LOS ALAMITOS, CA—MARCH 225, 2018—Jim Walker’s Zoomin For Spuds scored his first stakes victory since the Grade 1 Champion of Champions in 2016 thanks to an impressive wire-to-wire daylight win over reigning PCQHRA champion aged gelding BH Lisas Boy in the $27,500 Moonist Handicap on Sunday at Los Alamitos.

Ridden by Jesus Rios Ayala for trainer Monty Arrossa, Zoomin For Spuds had finished second to BH Lisas Boy in the Grade 1 Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship after leading during the early going of the 400-yard race. .

Zoomin For Spuds was the fastest out of the gate in the Moonist and this time there was no catching him at 400 yards. The 5-year-old gelding by Zoomin For Bux led by a half-length after the first call, but he got stronger with each stride on the way to picking up his eighth career stakes win at Los Alamitos. Zoomin For Spuds also continues to be a model of consistency. He’s finished third or better in an impressive 26 of 28 career starts.

The Moonist was also his 10th career win and his earnings for the race of $15,125 lifted his lifetime bankroll to $573,281. Zoomin For Spuds is definitely back to his top form, which saw him collect six stakes wins in route to being voted the AQHA champion 3-year-old gelding in 2016.

"The horse is coming along real well," Arrossa said. "We turned him out last year and we were bringing him back and I didn’t think we had him that fit. He ran a good race (third in the 2017) Champion of Champions and ran a good race in the Los Alamitos Winter Championship, but we didn’t think that we had him quite fit to where we wanted him. He’s doing great right now. We kind of sat down and had a meeting with our rider. We all talked that we can’t keep doing the same thing. We made a few changes with him and the way we were training him. He’s responded well.

"It was a heartbreaker in the Winter Championship, but we got outrun by a great horse. BH Lisas Boy is total class. This was a rerun of the Winter Championship (in the Moonist) and it was a Champion of Champions (type of a) field and fitting for the Moonist Handicap, who was a great horse. It’s an honor to win this one."

Zoomin For Spuds covered the 400 yards in :19.587 with the trials to the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity (on June 17) as his next major target.

"We are looking to get back to the Champion of Champions," Arrossa added.

Owned and trained by Bill Hoburg, BH Lisas Boy was second throughout the Moonist with Cesar De Alba aboard from post number one. The 6-year-old gelding by Mighty Invictus earned $6,188 for running second to take his career earnings to $525,431. He’s been first or second in 24 of his 30 career starts.

In addition to Zoomin For Spuds and BH Lisas Boy, the field to this race also featured Jens List Memorial Stakes winner LD Is Back, multiple graded stakes winner One Proud Eagle, Southern California Derby winner Mr Apollitical Dash, and PCQHRA Breeders Futurity winner Racy High Roller.

The combined earnings of these six horses coming into the race was $1,980,608. Their combined earnings after this race is now $2,008,108.

Darling Farms and Jaime Gomez’s Walk Thru Fire gelding LD Is Back earned $3,437 for running third and has made $110,589 in his career.

He was followed across the wire by One Proud Eagle, Mr Apollitical Dash, and Racy High Roller.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.