LOS ALAMITOS, CA—AUGUST 12, 2016—Champion Jake Gold BR will defend his title in the Bank of America California Championship when he heads an 11-horse field in the $74,070 final at 440 yards Sunday at Los Alamitos.

The winner of this race will represent California in the $350,000 Bank of America Challenge Championship to also be held here on Saturday, October 29.

Trained by Paul Jones for Clodoaldo De Oliveria Miranda, Jake Gold BR won last year’s running of this race and then posted a solid third place finish in the Challenge Championship final held at Lone Star Park. Cesar De Alba will ride Jake Gold BR, the 2014 AQHA South American champion.

Jumonville Farms and Brian Ranch’s Dutcher appears to be the horse to beat in this race following his runner-up effort to He Looks Hot in the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity.

The Louisiana-bred won his Vessels Maturity trial and held a slight advantage during the early part of the Vessels Maturity. Those were his first two starts of the year after finishing 2015 with a second place finish in the Grade 1 Texas Classic Derby.

The Bank of America California final will also feature Fulton Quien Sabe Ranches, LP.’s He Is The Risingstar, fourth in the Vessels final and a multiple stakes winner here, and 2015 All American Derby third place finisher Fire Fortune. Seven other runners will compete in this quarter mile race.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.