wicked got stronger as the race got longer, okay so it wasn’t that long of a race, but she did pull away in the final 20 yards to score a half-length victory in a time of :06.536. Her winning time over runner-up Red Dasher, who earlier this year ran in the Kindergarten Futurity, was less than 2/100ths of a second off of the 100-yard track record at Los Alamitos. Teller Shez Wicked earned $8,250 for winning the $15,000 handicap. Francisco Ramirez saddled the brown filly. Ed Allred’s Red Dasher earned $3,375 for running second, while Venado Love picked up a $1,875 check for finishing third in his second career start. Miss Mindys Bar Bet, who ran seventh in the Governor’s Cup Futurity, Catalina Czech, KR All Summer Long, Inmate Separate, Panchos Last Pie, Flight For It and R Spanish Doll completed the field. IT’S A SUPER EFFORT FOR MISS RACY JESS IN CALIFORNIA’S RICHEST DERBY First it was One Famous Eagle and now it is Miss Racy Jess that has given the partnership of Johnny Trotter and Burnett Ranches LLC. a victory in California’s richest derby of any breed – the $987,350 Los Alamitos Super Derby on Sunday. Ridden by Ricky Ramirez for trainer Trey Wood, Miss Racy Jess enjoyed a perfect trip on the way to holding off 2010 Golden State Futurity winner One Sweet Jess by a half-length in a time of :19.766. Her victory in the Super Derby has earned the filly by Mr Jess Perry a starting berth in this year’s $750,000 Champion of Champions to be held on Saturday, December 10. Gary and Donna Hall’s Sunflower Supply Company bred Miss Racy Jess, who was sent off at 9-2 odds. Having previously posted the fastest qualifying time to this derby, Miss Racy Jess is clearly at the top of her game right now as she approaches the prestigious Champion of Champions. “We’re ready,” said Dr. Glenn Blodgett, the Burnett Ranches’ resident veterinarian and Horse Division Manager. “We get another shot at the Champion of Champions and hopefully we’ll take this one.” Burnett Ranches and Johnny Trotter were part of the 2008 Champion of Champions after the millionaire One Famous Eagle won that year’s Los Alamitos Super Derby. One Famous Eagle, who won the 2007 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity and is now part of stallion battery at Burnett Ranches’ Four Sixes Ranch, ran fourth to Jess You And I in that year’s running. Interestingly, the now 7-year-old multiple champion Jess You And I is once again one of the main contenders to this year’s Champion of Champions. “We are looking forward to the Champion of Champions,” Dr. Blodgett said. “That’s what we were aiming for all along,” Trotter said. “We like this track,” Dr. Blodgett continued. “We’re excited because (Miss Racy Jess) seems to like it too,” Trotter added. Miss Racy Jess arrived at Los Alamitos after failing to qualify to the All American Derby despite winning her August 19th trial by an impressive ¾ lengths. Stewards, Racing Offices, Horsemen’s Groups: Rule 1658, Vesting of Title to Claimed Horse, was approved by the Office of Administrative Law on October 4, 2011. It was filed with the Office of the Secretary of State and will become effective tomorrow, Thursday, November 3, 2011. The amended rule provides that the stewards shall void a claim if the horse suffers a fatality during the running of the race or before the horse is returned to be unsaddled. Any questions should be directed to Jackie Wagner. Mike Marten Public Information Officer CHRB CALIFORNIA HORSE RACING BOARD TITLE 4. CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATIONS ARTICLE 7. CLAIMING RACES. RULE 1658. VESTING OF TITLE TO CLAIMED HORSE. 1658. Vesting of Title to Claimed Horse. (a) Title to a horse which is claimed shall be vested in the successful claimant from the time the field has been dispatched from the starting gate and the horse becomes a starter; and said successful claimant becomes the owner of the horse whether it is sound or unsound, or injured during the race or after it. Only a horse which is officially a starter in the race may be claimed. A subsequent disqualification of the horse by order of the stewards or the Board shall have no effect upon the claim. (b) The stewards shall void the claim if the horse suffers a fatality during the running of the race or before the horse is returned to be unsaddled. (c) The claim shall be void if the race is called off, canceled, or declared no contest in accordance with Rule 1544 of this division. Authority: Sections 19420 and 19440, Business and Professions Code. Reference: Section 19562, Business and Professions Code. IGOTYOURTAC GETS GOLDEN STATE MILLION VICTORY For the third consecutive million dollar race at Los Alamitos, a horse that barely qualified to the futurity came away a winner. In two of those three races, the winner has been a horse that has won a “shake” in order to get into the million dollar race. The latest to go from shake winner to million-dollar race hero is Double Bar S Ranch’s Igotyourtac, a son of freshman sire Tac It Like A Man, who upset a tremendous field at 44-1 odds to win the $1,218,400 Golden State Million Futurity on Sunday at Los Alamitos. Ridden by Saul Ramirez and trained by Paul Jones, Igotyourtac won in wire-to-wire fashion while beating second fastest qualifier Jess Lips by a neck in a 400-yard time of :19.729. The bay colt was in the race only because he outshook stablemate Unobetter after the two tied for the 10th fastest qualifying time on trial night back on October 16. “It was doubly lucky for my barn,” Jones said. “I say that not only because Igotyourtac won this race, but because Unobetter spiked a temperature two days after the shake. We probably would have had to scratch her because of her temperature. It was a huge piece of luck that Igotyourtac won the shake.” Separate Fire, who saw her hopes of winning the track’s version of the Triple Crown slashed after finishing 10th in the Golden State Million, had previously won the $1,126,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity after barely making the field as the ninth fastest qualifier. One Quick First Down won the $2,033,700 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity also after winning a shake to get into the race as the 10th and final qualifier. It’s like horsemen always say: “As long as you’re in it, one always has a chance to win the race.” The List family of Double Bar S Ranch was simply happy to know that Igotyourtac had made it into the Golden State Million Futurity. “When we win a nice race we always give the rider a ring,” Rhonda List. “We didn’t think we had a shot to win this race and we didn’t even bring a ring with us to give to Saul. We’ll get him one because he rode a beautiful race tonight.” Igotyourtac earned $492,828 for the win to lift his career earnings to $510,298. The California homebred began his career with two losses at Remington Park in Oklahoma, but since arriving at Los Alamitos he has won three out of four starts. “We love racing in California,” List added. “We want to race here. We live (in Moreno Valley). We come here to watch the race and half of our horses are stabled in California. Just because we’ve spread out our horses a little bit, we are still California people.” Ramirez, who has piloted million dollar race winners Blues Girl Too and One Famous Eagle at Los Alamitos in recent years, received high praise by the winning connections for his riding effort aboard Igotyourtac. “Rodrigo Aceves had the mount on this horse for the Golden State trials, but in the trials Rodrigo took off to ride Long Gone in the same trial,” Jones began. “ Ramon jumped on the horse, but then had to take off to ride Separate Fire. I was hoping to get Carlos Huerta to ride him, but when Eduardo Nicasio was gone for the weekend he had the chance to ride the fastest qualifier (Last To Fire). We didn’t have a rider for the race, but then Saul called me and asked me if he could ride the horse. Saul is a good guy and a good jockey and very good in big money races. I immediately called the owner and they were thrilled to have him ride the horse. I’m really happy for him because we’ve done well together in the past. It was nice to have him back in the Jones barn.” “The first thing Saul said coming out of the jockey’s room was ‘thanks for the mount,’ ” List added. “I thought that was pure class. You don’t hear that from a lot of riders. Saul did a great job. He broke beautifully with the horse and then two lanes opened up for him. It was a perfect ride.” Ramirez saved his praise for Igotyourtac. “He did everything like a champ,” he said. “He never moved a muscle. He was just looking straight down at the track. He just exploded when the gates opened. He did everything right.” Things could not be going any better for freshman stallion Tac It Like A Man. A two-time futurity winner as part of that revered class of 2006 that also featured millionaires Blues Girl Too, Jess You And I, FDD Dynasty and No Secrets Here, Tac It Like A Man is quickly proving himself as one of the top young sires in the sport. “He’s been so impressive as a freshman stallion,” List said. “His fee is $3,000 and we’ll keep it the same in 2012. We want horsemen to come to Lazy E Ranch and breed to this horse and this victory can only help. We are hoping for more great quality mare. He’s a grand horse and a perfect stud with impeccable breeding. You can’t go wrong when you have the blood of champion Jumping Tac Flash on his bottom side and the great First Down Dash on top. It’s a great combination.” Samuel Valeriano’s Jess Lips remained a maiden after finishing in the Golden State Million, but he’s a rich maiden after picking up a check for $199,478. Ridden by Alejandro Luna for Jaime Gomez, Jess Lips was last at the start of the race, but then came flying to finish in second place. “This horse ran a tremendous race,” Gomez said. “I’m happy for Samuel because his horse gave him his all and almost won this race. I’m happy for the Double Bar S Ranch because I trained Tac It Like A Man and I loved that horse. He was a beautiful horse to be around.” Separate Fire’s dream of winning the $1,000,000 Los Alamitos Cash Bonanza ended on Sunday night, but Jones can still sweep the track’s three richest futurities thanks to Igotyourtac. Jones came into the Golden State Million wondering if his trainee Separate Fire would add to her sparkling victories in the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity and Grade 1 Kindergarten Futurity that she posted earlier this year. It was her Ed Burke win that had made her eligible to win the Los Alamitos Cash Bonanza, which would have earned her a $1,000,000 prize if she could have added wins in the Golden State Million and also the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. Instead, it was Igotyourtac that got the job done. Separate Fire, who finished 10th in the Golden State, and Igotyourtac are both eligible to run in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity trials on Sunday, November 20. “It’s hard to imagine that a horse can win the Los Alamitos Cash Bonanza,” Jones said. “Hopefully it’ll happen one day, but it’s extremely difficult. It used to be that there one or two good horses that could dominate a campaign, but now there are so many quality horses out there that jump out of nowhere to win a race. There are a lot of good horses out there and that makes winning the Bonanza such a big challenge.” “This race is bittersweet because Separate Fire could not win, but that’s part of this sport,” Jones continued. “I knew when the draw came up that the 10-hole was not the best draw for Separate Fire. She didn’t have time to settle down in the starting gate. She needed to be in the gate a little longer. She didn’t break all that great and it was over at that point.” Despite of Separate Fire’s loss, Jones is in the midst of a tremendous streak of stakes wins. The trainer won the Grade 1 Robert L. Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship with Jess You And I on October 9 and the Grade 1 Bank of America Challenge Championship with Favorite Cartel on Saturday night. “This is turning into a great year.” Jones concluded. Jesus Avila and Jesus Cuevas’ Last To Fire earned $140,808 for his third place finish. The aforementioned Carlos Huerta piloted the fastest qualifier for trainer Juan Aleman. First Outburst, one of the longest shots on the board at 45-1, earned $82,138 for running fourth and was followed by Long Gone, Terrific Synergy, Fly First Down, Jess Sass Dash, Regardless and Separate Fire. In the $30,000 Golden State Juvenile Stakes, Check My Thoughts overcame being fractious in the gate to score a ¾ length victory over Whata Corona Runner in a 400-yard time of :19.880. Owned and bred by Ed Allred, the gelded son of Check Him Out earned $16,500 for the win. He also won a division of the California Breeders Freshman Stakes back on Saturday, July 30. Jimmy Glenn saddled Check My Thoughts. Whata Corona Runner made $6,750 for running second. Sammy T, Boss Man Blue, Flying t Bay Cub, Study Hall Pierce, Faith In Motion, Busker, Teller Shez Wicked and Working Girl completed the field. FAVORITE CARTEL GETS OVERDUE GRADE 1 WIN; CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS IS NEXT Racing for the partnership of R.D. Hubbard, Paul Jones, Jim Helzer and Thompson Racing Inc, Favorite Cartel won the Grade 1 $353,500 Bank of America Challenge Championship on Saturday at Los Alamitos to earn a berth to the prestigious $750,000 Champion of Champions set for December 10 at the Orange County track. Winning the Bank of America was a big deal for Favorite Cartel, who has been a frequent Grade 1 competitor in a career that has included the All American Futurity and Derby, Rainbow Futurity and Derby and Los Alamitos Super Derby, but the Bank of America Championship ranks as his first Grade 1 victory. The son of the late Eclipse Award winning Thoroughbred Favorite Trick improved his record to nine wins from 23 starts and earnings of $583,069. Yet, this was not the only big deal involving Favorite Cartel on the night. “A deal has just been finalized in which Dr. Steve Burns has purchased 50 percent ownership of the horse from R.D. Hubbard and Jim Helzer,” said trainer Paul Jones. “It’s a done deal and Dr. Burns now owns half of the horse, Thompson Racing owns 25 percent and I own 25 percent. Favorite Cartel will stand at Burns Ranch in 2012 and you can print that in big, bold headlines.” Favorite Cartel’s impressive win in the Bank of America Challenge Championship will certainly earn the stallion a lot of press. It has been a long time coming for the Jones and Thompson-bred runner. “He finally has his Grade 1 win and we’ve been hoping for that for a long time,” Terry Thompson said. “I had tears in my eyes. This is for my grandpa who died two weeks ago. The 870-yard races are what got me into racing. That’s what I started with. I actually met Paul at the gym and then we became partners on horses. I have 18 now including broodmares, yearlings and racehorses. Winning this race is a shock. It’s incredible.” Favorite Cartel is out of the winning Corona Cartel mare Shenoshercorona, who is also the dam of stakes winner Shescheckinumout and stakes-placed Hes Regal. Among the horses that Favorite Cartel is expected to face in the Champion of Champions are two very rich stablemates in Los Alamitos Invitational Championship winner Jess You And I and Los Alamitos Winter Championship winner Good Reason SA. Gerardo Ochoa-Pena’s Rylees Boy, the 6-5 favorite, closed strongly to finish second. The gelding by Heza Motor Scooter has hit the board in each of his last 24 starts, and his victories this year include the Bank of America Sunland Championship Challenge (G2) and Remington Park Invitational Championship (G1). The one-time $6,250 claimer has now banked nearly $680,000. J K Running Horses LLC’s Jess A Runner, who had been racing in Iowa and Minnesota, closed to take third. Kool Cade, Spit Curl Diva, Shining First Dash, Vodka With Ice, Acorn, Devon Dat Cash, What I Want and Stolis Winner completed the field. FAVORITE CARTEL GETS OVERDUE GRADE 1 WIN; CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS IS NEXT Racing for the partnership of R.D. Hubbard, Paul Jones, Jim Helzer and Thompson Racing Inc, Favorite Cartel won the Grade 1 $353,500 Bank of America Challenge Championship on Saturday at Los Alamitos to earn a berth to the prestigious $750,000 Champion of Champions set for December 10 at the Orange County track. Winning the Bank of America was a big deal for Favorite Cartel, who has been a frequent Grade 1 competitor in a career that has included the All American Futurity and Derby, Rainbow Futurity and Derby and Los Alamitos Super Derby, but the Bank of America Championship ranks as his first Grade 1 victory. The son of the late Eclipse Award winning Thoroughbred Favorite Trick improved his record to nine wins from 23 starts and earnings of $583,069. Yet, this was not the only big deal involving Favorite Cartel on the night. “A deal has just been finalized in which Dr. Steve Burns has purchased 50 percent ownership of the horse from R.D. Hubbard and Jim Helzer,” said trainer Paul Jones. “It’s a done deal and Dr. Burns now owns half of the horse, Thompson Racing owns 25 percent and I own 25 percent. Favorite Cartel will stand at Burns Ranch in 2012 and you can print that in big, bold headlines.” Favorite Cartel’s impressive win in the Bank of America Challenge Championship will certainly earn the stallion a lot of press. It has been a long time coming for the Jones and Thompson-bred runner. “He finally has his Grade 1 win and we’ve been hoping for that for a long time,” Terry Thompson said. “I had tears in my eyes. This is for my grandpa who died two weeks ago. The 870-yard races are what got me into racing. That’s what I started with. I actually met Paul at the gym and then we became partners on horses. I have 18 now including broodmares, yearlings and racehorses. Winning this race is a shock. It’s incredible.” Favorite Cartel is out of the winning Corona Cartel mare Shenoshercorona, who is also the dam of stakes winner Shescheckinumout and stakes-placed Hes Regal. Among the horses that Favorite Cartel is expected to face in the Champion of Champions are two very rich stablemates in Los Alamitos Invitational Championship winner Jess You And I and Los Alamitos Winter Championship winner Good Reason SA. Gerardo Ochoa-Pena’s Rylees Boy, the 6-5 favorite, closed strongly to finish second. The gelding by Heza Motor Scooter has hit the board in each of his last 24 starts, and his victories this year include the Bank of America Sunland Championship Challenge (G2) and Remington Park Invitational Championship (G1). The one-time $6,250 claimer has now banked nearly $680,000. J K Running Horses LLC’s Jess A Runner, who had been racing in Iowa and Minnesota, closed to take third. Kool Cade, Spit Curl Diva, Shining First Dash, Vodka With Ice, Acorn, Devon Dat Cash, What I Want and Stolis Winner completed the field. SEPARATE FIRE STILL IN LINE FOR BONANZA; LAST TO FIRE IS FIRST IN TRIAL Tremor Enterprises LLC’s Separate Fire kept her dream alive of becoming the first horse to win the $1,000,000 Los Alamitos Cash Bonanza, the track’s version of the Triple Crown, after posting the ninth fastest qualifying time while winning her trial to the Grade 1 $1,218,400 Golden State Million Futurity on Sunday. Trained by Paul Jones and ridden by Ramon Sanchez, Separate Fire covered the distance in :19.902 or about 2/10ths of a second behind Jesus Avila and Jesus Cuevas’ fastest qualifier Last To Fire, who won the fifth of 10 trials in a time of :19.707. Separate Fire has been in this situation before, as she also posted the ninth fastest qualifying time to the Ed Burke Million Futurity before returning to win the million dollar final. The complete list of qualifiers to the Golden State Million final to be held on Sunday, October 30 is as follows: Last Fire (:19.707), Jess Lips (:19.714), Terrific Synergy (:19.805), Long Gone (:19.813), Fly First Down (:19.850), First Outburst (:19.861), Regardless (:19.877), Jess Sass Dash (:19.893) and Separate Fire (:19.902). The 10th spot will be decided via shake between Double Bar S Ranch’s Igotyourtac and Desiree Princess Ranch LLC’s Unobeter, who both clocked in at :19.916. As for Separate Fire, her Ed Burke Million victory made her eligible for the Los Alamitos Cash Bonanza. The daughter of Walk Thru Fire will earn a $1,000,000 bonus if she goes on to win the Golden State Million Futurity and also the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. “It’s nerve wracking when you have a horse this good,” said nine-time champion AQHA trainer Paul Jones. “She was coming back to race after a long layoff and you never know how a horse will comeback after time off. She ran a fantastic race. It was a monster effort and there was no tailwind to help her out. She just kept on going and I’m pleased that she made the Golden State Million final.” Separate Fire will be going after her third major futurity win of the year in the Golden State Million finale. In addition to the 350-yard Ed Burke, Separate Fire also won the 300-yard Kindergarten Futurity earlier this year. “She did her job,” said Jose Trevino of Tremor Enterprises. “She finished well and did every right.” Trevino acquired Walk Thru Fire from the consignment of Dr. Steve Burns at the Heritage Place Sale. The owner wanted a baby by Walk Thru Fire in his stable and Separate Fire was the chosen one. Jose Trevino and wife Zulema have enjoyed several important victories in recent years. In addition to Separate Fire’s exploits, Tremor Enterprises have also landed in the winner’s circle with Mr Piloto in the 2010 All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico and with Champion Tempting Dash in the $1,105,397 Texas Classic Futurity at Lone Star Park in Texas in 2009. Separate Fire won her trial by ¾ lengths to improve her career record to five wins in six starts. Her only loss is that third place finish in the Ed Burke Million trials, which saw her sneak into the final with the ninth fastest time. TOP TWO QUALIFIERS EXIT SAME HEAT Jesus Avila and Jesus Cuevas’ Last To Fire edged Samuel Valeriano’s Jess Lips by a nose on the way to posting the fastest qualifying time of :19.707 to the Golden State Million Futurity. Jess Lips finished with second fastest qualifying time of the night after crossing the wire in :19.714. Avila and Cuevas have enjoyed good success over the years at Los Alamitos and the two cousins are best known for having campaigned former track record holder and 2007 Los Alamitos Winter Derby winner A Stoli Mate. Avila and Cueavs have also raced Kool Cowboy, the runner-up in last year’s Kindergarten Futurity, plus 2005 Kindergarten Futurity fourth place finisher Eye Jess Cant Wait and this year’s Ed Burke Million Futurity finalist A Country Boy Can. “Racing is our hobby,” Jesus Avila said. “It can be expensive at times, but it’s something that we love and enjoy a great deal. We gelded Last To Fire after his second start (in late May). We gave him some rest and then started swimming him. We kept him active because we knew he had some tough races ahead. He came back on (September 23) and ran fifth in a maiden race. We just wanted him to get back into form and that race helped him accomplish what he did tonight. We bought him for $9,700 as a yearling and now we wouldn’t sell him for triple that amount. We’re very pleased.” Avila of Long Beach, California and Cuevas of Fresno, California, became business partners at the encouragement of Avila, who grew up loving the sport. Cuevas, on the other hand, admits not knowing much about racing growing up in Michoacan, Mexico. The two paid $16,000 for their first horse, but that did not pan out. The horse never even had a workout. Avila described their horse as one that “just wasn't born to run." Cuevas could have packed it in right then, but that wasn’t’ his style. He was determined to be successful in horse racing. And they did it thanks to A Stoli Mate, who in November of 2007 set a 400-yard track record by breaking the track record shared by champions Blues Girl Too and Ocean Runaway. Avila and Cuevas both own transportation businesses. Avila’s Sky Distribution Express is a 20-truck operation that serves all of Southern California. “Business is tough,” he said. “There’s a lot of competition and the price for diesel fuel is high. We are hoping that Last To Fire can earn some good money in the Golden State Million final to help push us ahead in our business.” The second fastest qualifier and runner-up in this trial is Samuel Valeriano’s Jess Lips, who remains a maiden after four career starts. The Texas-bred colt by Mr Jess Perry has finished second in each of his last three starts. “We’re going to break his maiden in the million dollar race,” said trainer Jaime Gomez. “Why can’t he do it? He ran a great trial race and he’s doing great here. I have to thank trainer Eddie Willis because he sent me this horse and also Thru The Fire, who qualified last night to the Los Alamitos Super Derby. Eddie has been out here the past couple of years and he liked the way that I ran my stable. I was thrilled to get these nice horses and thrilled that both qualified to some very big races.” Valeriano made a family vacation out of the trials to the Golden State Million Futurity. The owner visited Los Alamitos Race Course with his father and son, both named Gregorio. “I’ve loved horses since I was a young boy,” said Valeriano of Odessa, Texas. “We had some riding horses, but it wasn’t until 2008 that I started owning race horses. I bought a mare named Treasured Corona in Lubbock, Texas. We’ve been racing horses ever since. We got our first win at Manor Downs with a filly by Ocean Runaway who broke her maiden in her first out. I’ve raced in Oklahoma and also at Sunland Park, Ruidoso Downs, Lone Star, Retama and now Los Alamitos Race Course. We’ve had horses with Eddie, Heath Reed, Robert Sanchez and Toby Keeton. Los Alamitos is my favorite track now because we’ve qualified to a Grade 1 race for the first time. To get into this race is one of the best feelings I’ve had in a long time.” “Samuel is a good guy,” Gomez said. “I first met him at Heritage Place. He’s thinking about sending some horses here in the future so I’m looking forward to that.” Valeriano has run Reliable Transport LLC since 2007, an Odessa-based company in the oil field transportation business. His family also owns Valeriano Racing Stables, a five-acre ranch also in Odessa. “We keep our four broodmares and yearlings there,” he said. “We have about 28 horses in total. We’ve also started breeding and we just recently purchased two Walk Thru Fire babies that we’ll race next year. We purchased Jess Lips for $27,000 at the Ruidoso Sale last year. We liked him because he’s a full brother to Jesse James Jr.” Jesse James Jr loved Los Alamitos, as he won the 2005 First Down Dash Handicap and was second in the Golden State Derby, third in the Los Alamitos Derby and fourth in the Southern California Derby in 2004. A TERRIFIC EFFORT Making his first start since a strong comeback to finish fourth in the Ed Burke Million Futurity, Billy Smith and Pat Guthrie’s Terrific Synergy flew past his rivals to win the fourth trial to the Golden State Million Futurity. Ridden by G.R. Carter, who picked up the mount in placed of Jacky Martin, Terrific Synergy broke fourth before rolling powerfully in the second half of the race to post a half length victory in a time of :19.805. “We’ve had this plan all along,” said trainer Cody Joiner. “Our goal was to run him in the big million dollar races here. We were looking at about seven races with him and to get him into this final, that’s exactly what we were playing for. He came out healthy after the Ed Burke and then we sent him to Double Bar S Ranch for some time off. He’s a big colt. He was big when we saw him at the Los Alamitos Equine Sale last year. He was all legs. He’s now starting to fill out and really becoming a good looking horse.” Terrific Synergy’s mother is Terrific Energy, a multiple Grade 1 winner at the Orange County track in 2009. Terrific Energy won that year’s Charger Bar Handicap and Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap. “A lot of people tell me that Terrific Synergy looks exactly like his mother,” Joiner added. “He looks like her to a T. After this long layoff he has a little bit nervous. He definitely looked fresher than usual when he was warming up. This race will settle him back down.” Billy Smith and Pat Guthrie have raced horses together for quite some time now. Along with Vessels Stallion Farm, Smith and Guthrie famously campaigned the two-time champion colt FDD Dynasty, who has since been syndicated to stud. FDD Dynasty is the sire of Terrific Synergy. “I always dreamed of having a good stallion and it looks like FDD Dynasty is that horse,” Smith said. “His babies are showing up when the money is down. Earlier today he had a winner in one of the Challenge races at Turf Paradise. Everyone I’ve talked to tells me that his babies seem to get better and better with training. I always preferred buying horses at the sale instead of breeding horses, but I remember listening to breeders talking about this horse they bred and that horse. Now I’m always looking after the FDD Dynasty babies and whenever I see one do well I get as excited as if I owned the horse.” Smith is involved in land developing in New Mexico and also owns the state’s largest Taxi company and is also involved in a self storage business. Smith owned his first horse in 1981 by the name of High Handed. He went on to qualify to that year’s Kansas Futurity, losing to the eventual Triple Crown winner Special Effort. Smith has enjoyed a lot of success over the years. “I’ve had a Grade 1 qualifier each year for the past seven years except for 2010,” he said. “I had a beautiful filly, but she was bitten by a (recluse spider) and that ended her racing career. She was supposed to be my big gun last year. “I love this game and I have a passion for it,” Smith added. “It’s exciting to run Terrific Synergy because we ran his daddy. Cody has done a good job for us. For a young man he has tremendous patience. He and his dad, Mike, do a great job together.” Guthrie retired after selling his company, Health Care Financial Advisors, in 1998 when he was 44-year-olds. The company provided financial consulting services for hospitals around the nation. Guthrie got involved in Quarter Horses after spending the summers in Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico. At Ruidoso, Guthrie and Smith qualified to the Rainbow Futurity with a horse by the name of Jess Delightful and also raced in the All American Futurity with Jess Satin. CHARISMATIC LONG GONE WINS AGAIN Armando Leon’s Long Gone delivered another outstanding performance after posting a half-length victory over Double Bar S Ranch’s Igotyourtac in the seventh trial to the Golden State Million Futurity. Long Gone covered the distance in :19.813. The colt by TR Dasher has had a notable freshman campaign. He was disqualified from first and placed ninth in the Governor’s Cup Futurity and then posted a hard-fought second place finish in the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. Long Gone’s win in this trial took his record to four victories from seven starts. “He’s a veteran runner now and he’s becoming more professional with each race,” trainer Adan Farias said. “He was running greenly early in his career, but he’s getting better and better from that standpoint.” Long Gone’s DQ in the Governor’s Cup is the only time that’s he’s finished out of the money. Ed Allred bred the colt, who is a full brother to the Champion of Champions qualifier Snitcher. INVADER SHINES IN LOCAL DEBUT Tremor Enterprises LLC’s Fly First Down scored an impressive victory in his debut performance at Los Alamitos, as the son of First Down Dash cruised to a 1 ¼ length victory in Sunday’s opening trial to the Golden State Million Futurity. Ridden by Francisco Rubio, Fly First Down flew out of the gate from post six and then pulled away en route to his daylight victory in a 400 yard time of :19.850. Fly First Down arrived at Los Alamitos after finishing seventh in the $500,000 Ruidoso Futurity. The Steve Burns-bred runner then had an easy gate workout under the lights at Los Alamitos, covering the 350 yards in :18.50. Fly First Down, who was all the rage at the New Mexico mountain after posting the fastest qualifying time to the Ruidoso Futurity, has now won two of three career starts. “He was a little sore after the Ruidoso Futurity so we decided to take it easy with him,” said Jose Trevino of Tremor Enterprises. “His issues were not that concerning, but we still wanted him to have some rest before this race.” “I received a call out of the blue from Mr. Trevino and he asked me to train Fly First Down and Natalie Dash,” said trainer Jose Flores. “I was very excited to do so because those are two good horses. Both horses are doing well and I’m especially happy with Fly First Down. We’ll see how his time holds up, but I don’t care if we’re the fastest qualifier or the 10th fastest qualifier as long as we are a qualifier.” Dennie and Kris Hill’s Whata Corona Runner ran second to make it back to back races in which the Utah-bred colt has hit the board in a futurity trial at Los Alamitos. He previously ran second to Long Gone in a trial to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. TRAINER ENJOYS HER BIGGEST WIN YET On January 21, 2011, trainer Kristen Watanabe saddled her first winner ever at Los Alamitos Race Course when the 5-year-old sprinter Gordon Rb won the evening’s 10th race. Watanabe can now boast her first futurity trial winner after Samuel Henderson’s First Outburst upset the field to win his trial to the Golden State Million Futurity. Sent off at odds of 16-1, First Outburst covered the distance in :19.861 while defeating Jennifers Challenge by ¾ lengths. Watanabe began training in 2010 after a decade of working for 1997 AQHA Champion Trainer Donna McArthur. For 11 years, Watanabe also dated the highly respected jockey Sam Thompson, who passed away in December 2008 following a riding accident at Los Alamitos Race Course. For many years, Watanabe was sided by side with McArthur in the winner’s circle for many important stakes wins recorded by champions like Corona Kool and Deelish. REGARDLESS CONTINUES PERFECT SEASON Owned, bred and trained by Angela Aquino, Regardless continues to do everything perfectly at Los Alamitos. The gelded son of Chicks Regard qualified to the Golden State Million following a terrific 1 ¼ length victory in the 10th and final trial of the evening. Regardless began preparing for his racing career by posting back-to-back bullet workouts at Los Alamitos. He had the fastest of 17 drills at 220 yards on August 16 and then the fastest of 11 drills at 220 yards on September 6. His September workout has been described by several Los Alamitos racing observers as one of the best drills posted by a 2-year-old this season. Regardless continued his great workout in his maiden outing, as he posted a crushing 1 ¼ length victory in a time of :15.29. He was all business in his trial, as he scored another 1 ¼ length victory while drawing away from his rivals to the tune of a :19.877 clocking. Regardless was ridden by Eddie Garcia, the track’s all-time leading rider in wins and stakes wins. Garcia has won the Golden State Million twice, first with champion Artesias Specialchic in 1997 and then with millionaire Tres Passes in 2008. Aquino, meanwhile, comes from a racing family. Her dad, Carlos Aquino, rode all over Southern California for many years and her mom, Betsy, was solid trainer in the Northern California fair circuit and also at Los Alamitos. Aquino’s sister, Elena Andrade, is also a trainer, who in 2006 saddled Poly Give One Corona to the fastest qualifying time to the Kindergarten Futurity. Angela Aquino owned and eventually trained One Fast Cartel, who ran in the 2001 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity and in the 2002 Los Alamitos Winter Derby and Southern California Derby. SOLID TRIAL WINNERS It doesn’t matter where his futurity trials are held, Danny Thomas and John Anderson’s Flying T Bay Cub is always coming out on top. The colt by Brookstone Bay won his third trial race in a row, this one by a half length in the Golden State Million trials. Ridden by Cody Jensen for trainer Bret Vickery, Flying T Bay Cub covered the distance in :19.926. He previously won his trial to the All American Futurity by neck and prior to that he scored in a trial to the Rocky Mountain Spring Classic Futurity. Unfortunately for Flying T Bay Cub, he has not been able to qualify to a final yet. His next attempt to qualify to an important futurity will come in the trials to the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. Armando Leon’s Finisterra, a filly sired by FDD Dynasty, finished powerfully to defeat Ed Allred’s Once Over by a head in the sixth trial to the Golden State Million Futurity. Bred by Vessels Stallion Farm and Cody Joiner, Finisterra was picking up her first win in six career starts while covering the distance in :20.186. She’ll now be pointed to run in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity trials. Adan Farias saddled Finisterra, who was ridden by Rodrigo Aceves. Ed Allred’s Study Hall Pierce, a filly by TR Dasher, posted a wire to wire victory in a time of :20.016 to win her trial to the Golden State Million Futurity. Bred by her owner, Study Hall Pierce has now won three of four career starts with her only non-victory being a third place finish in the California Breeders Freshman Stakes. Eduardo Nicasio piloted her for trainer Cody Joiner. TALENTED YOUNG TRAINER DELIVERS FASTEST QUALIFIER IN SUPER DERBY TRIALS Trey Wood’s first venture to Los Alamitos Race Course turned out to be a successful one, as the outstanding 23-year-old trainer saddled Burnett Ranches and Johnny Trotter’s Miss Racy Jess to the fastest qualifying time to the Grade 1 $987,500 Los Alamitos Super Derby on Saturday. Ridden by Ricky Ramirez, Miss Racy Jess scored her second win in a row while beating 2010 Golden State Futurity winner One Sweet Jess by a half length in the third of four trials at 400 yards. The daughter of Mr Jess Perry covered the distance in :19.646 and improved her record to five wins in nine career starts. She’ll now be joined by trial winners Flying Fig, the champion 2-year-old filly last year, Thru The Fire and seven other top sophomore sprinters in the Super Derby final to be held on Sunday, November 6. The winner of the Super Derby will earn an automatic starting berth to the $750,000 Champion of Champions to be held on Saturday, December 10. “(Miss Racy Jess) started coming into her own again at the end of this year’s Ruidoso meet,” Wood said. “She got bumped hard in the All American Futurity last year and that got stuck in her mind for a couple of races. She was our best shot to win the All American, but that was a bad trip. It was just bad horse racing luck. She broke well tonight.” Wood, the son of top Quarter Horse trainer Blane Wood, enjoyed a breakout season last year. The young trainer won races at a 35 percent clip during the 2010 Lone Star Park meeting while securing his second straight training title there. The highlight was saddling Bodacious Dash to victory in the Grade 1 $1,036,612 Texas Classic Quarter Horse Futurity. Bodacious Dash ran in Saturday’s Los Alamitos Super Derby trials, but he could only manage a third place finish in his heat following a slow break. “He’s a big colt and can be a little bit of a clown,” Wood said. “Miss Racy Jess is a little different in that she hardly ever makes a mistake. She got the job done in her trial and he didn’t. He’s a better horse than he showed tonight. He’ll run again at Los Alamitos. We want to qualify him to the Champion of Champions.” After running second in the Rainbow Derby, Bodacious Dash is eligible to run in the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials, which serve as the trials to the Champion of Champions. Wood will leave town on Sunday and return to the Southwest to tend to his horses there. “I have 45 head at Lone Star Park and we also have horses at (Zia Park),” he said. Wood’s charge, Call A Fast Corona, posted the fastest qualifying time to the Restricted Grade 2 $322,283 New Mexico Classic Futurity. Earlier this year, Wood saddled the late Valiant War Hero to a world record setting victory in the Grade 1 West Texas Futurity at 300 yards. “I like to stay busy,” he said. “I’ve been doing this my whole life. My grandpa, my dad, my mom, this is a family business.” Legacy Ranch and Muller Racing’s Flying Fig, who finished second in each of the million dollar futurities held at Los Alamitos last year, made her local sophomore debut a winning one. Ridden by Ramon Sanchez and saddled by Denny Ekins, the champion filly won her trial easily by a half length. Her time of :19.701 makes her the second fastest qualifier to the Super Derby. “She had a tough out at Ruidoso Downs so we just brought her back home,” said Pete Parella of Legacy Ranch. “We checked her out to make sure she had not injured herself and then we decided to just concentrate on running her in this race. The name of this game is to be patient. I wanted her to show us that she still wants to be a runner because sometimes horses lose that after a tough start. She showed us tonight that she still wants to run.” SEPARATE FIRE HEADLINES FULL NIGHT OF FUTURITY TRIALS ON SUNDAY Tremor Racing’s Separate Fire will begin her quest to win the second leg of the Los Alamitos Cash Bonanza when she competes in the ninth of 10 trials to the Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity on Sunday at Los Alamitos. The program will offer a smorgasbord of Quarter Horse racing action as all 10 races on the card will be trial races contested at 400 yards. First post time is 5:30 p.m. Trained by Paul Jones and ridden by Ramon Sanchez, Separate Fire returns to action following a long layoff. Bred by Dr. Steve Burns, the Walk Thru Fire has not raced since winning the $1,126,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity on June 26 to secure the first leg of the Bonanza. Separate Fire can get a step closer to claiming the $1 million Bonanza Cash bonus if she wins the Golden State Million final on Sunday, October 30 followed by a victory in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on Sunday, December 11. The task is monumental, as no horse has ever swept the three futurities since the program’s inception in 1998. Separate Fire is the nation’s top rated 2-year-old filly thanks to her wins in the Ed Burke Million at 350 yards and also the Kindergarten Futurity at 300 yards. The sorrel filly has won four of five starts and her only blemish was a third place finish when she ran into trouble in her Ed Burke trial. She came back from that hiccup to win the Ed Burke by a neck. A winner of $605,082, Separate Fire has since posted a 350-yard gate drill in :17.70. All signs point to Separate Fire being ready to blast out of the gate on Sunday night. Her main rival in this race could be Ed Allred’s Check My Thoughts, who posted a :17.30 clocking - same as Separate Fire’s winning time in the Ed Burke - when winning the California Breeders Freshman Stakes on July 30. The corpulent gelding has two wins from three career starts. The list of horses competing in the Golden State trials is an outstanding one. In addition to Separate Fire, Tremor Racing will also be represented by Fly First Down, who was a three length winner when posting the fastest qualifying time to the $500,000 Ruidoso Futurity on May 27. Sent off as a heavy favorite, the son of First Down Dash ran seventh to longshot Silver For Me in the Ruidoso final. Now in the barn of trainer Jose Flores, Fly First Down will make only his third career start and first ever at Los Alamitos. He did post a nice evening workout over the racing strip when drilling 350 yards in an easy :18.50 on September 17. Francisco Rubio will ride the Dr. Burns-bred runner in the first trial of the night. The fourth trial will feature another invader to watch in Desiree Princess Ranch’s Jess Sass Dash, who finished second in an allowance test during his local debut on September 23. Trained by Paul Jones, Jess Sass Dash was sixth in the $700,000 Rainbow Futurity in July and also ran in the Ruidoso Juvenile Stakes. The First Down Dash colt has hit the board in five of six starts. Pat Guthrie and Billy Smith’s Terrific Synergy will join Jess Sass Dash in this heat. The gelded son of FDD Dynasty ran fourth in the Ed Burke Million and prior to that solid effort he scored a pair of strong victories. Fast forwarding to trial number six, Allred’s Once Over is one of the most exciting horses racing in the trials. The Walk Thru Fire colt won his debut by 3/4 lengths despite racing greenly and if he’s learned from that effort, he could be a joy to watch on Sunday. Scott Willoughby will saddle the son of the promising young broodmare Look Her Over. Armando Leon’s Long Gone does a quick turnaround for this race having just finished second following a heated duel with Ima Chickie Two in the Grade 2 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity on October 1. While Ima Chickie Two is skipping this race, Long Gone is back to work against a tough group of horses that includes Dutch Masters III’s Ed Burke Million fastest qualifier Fire Moon Lady and Eaves and Kessinger’s two-time winner Delight At Night, who has impressed in both of his victories for the red-hot combination of trainer Juan Aleman and jockey Eduardo Nicasio. Long Gone, Fire Moon Lady, Delight At Night and the rest of this field will see action in trial number seven. To Official Veterinarians, Trainers and Practicing Veterinarians From Rick M. Arthur, DVM Equine Medical Director Subject PHENYLBUTAZONE AND FLUNIXIN LEVELS Effective for races after October 1, 2011, CHRB official veterinarians will prepare courtesy notices for trainers with horses testing over 2ug/ml for phenylbutazone or 20ng/ml for flunixin (Banamine). The Maddy lab issues Final Reports from testing results to the CHRB split sample custodian which are then forwarded to each official veterinarian. The whole process takes about 2 weeks. The courtesy notices can be picked up from the receiving barns at each track. They will not be delivered as are official notifications from violations. These are not official notification; they are being provided to assist trainers in adapting management practices to meet new phenylbutazone and flunixin levels already approved by the Board. LOS ALAMITOS EQUINE SALE ENJOYS HUGE INCREASES ACROSS THE BOARD The Los Alamitos Equine Sale enjoyed a tremendous 37% increase in both the average price of yearlings sold and average price of total sale during its two-day event on October 1-2. “This was an outstanding sale,” said Bud Alessio, the president of the sale’s managing company, the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association. “We had eight yearlings that sold for over $100,000, which is twice as many as what we had last year, plus the average yearling price was the Equine Sale’s best since 2006. We are grateful that our consignors brought so many well-bred and beautiful horses to the sale and our buyers were happy with the quality and variety of horses available.” The average price for the 295 yearlings sold was $18,053 – up from last year’s average of $13,211. The yearlings sold for a gross total of $5,325,600 and there were only 34 repurchases made for an extremely buy back ratio of only 11.5%. The total sales came in at $5,809,600 with the 340 horses sold averaging a price of $17,087, up considerably from last year’s average of $12,452. Jose F. Rodriguez purchased Streak Hitter, a colt by leading stallion Walk Thru Fire out of Chickasis, by Chicks Beduino, for the sale topping price of $190,000. Streak Hitter is a full brother to Governor’s Cup Futurity and Derby winner Hot Hitter, an earner of $500,602 in his career. Consigned by Ed Allred, Streak Hitter is a half brother to multiple stakes winner Hard Hitting ($358,923) and former Los Alamitos track record holder Lassen County ($146,229). Divine Cartel, a full brother to Grade 1 stakes finalist Corona Crystal, and Jess Bet On Me, a half brother to the two-time Grade 1 winner of $795,484 Separate Bet, were the second highest sellers at $150,000 each. Juan R. Lopez purchased Divine Cartel, a Corona Cartel colt out of Swiftette, by Merridoc, from Burns Ranch, Agent for A Regal Choice, Inc. Jess Bet On Me, a colt by Feature Mr Jess out of Better Bet On Me, by First Down Dash, was bought by the partnership of Jess Bet On Me Inc. from the Vessels Stallion Farm consignment. Jesus Alameda paid $135,000 for Bonos Party to make this full sister to World Champion Be A Bono the top selling broodmare. Consigned by Childers Ranch, Bonos Party is the mother of Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity winner The Partys On Fire and restricted Grade 2 runner-up This Partys Fire. A 2012 embryo due (conceived March 26) by Walk Thru Fire was part of the purchase price. Boosted by the sale of Bonos Party, the average price of $10,227 for 41 broodmares sold represented a 59% increase from last year’s average of $6,430. Hot Hitting, a full brother to sale topper Streak Hitter, was purchased for $130,000 by bloodstock agent Dennis Winn. In addition to Streak Hitter and Hot Hitting, the productive Chickasis is also the dam of Chickahit, a filly by TR Dasher, who sold for $70,000 to Ronald Skeen and Fawna Knight. Consigned by Ed Allred, the three yearlings out of Chickasis sold for a combined $390,000. Juan Lopez was the leading buyer with two purchases for $210,000, followed by Jose Rodriguez with one for $190,000 and Robert Williams who purchased two horses for $190,000. Edward C. Allred was the leading consignor with 37 head selling for $1,177,500. Vessels Stallion Farm, LLC sold 42 head for $797,400 and Burns Ranch, Agent had 26 horses sell for $494,000. Mr Jess Perry led the sires at the sale with five yearlings averaging $80,400. Corona Cartel was next with three averaging $69,667, while Walk Thru Fire had 33 yearlings that sold for an average of $40,591. Complete sale info can be found at www.losalamitosequinesale.com For more info, please call the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association at 714-236-1755. IMA CHICKIE TWO ENJOYS CLEAN TRIP ON THE WAY TO BREEDERS FUTURITY WIN Don and Kathy Meneely were rushing to the winner’s circle sporting huge smiles after their filly, Ima Chickie Two, won the Grade 2 $500,000 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity on Saturday at Los Alamitos. Don could only think of one thing. “Am I dreaming?” he wondered. Kathy had done her dreaming a couple of days before the running of the Breeders Futurity. “Two nights ago I dreamt that Ima Chickie Two had won this race,” she said. “And then I woke up and I was so mad when I realized it was a dream. I wanted to go back to sleep to keep that dream going.” Ima Chickie Two made sure that her owners’ dream became reality after an impressive half-length victory in stakes record time of :17.193 at 350 yards. The daughter of Chicks Beduino broke the mark set by The Goodbye Kisser in this race last year. Ramon Sanchez piloted Ima Chickie Two to victory for trainer Adan Farias, who also saddled the runner-up Long Gone, third place finisher Illegal Smile and fifth place finisher Stolis Diamond. Ima Chickie Two was enjoying her first trouble free race in a futurity final after facing a troubled trip in the Kindergarten Futurity while also being involved in that highly profile disqualification of Long Gone from first place to ninth in the Governor’s Cup Futurity. It was Ima Chickie Two that Long Gone interfered with on the way to costing him the race. “It was unfortunate that it happened because Long Gone because he’s a stablemate and (Rodrigo Aceves) is the jockey that qualified Ima Chickie Two to the Governor’s Cup,” Kathy said. “We’ve been in racing for a while so we know those kinds of things happen,” Don said. “They’re part of racing.” “We were disappointed because we wanted the black type for her and her mother,” she added. “In the Governor’s Cup during the fourth, fifth and sixth trials, no one got into the top 10,” Don continued. “Then we came in the seventh trial and ended up with the fastest time. We didn’t know how fast she could be, but we’ve always felt that if she could just get out there and whiff some clean air that she could run and handle the field.” After the downer that was the Governor’s Cup, Aceves piloted her to another victory, this time a 1 ¾ length decision in the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity trial. Her time of :17.40 was just off the fastest time set by Long Gone. She outdid herself in the finale, going wire to wire for her fourth win in starts. She earned $205,800 to take her career earnings to $239,573. “She’s a homebred,” beamed Kathy when someone asked where they purchased Ima Chickie Two. “We bought her mother.” “You know we used to run in the Tri-City area in Washington and we had three or four okay runners,” Don said. “One day I told Kathy, let’s get rid of these so-so runners and let’s buy a good one. She said ‘okay, let’s do it’ and that was it. We bought Ima Chickie Two’s mother, First Down Dream.” Aa full sister to champion Tiny First Effort and $300,000 winner Tiny First Down, First Down Dream is one of two broodmares own by the couple. The other one is the outstanding runner Dasha Freda, who they purchased for $40,000 at the 2003 Heritage Place Sale. She went on to win the 2005 Bayer Legend California Challenge at Los Alamitos, finished second in the La Primera Del Ano Derby, and was a finalist in the Ed Burke Memorial Futurity. “We now have three broodmares with Ima Chickie Two,” said Kathy in a flash. “We’re going to skip the Golden State Million Futurity trials and aim for the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity trials,” Don added. “She’s been in three futurities starting with the Kindergarten so it’s time to take care of her. The Golden State trials are a little too close for us to run her back.” Farias believes that the time off will help Ima Chickie Two a lot. “Every time she runs fresh she does well,” he said. “Having three weeks in between the PCQHRA Breeders trials and this final was a huge benefit.” Ridden by Rodrigo Aceves, Long Gone earned $83,300 for running second. “Long Gone is the real deal,” Farias said. “Going back to the Governor’s Cup, I wasn’t disappointed with Long Gone, not at all. He’s just a baby and he’s still learning. I did feel terrible for Ima Chickie Two because that took all her chances to win. I’m glad to see them so happy after this race.” The complete order of finish is as follows: Ima Chickie Two, Long Gone, Illegal Smile, Kindly Fellow, Stolis Diamond, Natalie Dash, Mr TR Dasher, A First Down Snow, Azzia and Taras Secret. OPENING YEARLING SESSION OF EQUINE SALE SHOWS 24.3% INCREASE The opening session of the two-day Los Alamitos Equine Sale on Saturday afternoon enjoyed a 24.3% increase on the average price of yearlings sold over last year’s first day. The average price for the 141 yearlings purchased on Saturday was $16,309 – up from last year’s opening day yearling average of $13,121. Divine Cartel, a full brother to Grade 1 stakes finalist Corona Crystal, was the top seller of the day at $150,000. Juan R. Lopez purchased the Corona Cartel colt out of Swiftette, by Merridoc, from Burns Ranch, Agent for A Regal Choice, Inc. Corona Crystal won six races for $163,463 and was a finalist to the Grade 1 Ed Burke Memorial Million Futurity, Grade 1 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity and Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby. Corona Crystal is the mother of the winner of $215,914 Crystal Sola. “I was pleased with the purchase price of Divine Cartel,” said Francisco Flores of A Regal Choice Inc. “We believe is a great looking horse and wish his buyer all the success in the world.” Two other horses sold for six-figures on Saturday. Robert H. Williams purchased the Mr Jess Perry filly Ballet Russes, a half sister to stakes winners Dutch Schultz, Spike It And Fly and Rule The Skies, for $100,000 from Kelly/Yearsley Equine LLC & Burnett Ranches LLC. Ballet Russes is out of Sky Chicks, by Chicks Beduino, to also make her a half sister to the multiple Grade 1 finalist Duke Kahanamoku and the Grade 3 stakes placed runner Lite Up The Skies. “We are pleased,” said J. Garvan Kelly. “And we also believe that Ballet Russes is worth every penny of her $100,000 sale price.” Guillermo Morales, Agent for Federico Becera, bought an unnamed filly by Walk Thru Fire out the young broodmare Special And Proud from Edward C. Allred consignment for $100,000. The filly’s second dam is the blue hen mare Oh La Proud, the mother of Grade 1 winners Hawkish and Hawkinson and stakes winners Pride Of Katella, Look Her Over and Mister Katella. Joe Muniz paid $96,000 for a half brother of Ballet Russes from the Lazy E Ranch Consignment. Named Deanie O Banion, the colt is from the first crop of 2006 All American Futurity winner No Secrets Here. Gross sales for Saturday’s yearling session were $2,299,500. There were only 16 repurchases from the 157 yearlings that entered the sale ring. The average sale price for the 25 broodmares sold was $5,255 – an increase of 17.07% from last year’s figures. The top selling mare was Strict, from the Ed Allred consignment. The Separatist mare was purchased for $23,500 by Guillermo Morales, Agent for Rigo Olivas. The stallion Looking For Chicks, the sire of two-time Blane Schvaneveldt Handicap winner Sheza Bad Habit, was purchased for $20,000 by Julio Cesar Encinas. A total of 169 heads sold on Saturday for a gross total of $2,511,800. The average for the first session excluding 21 repurchases rose 21.4% to $14,863 from $12,246 in 2010. The final session of the Los Alamitos Equine Sale will get underway at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Live video of the sale and preliminary sale results, including hip-by-hip prices are available at www.losalamitosequinesale.com. For more info, please call 714-820-2690. PCQHRA Breeders Derby Onemoreglassofwine, the upset winner of Friday’s $168,500 PCQHRA Breeders Derby, was another of the late great Frank “Scoop” Vessels’ experiments. “Scoop lived and breathed Quarter Horse bloodlines,” said Kevin Dickson, the ranch manager of Vessels Stallion Farm. “He had a knack for breeding horses and he was so good at it. This filly is a perfect example of Scoop at his very best. I remember him throwing his arms in the air and saying, ‘You know, this is a total of experiment, but I think we should try it.’ ” “Scoop” Vessels’ experiment was to breed Fine Wines, a daughter of First Down Dash, to Heza Fast Dash, a son of Heza Fast Man and out of a full sister to First Down Dash. “He wanted to get the First Down Dash blood back on the top side of his horses,” Dickson added. “Those were the kind of experiments that Scoop loved to do and a lot of the time they’ve worked. This filly is from the great family former world record holder Kendall Jackson and graded stakes winner Champagne Lane.” The experiment certainly worked with Onemoreglassofwine. The sorrel filly held off the charge of Dr. Steve Burns’ Enjoy The Walk to win the Breeders Derby by a neck while posting a stakes record time of :19.332 in the 400-yard race. Sent off at odds of 9-1, Onemoreglassofwine had a ¾ length lead early on, but Enjoy The Walk made things very interesting late in the race as she moved up from sixth place to finish second. In the end, Onemoreglassofwine left her connections toasting victoriously after she recorded her third win in 10 career starts. Onemoreglassofwine earned $66,750 for the win to take her career earnings to $81,500. “It feels great to have this victory on this weekend of the Los Alamitos Equine Sale,” Dickson added. “Scoop was all about this sale and even going back to the Vessels/Schvaneveldt sale, he absolutely loved having people come to his farm. He loved it. He was like a kid in a candy store, but it was his candy store. He loved this weekend and he would have loved this win.” Ramon Sanchez piloted Onemoreglassofwin for 36-year-old trainer Francisco Ramirez, who was enjoying his first stakes win ever. While his name is new in the training ranks, Ramirez has been a familiar face at Los Alamitos for many years. “I worked for trainer Paul Jones and I broke a lot of his horses, like Foose, Wave Carver and Fantastic Corona Jr. My brother Abel Ramirez is also a jockey, but he’s hurt right now. We’ve been involved in racing for a lot of year. Four years ago Scoop Vessels gave me a chance to go to his ranch and help with his horses. He encouraged me a lot and told me that I could be a trainer. He gave me a great opportunity and the entire team at Vessels has continued that support. I love what I’m doing. I help with everything at the ranch. I break horses, I helped with the sales prep, I gallop and I’m training. It feels great to have so many good people believing in you.” Ridden by Cody Jensen for trainer Mike Casselman, Enjoy The Walk earned $26,945 for finishing second. Vessels Stallion Farm’s Sheza Fast Habit, also trained by Ramirez, ran third and earned $19,020. Hot Hitter, Emancipate, Oh La Traffic, Natalias Got Moves, Sheza Shy Shahayla, Klitschko and Fearless And First completed the field. SHEZA BAD HABIT REPEATS IN SCHVANEVELDT HANDICAP Alvin Jonas’ Sheza Bad Habit has made a habit of winning the $40,000 Blane Schvaneveldt Handicap. For the second straight year, the daughter of Looking For Chicks has won the Schvaneveldt, this time by a ¾ length margin over Go Straight in the 400 yard race on Friday at Los Alamitos. Sheza Bad Habit’s mother, Sheza Habit, will up for sale at the Los Alamitos Equine Sale as Hip #384 and so is Looking For Chicks, who is Hip #155. Talk about timely advertising for those two before entering the sale ring. Sheza Bad Habit, meanwhile, becomes the first two-time winner of Schvaneveldt. “I bet you Alvin “Ben” Jonas is at home sitting in his recliner enjoying this win,” said Bill Nolan, who had his hands on the trophy, while representing his good friend in the Los Alamitos winner’s circle after the race. “If Ben’s not doing that then he’s probably still dancing with his wife, Becky, because of this win.” Bred by Vessels Stallion Farm, Sheza Bad Habit earned $20,000 for the win to take her career earnings to $102,299 and his record to nine wins in 23 starts. Eduardo Nicasio piloted the mare for trainer Bret Vickery. The same two combined to win last year’s running with Sheza Bad Habit. “Blane Schvaneveldt and “Scoop” Vessels were two of Ben’s favorite people,” said Nolan, an executive at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas hotel and resort. “This is a big honor to win this race. Ben is originally from Texas, but I met him after he moved to Nevada years ago. I got to know him well and he’s the one that got me into Quarter Horses.” Nolan can tell some great stories about Schvaneveldt and American casino owner Ben Binion. “Ben Binion used to come to Blane’s barn to ask about the horses that Blane did not want anymore. Blane would give him a list and Ben would leave their registration papers behind, but would take them all to his place in Montana to be ranch horses.” Like his good friend Alvin Jonas, Nolan has enjoyed horse racing over the years. He’s campaigned Chicks On Fire, who gave him his first win as an owner, plus others like Mr King Fisher, Mr Crimson Leader and Eye Lashes. Ricardo Valenzuela’s Go Straight earned $6,800 for running second, while Bob and Scott Giltner’s A Royal Dervish picked up $4,000 for finishing third. The 2011 Schvaneveldt Handicap is for horses that made at least two starts in the intermountain region this year. Sheza Bad Habit raced at Sandy Downs and Les Bois Park before making her way to Los Alamitos to defend her Schvaneveldt title. Dudek Custus, Lil Bitts A Dash, Lajolla Famosa, Classic Blush, Whos On First AJ, A Splash Of Hell and SFR Ring Of Fire completed the field. LONGSHOT WINNER IN KIP DIDERICKSEN HANDICAP The great jockey Kip Didericksen was introduced to the bright lights at Los Alamitos courtesy of trainer Denny Ekins in the early 1980s. At the time, Kip was jockey John Ward’s assistant and first call rider for Ekins. When mounts opened up in Ekins’ barn, Didericksen took advantage of the opportunity and lit up the board with a couple of his mounts. Those longshot victories helped launch the career of one of the sport’s great jockeys of all time. The five-time AQHA champion jockey was on hand to watch the first ever running of the $16,000 Kip Didericksen Handicap on Friday at Los Alamitos and the result of the race must have reminded Kip of his early days at Los Alamitos. Winning the race was the MS Diamond Runaway, who lit up with a $40,80 winning payout for jockey Cesar De Alba and trainer Justin Clark. Sired by Ocean Runaway and out of a Lanes Leinster mare named Bring Me Diamonds, the 3-year-old MS Diamond Runaway covered the 350 yards in :17.409. She earned $8,800 while scoring her fourth win in 12 career starts. Racing for Les Sweeting and Ron Moosman, Ms Diamond Runaway has now earned $36,354 in her career. MS Diamond Runaway beat runner-up Fizzy Cola by a half length. A Regal Blue Sky finished third and was followed by LDS Amazing Grace, Hes A Strawfly, Hawthorne Hawk, RTM Say Your Prayers, BCR Buds For All, Hadtobeawinner and Ocean Runner. Attention: Horsemen Date: September 23, 2011 Dr. Rick Arthur, CHRB Equine Medical Director, will be at Los Alamitos Sale (Club House) on Saturday, October 1, 2011 immediately following the sale to discuss the following issues: 1. Clenbuterol a. Suspension of Clenbuterol at Los Alamitos Race Course (Rule 1844.1) effective October 14, 2011 b. Trainer’s obligation to insure the condition of their horses. c. CHRB’s enforcement options 2. Other issues of interest to Los Alamitos horsemen We encourage all Owners/Trainers to attend this meeting. If you have any questions please feel free to call our office. 714-236-1755. HORSEMEN ARE REMINDED THE SUSPENSION OF AUTHORIZATION FOR CLENBUTEROL TAKES EFFECT ON OCTOBER 14TH. CLENBUTEROL USE IN QUARTERHORSES NEEDS TO BE STOPPED AT LEAST 30 DAYS PRIOR TO RACING TO AVOID A POSITIVE TEST. 2011 LOS ALAMITOS EQUINE SALE TO BE HELD ON OCTOBER 1-2 The 2011 Los Alamitos Equine Sale is just around the corner on October 1 and 2 and what an exciting weekend it will be. The racing action will feature the PCQHRA Breeders Derby, Blane Schvaneveldt Handicap and Kip Didericksen Handicap on Friday; the running of the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity on Saturday and the trials to the Wild West Futurity on Sunday. The Los Alamitos Equine Sale will feature a tremendous catalog of more than 400 Quarter Horses to be sold over two sessions. The first session will get underway at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 1 and will consist of Hip #1 through 225, while the second session also start at 10 a.m. on Sunday, October 2 and will consist of Hip #226 through 449. The nation’s top breeders have consigned horses to this year’s Equine Sale headed by two of the sports premier breeders in Ed Allred and Vessels Stallion Farm. Allred has consigned yearlings sired by top stallions like Walk Thru Fire, Separatist, TR Dasher, Stel Corona, A Regal Choice and more. Vessels Stallion Farm, meanwhile, has consigned top yearlings by the legendary stallion First Down Dash, plus the outstanding young stallion FDD Dynasty and babies from the first crop of All American Futurity winner No Secrets Here. Other top consignors in the sale include Burns Ranch, Schvaneveldt Ranch, Royal Vista Equine, Lazy E Ranch, Jaime Gomez, Abigail Kawananakoa, Childers Ranch, Bobby Cox, Four Sixes Ranch, EG High Desert Ranch just to mention a few. Of course, all of the nation’s top stallions will be represented at the Sale: Walk Thru Fire, First Down Dash, Mr Jess Perry, Corona Cartel, Feature Mr Jess, Wave Carver, Tac It Like A Man and many more. The catalog is full of beautiful yearlings with the bluest of bloodlines. Some of the highlights include: * Hip 300 and 301 are a pair of full brothers sired by Walk Thru Fire and out of PCQHRA champion broodmare Chickasis. These great looking colts are full brothers to multiple stakes winner Hot Hitter and half brothers to multiple stakes winner Hard Hitting. * Hip 90 is a Separatist filly that is a full sister to stakes winner Soul Of Silence * Hip 108 is a Stel Corona filly out of Kindergarten Futurity winner Revv It Up * Hip 134 is A No Secrets Here colt and a half brother to graded derby winners Dutch Schultz and Spike It And Fly. * Hip 215 is a Stel Corona filly and a full sister to champion Foose. * Hip 204 is a Mr Jess Perry filly from the family of Los Alamitos track record holder Divide The Cash * Hip 312 is a Feature Mr Jess colt and a half brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Separate Bet and major derby winner Harley Man * Hip 329 is a FDD Dynasty colt from the family of Your First Moon and Not A Full Moon. * Hip 333 is a Separatist colt from the family of Golden State Million Futurity winner One Sweet Jess * Hip 383 is a colt by Leading Active sire Mr Jess Perry and out of the great producer First Femme, the mother of Grade 1 winners Old Habits and One More Habit. * Hip 396 is a Walk Thru Fire filly from the family of World Champion Wave Carver and multiple Champion Ocean Runaway. * Hip 404 is a Walk Thru Fire colt out of a Corona Cartel broodmare * Hip 418 is an FDD Dynasty filly out of Icy Morn, who is the producer of 6 Quarter horse foals, 5 of which are G1 performers. * Hip 435 is a Walk Thru Fire filly from the family of Bridlewood and Girl Secrets. The Los Alamitos Equine Sale will be held on October 1 and 2. For more info, please call 714-236-1755. PCQHRA Breeders Derby The 2010 running of the PCQHRA Breeders Derby was an emotionally charged night for Vessels Stallion Farm, as the derby final provided Quarter Horse racing operation with its first stakes win following the passing of Frank “Scoop” Vessels. A year later and Vessels Stallion Farm figures to be in the spotlight once again in the PCQHRA Breeders Derby final, this time after three of its horses qualified to the 400-yard final to be held on Friday, September 30. The PCQHRA Breeders Derby is the main event on an evening that kicks off the weekend festivities for the Los Alamitos Equine Sale, which will be held on October 1 and 2 in Cypress, California. Vessels Stallion Farm, which puts together the sale in conjunction with Ed Allred and the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association, will be represented by homebreds Onemoreglassofwine, Sheza Fast Habit and Sheza Shy Shahayla, the latter with Vessels campaigns in partnership with Atwood Ranches. Trained by Francisco Ramirez, The Heza Fash Dash fillies Onemoreglassofwine and Sheza Fast Habit both won their trial races in surprising fashion to qualify. Sheza Fast Habit won at 23-1 odds while covering the distance in :19.700, while Onemoreglassofwine’s victory came at 4-1 odds and her winning time was :19.670. Sheza Shy Shahayla is an experienced stakes runner with a recent third place finish in the Governor’s Cup Derby to her name. The First Down Dash filly ran third in her trial, but her time of :19.754 was still good enough to make her ninth fastest qualifiers of the night. Dr. Steve Burns’ Enjoy The Walk and Rodrigo Gonzalez’s Natalias Got Moves won their respective trials and also finished as the two fastest qualifiers of the night. Enjoy The Walk, trained by Mike Casselman, was the most impressive winner of them all, as she defeated the red-hot multiple stakes winner Hot Hitter by ¾ lengths while posting the fastest qualifying time of :19.392. Enjoy The Walk was third in the La Primera Del Ano Derby earlier this year, but could only muster a seventh place finish to Hot Hitter in the Governor’s Cup on July 30. Cody Jensen piloted the Walk Thru Fire filly bred by Dr. Burns. Trainer Jose Moreno enjoyed his most high-profiled victory of his career at Los Alamitos after winning the opening trial with the talented Maknmoves filly, Natalias Got Moves. Ridden by Juan Andrade, this filly was making her 2011 debut. Her previous start came against the sensational Cold Cash 123 in last year’s 440-yard Southwest Juvenile Championship at Zia Park. She was eighth in that race on November 28, but before that she finished second to The Goodbye Kisser in the $426,000 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity on October 2. Natalias Got Moves has either won or finished second in her last four starts at the Orange County oval. Arnold Gonzalez’s Hot Hitter suffered his first loss in three starts this year, but his effort was still good enough to earn him the third fastest time of the night of :19.550. Despite this setback, the son of Walk Thru Fire is still one of the favorites to win the final later this month. The PCQHRA Breeders Derby will have a little touch of girl power, as seven of the 10 qualifiers are fillies. Hot Hitter, Emancipate and Klitschko – all geldings – are the only boys in the race. The complete list of qualifiers is as follows: Enjoy The Walk (:19.392), Natalias Got Moves (:19.453), Hot Hitter (:19.550), Oh La Traffic (:19.650), Onemoreglassofwine (:19.670), Sheza Fast Habit (:19.70), Emancipate (:19.713), Klitschko (:19.719), Sheza Shy Shahayla (:19.754) and Fearless And First (:19.781). LONG GONE HAS FASTEST TIME TO PCQHRA BREEDERS FUTURITY Armando Leon’s Long Gone put behind his heartbreaking loss in the Governor’s Cup Futurity with a tremendous victory in the third of 11 trials to the $500,000 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity on Saturday at Los Alamitos. Ridden by Rodrigo Aceves and trained by Adan Farias, Long Gone covered the 350 yards in an evening’s best :17.376 while improving his record to three wins from five starts. The colt by TR Dasher, who won his trial by 1 ½ lengths, will lead the field to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity final to be held during the weekend on the Los Alamitos Equine Sale on Saturday, October 1. Long Gone lost the Governor’s Cup Futurity when he was disqualified from first place and placed ninth after interfering with stablemate Ima Chickie Two during the running of the race. Long Gone’s owner thought that the disqualification was a fair decision by the Los Alamitos stewards. “Interference and intimidation equals a disqualification,” Leon said. “I’ve watched the replay of that race many, many times, probably too many times and I understood the decision. I can’t be negative and instead you have to stay positive in order to keep on going. You don’t gain any benefit from staying negative. On the good side, I knew right after that race that we had a horse to keep going after the big races. I love the bloodlines of this horse. I have his brother Snitcher and I liked his other brother (Ed Burke Million Futurity fastest qualifier) Leave The Scene as well. I was happy with the way Long Gone battled tonight. He ran like an arrow.” Ed Allred’s TR Dasher sired three out of the four fastest qualifiers to this race. In addition to Long Gone, TR Dasher also sired second fastest qualifier Kindly Fellow and third fastest qualifier Mr TR Dasher. In other PCQHRA Breeders Futurity notes, Farias and Aceves combined to qualify four runners. The two won trials with qualifiers S-Quarter K LLC’s Ima Chickie Two and David and Ross Hinkins’ Illegal Smile, while Brett Abrams’ Stolis Diamond also advanced to the final despite finishing in fourth place in a trial two. Berenisse Gonzalez’s Kindly Fellow was the winner of that highly productive second heat that saw four horses advance. Taras Secret, a homebred owned by Dutch Masters III, and Gary Wright’s Azzia, a Snowbound filly out of a Merridoc mare, will also compete in the half-million dollar finale. Ridden by Juan Andrade for trainer Jose Flores, Kindly Fellow had his work cut out on Saturday, as he left the gate a few steps behind the quick breaking Stolis Diamond before starting to fly in the second half of the race. Kindly Fellow had taken charge by the midway point of the race and eventually crossed the wire a half length ahead of Taras Secret in a time of :17.395. Kindly Fellow is now a three-time futurity qualifier this season. Previously, he finished fourth in the $340,000 Kindergarten Futurity and second in the $1,126,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity. Long Gone was not the only one closing the chapter on a troubled Governor’s Cup Futurity. Ima Chickie Two, who was the one that was interfered with in that race, posted a most impressive 1 ¾ length victory in the seventh trial. The Chicks Beduino filly was eight in both the Kindergarten and Governor’s Cup Futurity, but her connections hope that the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity will see her deliver in a big way. “There’s going to be three weeks in between the trials and the final so we’re happy about that,” said Kathy Meneely of S-Quarter K LLC. “The Governor’s Cup was disappointing, but stuff like that happens. There might be a time when we are the ones that do the interfering. If you’re in this game long enough those things will happen. We thought she had a chance to earn black type in that race. I don’t think she was going to win the race, but she could have finished third. We’d love for her to get her black type.” Illegal Smile was another impressive winner, as he won his trial by 1 ¼ lengths. The son of FDD Dynasty out of champion Blazin Fire, Illegal Smile entered the trials after running second in the John Deere California Challenge regional final. Illegal Smile has now either won or finished second in five straight races. Tremor Enterprises’ Natalie Dash was the only other trial winner to qualify. A full sister to the champion Temping Dash and Grade 1 winner A Tempting Dash, the First Down Dash filly won a hard fought decision over Governor’s Cup Futurity runner-up This Partys Fire by a half length in 11th and final trial. A winner of two of four starts, Natalie Dash was racing for the first time for trainer Jose Flores. Francisco Rubio piloted the Muller Racing LLC-bred sprinter. The complete list of qualifiers is as follows: Long Gone (:17.376), Kindly Fellow (:17.395), Ima Chickie Two (:17.402), Mr Tr Dasher (:17.464), Taras Secret (:17.484), A First Down Snow (:17.494), Natalie Dash (:17.52), Azzia (:17.528), Stolis Diamond (:17.542) and Illegal Smile (:17.579). 89 TO COMPETE IN $500,000 PCQHRA BREEDERS FUTURITY TRIALS ON SATURDAY The fastest qualifier to the Ed Burke Million Futurity, the runner-up in the Ed Burke final and the colt that was disqualified from first and placed ninth in the Governor's Cup Futurity are among the 89 2-year-olds racing in Saturday's trials to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. The evening's action will feature 11 trials and every race will see at least eight runners in the starting gate. The sixth trial will a nine-horse field and all the trials will be contested at 350 yards. The horses with the 10 fastest times will race in the PCQHRA Breeders final to be held on Saturday, October 1. Owned by Berenisse Gonzalez's Kindly Fellow will start for the first time since running a solid second to superstar Separate Fire in the Grade 1 $1,126,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity on June 26. Trained by Jose Flores, Kindly Fellow has been one of the best 2-year-olds on the grounds, as he first showed his potential when he recovered from a slow break to finish fourth in the 300-yard Kindergarten Futurity. The gelding by TR Dasher has won twice and also ran second in an Ed Burke trial to complete the results of his five-race career. Gonzalez, who is enjoying her first campaign as owner of stakes level Quarter Horses, has whole heartedly enjoyed her Kindly Fellow. "He's been so much fun," she said. "Jose and his crew has done a great job with him and I'm pleased with how well he's done in his stakes races. Kindly Fellow will start from post six in the second off 11 trials. Juan Andrade will pilot the Ed Allred-bred sprinter. Dutch Masters III’s Fire Moon did everything right the last time she competed in a futurity trial at 350 yards. The Walk Thru Fire filly posted the fastest qualifying time to the Ed Burke Million after flying out of the gate from post five on the way covering the distance in :17.36. Her effort in the final hit a few speed bumps, as she was fractious before the start of the race and then was bumped around leaving the gate. Trainer Jaime Gomez has rested the filly since that seventh place finish and she now appears like the one to beat in the eight of 11 trials on Saturday. Armando Leon's Long Gone was headed to victory in the Governor's Cup, but then he shifted inward during the race and blocked Ima Chickie Two's running path during the running of this rich futurity. Long Gone went on to cross the wire first, however, the racing stewards disqualified the TR Dasher colt because of the aforementioned incident. "After looking at the replay, we did get in the way of Ima Chickie Two," said jockey Rodrigo Aceves. "Losing the race made me feel sick." Aceves will get a chance to redeem himself aboard Long Gone, as the meet's leading Quarter Horse jockey is back aboard the Allred-bred runner in trial number three. Adan Farias will saddle him from post number one. "You know, there's nothing you can do about what happened in the Governor's Cup," said owner Armando Leon. "You have to forget about it and move on. We know we have a nice colt and that's the great thing. We know he has a lot of important races ahead of him." His first important race since his DQ is this trial to the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. Long Gone’s rivals will include the Paul Jones, Linda Pura, Twinkie Peterson and Terry Thompson's RW Red Wave, who will make her Los Alamitos debut after racing at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico. The Wave Carver filly ran third in the Ruidoso Juvenile Stakes, but had a forgettable All American Futurity trial. "She got stuck in the gate and didn't come out," said Peterson, an avid horseplayer who parlayed his passion for the game into racehorse ownership with RW Red Wave. "She had some of the best workouts at Ruidoso Downs so hopefully she likes the nightlife at Los Alamitos." Ramon Sanchez, who piloted her to a third place finish in the trials to the Rainbow Futurity, will ride her in Saturday's third trial. In the opening race of the night, Down At The Lake will make her local debut after making a couple of starts out of state. A full sister to the Grade 1 stakes placed mare My Lady First, Down At The Lake was the third highest seller at last year's Los Alamitos Equine Sale after Denny and Kris Hill paid $106,000 for the First Down Dash filly. Down At The Lake was unlucky in her All American Futurity trial and she was second in her only other start. Adan Farias will send out the two likely favorites in trials four and five for owners David and Ross Hinkins. Racing in the fourth trial, Illegal Smile is coming off a second place finish in the $40,500 John Deere California Juvenile Challenge, while stablemate FDD Moon will compete in the fifth trial after finished fourth in the John Deere finale. FDD Moon, a full brother to champion Your First Moon, has kept a busy schedule of late, as this will be his fifth start since July 16. Rodrigo Aceves will ride both horses for the Farias and Hinkins partnership. Two-time futurity finalist Ima Chickie Two will be in action for S-Quarter K LLC in the seventh trial, as she looks to put behind her very troubled trip in the Governor's Cup final. The Chicks Beduino filly had the fastest qualifying time to the Governor's Cup, but a less than perfect start and then Long Gone's interference prevented her from challenging for a top spot. She's another runner racing for the Farias/Aceves combination. Three of the four stakes winners among the 89 runners in the trials will square off in trial number nine when Deleyco Race Team's Our Kinda Magic takes on Brenda and Harvey Pickens' A First Down Snow and Ugo De La Torre’s Last To Check Him. The latter won a division to the California Breeders Freshman Stakes, while A First Down Snow took the Dixie Downs Futurity in April. Our Kinda Magic scored a dominant 1 ¼ length victory in the Pat Hyland Handicap less than a month ago. The 11th trial will feature Kolleen Ledgerwood's This Partys Fire, who at odds of 51-1 was moved up from third place to second following Long Gone's DQ in the Governor's Cup Futurity. Ledgerwood's stable has been knocking at the door of a stakes win this season, as her other top runner, Filthy Fast, was a top contender in both the Los Alamitos Winter and Golden State derbies with no winning luck. This Partys Fire has landed a tough trial that also features Cherry Creek Futurity winner Baby I Like It, Tremor Enterprises' Natalie Dash, Robert Parra's Dollar More and Elena Andrade's Mucho Fuego. Trials six and 10 are wide open events with the likes of Ajendro Ibarra's Pickens and Salvador Berro Guerrero's Governor's Cup Futurity finalist Travesty looking like major contenders to qualify. Forty five of the 89 trial runners are graduates of the 2010 Los Alamitos Equine Sale.