As And Js, 5-Year-Old Mare
Apollitical Jess-Adolph Tres Knockout, by Tres Seis

Qualified via the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials
Lifetime Record: 22-7-7-2 $484,134
2019 Record: 4-1-2-0 $97,292

As And Js, the only mare in this year's Champion of Champions field, has a wonderful female lineage to rely on as far as her pedigree is concerned. Her dam is the Tres Seis mare Adolph Tres Knockout, who won the Grade 3, $136,184 Oklahoma Futurity. As And Js' granddam is the 1985 Special Effort mare Genuine Knockout, the dam of All American Futurity winner Falling In Loveagain ($1,210,375) and offsprings with total earnings of over $1.7 million. Genuine Knockout participated in stakes races like the Jess Burner Memorial Handicap, All American Gold Cup, Las Damas Handicap, and the QHBC Distaff Memorial Handicap. As And Js' breeding is back in the spotlight with her appearance in the Champion of Champions. Her sire is champion Apollitical Jess, the winner 2010 Champion of Champion in a track record time of :20.0939 at 440 yards.

On the racetrack, As And Js has been excellent throughout her career. Her record includes 16 top three finishes from 22 outings and an impressive career bankroll just shy of the half-million mark. As And Js' stakes performances include victories in the $108,000 Junos Request Handicap in 2019 and $80,500 Easy Date Handicap in 2018 - both at Remington Park. She's also won a pair of stakes races at Will Rogers Down: the $66,228 Oklahoma Horsemen's Association Derby in 2017 and the $303,000 Black Gold 350 Futurity in 2016. She made a great first impression at Los Alamitos, as she finished strongly in her local debut to run second to the sophomore filly Tequila Sangria in the Grade 1 Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap. She continued to show her mettle in her next start, running second to 2018 PCQHRA Horse of the Year Jesstacartel in the second division of the Z. Wayne Directors Trial. As And Js had the early lead in that trial before Jesstacartel's long strides got him the win by a nose.

As And Js was bred in Oklahoma by Five Puig Racing, LLC. Prior to arriving to the barn of trainer Monty Arrossa at Los Alamitos, she ran under the flag of owner/trainer Leonardo Alcala of Fort Myers, Florida. Alcala trained the winners of 12 races from just 67 starters. In addition to As And Js, Alcala has also trained the filly Shes Relentlesswagon ($33,152) and Ivory Runnin ($26,795). Alcala has been a more visible presence in the sport as an owner, as his silks have been carried by 193 starters for 22 wins, 26 seconds and 14 thirds for earnings of $725,044. As And Js has been his most notable runner.

Trainer Monty Arrossa has become a mainstay in the Champion of Champions thanks to Zoomin For Spuds, who won the 2016 running of this prestigious race. Zoomin For Spuds has qualified to each of the last four runnings of the Champion of Champions. Arrossa will saddle As And Js, Zoomin For Spuds, and Katies Easy Moves in the 47th running of the Champion of Champions.

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BH Lisas Boy, 7-Year-Old Gelding
Mighty Invictus-Apollo Snowbound, by Snowbound

Qualified by winning the Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship
Lifetime Record: 42-23-10-3 $921,053
2019 Record: 6-3-2-0 $163,391

For Bill Hoburg, BH Lisas Boy is a dream come true. "I was leaning on the rail by the paddock about seven years ago watching the horses get saddled for the Champion of Champions," Hoburg said. "What I would have given to have a horse like that someday. I just never thought I would have a horse as nice as those being saddled on that evening." He has one now, as his outstanding BH Lisas Boy will now be making his third straight appearance in the Champion of Champions. "I have been poor my whole life, and I've turned down more money for this horse than I ever thought I would ever turned down," Hoburg added. "This is a dream I've had for 40 years to have a horse like this. I can throw hay over the fence at him for the rest of his life." Hoburg added. "This horse is very easy going, but he can have a mind of his own," Hoburg added. "When we're done in the mornings and I lead him back to his stall, he'll just stop and stand for five minutes before he walks into his stall. He won't go inside until he's ready. I don't care, I'll stand right there with him until he's ready. I'll wait all day for him if I have to. He's a little spoiled, but he's my horse so that's okay. I want him happy. If he's happy, I'm happy."

BH Lisas Boy completed a career grand slam of Grade 1 stakes races when winning the $125,000 Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship at 440 yards on October 13. By winning this race, BH Lisas Boy became the first Quarter Horse with career victories in the Robert Boniface, Go Man Go Handicap, Vessels Maturity, and Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship. The 11-time Los Alamitos stakes winner also won the Grade 1 Bank of America Championship Challenge here in 2018, leaving the Grade 1 Champion of Champions as the only major race for older horses at Los Alamitos to be added to his great list of accomplishments.

"That's our goal," Hoburg said after watching BH Lisas Boy score his 23rd win in 42 career starts. "It appears to me that being 7-years-old he's at the top of his game. I thought he'd probably (be retired) by now being that old. His older brother that I pony off of, he was a graded winner as well. When he got to be 6-years-old he said 'I'm done.' Another of his brothers did the same thing. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop with this horse, but this horse just keeps putting it out there. We thought about running him in the Bank of America Championship (on October 26), but we decided to keep him here. This is home for him. He loves his house and he loves this track."

Only 18-years-old, Oscar Andrade Jr. will ride BH Lisas Boy in this year's Champion of Champions. The young pilot made his debut last year and won his first stakes race in the Grade 3, $50,000 Miss Princess Handicap on May 12. He's made a great team with BH Lisas Boy, as he has ridden the veteran gelding a total of five times resulting in three graded stakes wins and a pair of second place finishes against Grade 1 competitors.

Now, for a few more of BH Lisas Boy's career highlights. In 2018, BH Lisas Boy became the first back-to-back winner of the Grade 1 Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship, formerly named just the Los Alamitos Winter Championship. That would not have been possible without some creativity. With the Los Alamitos track closed for winter renovation and with BH Lisas Boy requiring to post a workout in time for the Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship after going on the vet's list, Los Alamitos racing officials set up a workout for BH Lisas Boy at Santa Anita Park on February 5, 2018. BH Lisas Boy worked 220 yards nicely in an easy :12.60 and in the process, he became the first Quarter Horse to work at Santa Anita since Griswold did so in preparation for his famous 1991 match race with the Thoroughbred Valiant Pete. BH Lisas Boy ran third to eventual World Champion Bodacious Eagle in last year's Champion of Champions and fifth to Mr PYC To You in the 2017 running.

He also won the 2018 Bank of America California regional at 440 yards, with a flying finish that will live in the memory as one of the most impressive come-from-behind efforts ever in a Quarter Horse stakes race, BH Lisas Boy rallied back from being more than two lengths behind AQHA champion Hold Air Hostage halfway through the Bank of America California Regional Championship to win the 440-yard race by a nose. "In midstretch I thought we were going to get our you-know-what handed to us," Hoburg said. "But our horse just kept running at (Hold Air Hostage). I'm really proud of him. He's a once in a lifetime horse. I just appreciate him every day. That (final) 40 yards really makes a difference for this horse," Hoburg said of BH Lisas Boy. "At 400 yards we were beaten badly. It was a great finish by my horse."

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And one final quote from the always quotable Bill Hoburg: "I bought his mother, Apollo Snowbound, for $3,500 as a yearling and I paid $500 for the stud fee at a stallion (services) auction. I liked the filly because she was out of a mare sired by Shawne Bug. He was a very good broodmare sire. Apollo Snowbound's grandmother is Stars Apollo. She was Bob Pulse's great matriarch mare. I saw Stars Apollo win a futurity in (1969) for fun. I was still in high school when I saw her win. You never forget when you see a good horse run."

A multiple stakes winner, Stars Apollo won 10 of 28 races while earning just $19,096. She won the Charlie Russell Futurity, Northern QHRA Futurity, and Tumbleweed Futurity in a 330-yard-track record time at Sunset Downs.

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Flash And Roll, 3-Year-Old Filly
First Moonflash-Stylish Jess, by Feature Mr Jess

Qualified by winning the Los Alamitos Super Derby
Lifetime Record: 13-10-0-0 $1,689,718
2019 Record: 6-4-0-0 $475,964

When Scott Bryant's AQHA champion Flash And Roll outdueled three-time derby winner Powerful Favorite to win the Grade 1, $1,009,650 Los Alamitos Super Derby on Sunday, November 10, she completed a historic triple of stakes victories at Los Alamitos Race Course. Flash And Roll became the first Quarter Horse to win the Golden State Million Futurity, Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity and Los Alamitos Super Derby. Her winning time of :19.516 in the 400-yard Super Derby was the fastest in the race since World Champion Heza Dasha Fire won in :19.46 in 2015.

The filly by First Moonflash also improved her lifetime record to a perfect six for six at the Orange County oval. To be ridden by Cody Jensen for trainer Justin Joiner, Flash And Roll enters with career earnings to $1,689,718. Her lifetime bankroll ranks 19th in career Quarter Horse earnings. She's only $64,605 away from tying the great Dashingly for 18th place. A win in the Champion of Champions would make her the first 3-year-old filly to win this race since World Champion Blues Girl Too in 2007. The win would earn her $300,000 and would take her close to the $2 million mark in career earnings.

Her Super Derby victory was one of the races of the year. The Julianna Hawn Holt-bred filly took the lead shortly after and retained command from there, even when Powerful Favorite was breathing down her neck the entire way.

"I got away from the gate like a rocket," said Jensen about his ride on Flash And Roll. "As good as I got away I thought I'd get the jump on everybody. We hit the ground that first time and Powerful Favorite was right with me, maybe a head or half-a-neck behind me. The race was on. It was a dogfight from the first jump. Those two extremely good 3-year-olds just hooked up and ripped down through there. I was telling Scott Bryant that most of her races have been so easy when she's won or in the races where she's gotten beat, they've been a disaster right off the bat. That was the first time she's really been in a dogfight. I was very impressed at how she handled herself and really dug in and did what it takes to get there first. It was impressive because a lot of times a horse that hasn't really been challenged as hard like she was today you don't know how they will do until they get hooked in a battle. She outfinished (Powerful Favorite) there at the end. I would not have guessed that a little - maybe 900 pound - filly would have outkicked that big (gelding) on the end. I thought I had the quickness advantage over him, which was negated as good as he broke today. She actually was the stronger finisher tonight. I was very proud of her."

The great G.R. Carter piloted Flash And Roll in her futurity wins at Los Alamitos last year, but Jensen was very familiar with this champion.

"I chased Flash And Roll a lot last year," he added. "I watched her a lot because first and foremost I'm a fan of horse racing. I love good horses. I love watching her run. I loved chasing her. The only thing I didn't like was not riding her. As much as I paid attention to her - and I worked her in Ruidoso before the All American trials, and galloped her a few times here last year - I kind of knew her a little bit. She's a filly that enjoys her job. She's kind of always on edge."

Trainer Justin Joiner saddled Bodacious Eagle to win the Champion of Champions last year and will now have a solid chance to make it back-to-back victories in the prestigious race thanks to Flash And Roll.

"I'm just glad that filly has come back the way she has," Joiner said. "I'm glad to have this race. They really put up a pretty good horserace today. I was wondering if that horse was going to close in on us, but she seemed to get another gear down here and did her job. I'm sure glad she finished. In All American Derby she actually got away really well. She got bumped around good. One of the horses got disqualified. She took it pretty hard. The first couple of weeks down here I was just trying to put her back together and really hoping that it didn't affect her mentally. It didn't seem to. Sometimes a change of environment really helps."

In 2018, Joiner made quite a splash in his first year of training Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos. Joiner, who is the son of longtime trainer Mike Joiner, saddled Johnny Trotter's Bodacious Eagle to a win in the 2018 Champion of Champions. He also enjoyed those two big futurity wins - the Golden State Million and Los Alamitos Two Million - with Flash And Roll.

Jensen, a three-time AQHA champion jockey, will retire at the end of the 2019 it was announced earlier this week. After piloting Flash And Roll in the Champion of Champions, he's expected to ride here on Sunday night and then on December 29 at Sunland Park before hanging up his boots. In his career, Jensen has won over 1,600 Quarter Horse races, 101 graded stakes wins and 50 Grade 1 wins. He piloted Bodacious Eagle to victory in last year's Champion of Champions and has also ridden huge starts like Catchmeinyourdreams and Snowbound Superstar just to mention a few.

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He Looks Hot, 7-Year-Old Gelding
Walk Thru Fire-Look Her Over, by Check Him Out

Qualified via the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials
Lifetime Record: 37-13-5-6 $1,318,055
2019 Record: 9-4-1-1 $120,036

Owned and bred by Ed Allred, He Looks Hot's amazing career continues, as he will make his fourth consecutive Champion of Champions appearance. Refrigerator and Jess You And I (each with five) and Zoomin For Spuds, Whosleavingwho, and Heza Dasha Fire (each with four) are the only others to have qualified to the Champion of Champions at least four times. The winner of the 2018 Grade 1, $125,000 Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship at 440 yards, He Looks Hot is the richest horse ever campaigned by Allred. Over the course of his career, He Looks Hot has also won the 2014 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, the 2016 Vessels Maturity and the 2017 and 2019 Spencer Childers California Breeders' Championship (RG1). He won the Moonist Handicap on March 29. Earlier this year, He Looks Hot became only the 43rd Quarter Horse since 2002 to earn the AQHA Supreme Race Horse title. This award recognizes racing American Quarter Horse that during its career earns $500,000 or more, wins two or more open Grade 1 stakes races and at least 10 races. Trained by Scott Willoughby, He Looks Hot earned the final necessary step to earn the honor by winning his 10th race, which came in a trial to the Grade 1 Brad McKinzie Winter Championship. He Looks Hot is by Walk Thru Fire and out of the Check Him Out mare Look Her Over, making him a full-brother to Grade 1 winner Once Over ($453,115) and a half-brother to stakes winner Take A Look (by Separatist, $179,968). Look Her Over is a half-sister to champions Hawkish, Hawkinson and Flame N Flash.

He Looks Hot's accomplishment are impressive enough on their own, but they take on added meaning when one considers that he has undergone three colic surgeries during his racing career. "He's an amazing story. He's overcome a lot and continues to run against the best horses in the country," Willoughby said.

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Ed Allred, Quarter Horse racing's all-time leading owner and breeder, reached has reached several milestone in 2019. He became the first owner to 1,500 career Quarter Horse victories. Allred, a member of the AQHA Hall of Fame, reached the mark on February 8 with the Scott Willoughby-trained Oatie Three, a gelding by Walk Thru Fire, who sailed to half-length victory in the evening's fifth race. Allred has also won additional races as co-owner, but those wins are not counted in his individual statistics. Allred then became the first owner to reach the 100 Quarter Horse stakes win plateau after his homebred Well Good won the Grade 3, $35,000 Kaweah Bar Handicap on April 24. His top stakes winners over the years have included He Looks Hot, Charger Bar, Kingman Kid, Way Maker, Twelvie, Forgive Him, Check My Thoughts, Mega Storm, Flare For Toby, Quirky, Don Callendar, Once Over, How Special, Girl Secrets, Private Practice, Really A First, Fourth And Two, Dreaming Sweet, Look Her Over, Citation Five, Up For it, etc. In 2019, Allred also became the first Quarter Horse owner to $20 million in career earnings and the first Quarter Horse breeders with $60 million in earnings. Allred's richest victory ever as racehorse owner came with He Looks Hot in the 2014 Los Alamitos Two Million. Allred also won the 1998 Los Alamitos Million Futurity with Kingman Kid. He won the Champion of Champions in 1973 with the great mare Charger Bar. In addition to campaigning He Looks Hot in the Champion of Champions, Allred will be represented by fastest qualifier Nomadic and Golden State Million Futurity finalist Up And Atem in Sunday's Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity.

Allred is synonymous with the sport. The owner of Los Alamitos Race Course and American Quarter Horse racing's all-time leader in nearly all statistical categories, Allred has been named AQHA Champion Breeder a record 13 times and AQHA Champion Owner a record six times. Allred finished as the nation's leading breeder in money earned with $3,448,478 in 2015 and has been the nation's leading breeder in wins in 27 of the last 28 years. As mentioned earlier, he is the sport's all-time leading Quarter Horse owner by earnings with over $20.6 million. He currently leads the nation with 75 wins as owner. Allred is also the all-time leading Quarter Horse breeder by earnings with $60.4 million. Allred-bred Quarter Horses have won an all-time record 5,258 races. He enters this weekend as the nation's leading breeder with 140 wins in 2019. Allred has bred many outstanding horses like Separatist, Make It Anywhere, Way Maker, Worth Doing and Making Ways, plus nearly all of his stakes winners.

Allred's racing operation has been a model of stability with Willoughby and Jimmy Glenn, Jr. campaigning most of his Quarter Horses in the past several years. "David Martin is the ranch manager at Rolling A Ranch and has worked there since he was 15," Allred added. "He's now been there (around 40) years now. John Creager has been there a long time as well, ever since he retired from riding at Los Alamitos. It's a very stable team of people and (He Looks Hot) is a credit to their work. I've had these old female families of Quarter Horses for years. I learned so much when I was younger from Spencer Childers. He taught me a lot about the female lines in the sport and their importance in breeding. I've patterned my breeding program after Spencer's program based on those ideas. He Looks Hot, for example, comes from the incredible family Oh La Proud, who is a mare that produced three AQHA champions"

Vinnie Bednar, who'll pilot He Looks Hot in the Champion of Champions for the second straight year, dueled with Jesus Rios Ayala all year long for the title of leading Quarter Horse rider. Bednar enters the weekend just two wins behind Ayala (72-70) in the title race. Bednar shared the Thoroughbred riding title at Los Alamitos with Juan Sanchez in 2018.

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Hotstepper, 4-Year-Old Gelding
One Famous Eagle-Pandorum, by Tres Seis

Qualified via the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials
Lifetime Record: 19-7-4-5 $1,356,316
2019 Record: 4-1-1-0 $21,750

Monica Williams' Hotstepper will look to become the first AQHA 3-year-old overall champion to win the Champion of Champions as an aged horse since Sgt Pepper Feature accomplished the feat in 1982. Dash For Cash, who won the 1976 Champion of Champions as a 3-year-old on the way to being named champion, also returned as an older horse to win the 1977 Champion of Champions. That would be some elite company if Hotstepper is able to hit the wire first on Sunday night.

Hotstepper will enter the 440-yard classic in excellent form after winning the first division of the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials on November 17. In his other Los Alamitos starts of 2019, he was second in the Independence Day Handicap on July 6 and sixth in both the Grade 1 Go Man Go Handicap and Grade 1 Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship. Hotstepper qualified to the Champion of Champions last year after winning the Grade 1 All American Derby, but his connections opted to instead send him to Texas to race in trials and eventually the final to the Grade 1 Texas Classic Derby. It proved to be a brilliant decision, as Hotstepper won the $375,610 Texas Classic Derby to lock up the 3-year-old title.

In addition to his victories in the All American Derby and Texas Classic Derby, the son of One Famous Eagle ran fourth in the Grade 1 Rainbow Derby. As a 2-year-old, Hotstepper finished second in the 2017 Grade 1 Texas Classic Futurity and third in that year's Grade 1 All American Futurity. Hotstepper is out of the Tres Seis mare Pandorum and was bred by Fulton Quien Sabe Ranches LP. Hotstepper's dam line has been cultivated at the Quien Sabe for more than 30 years according to Hotstepper's All American Derby profile found at aqha.org. Dam Pandorum was a two-time stakes winner who earned $70,437 in her career. This is her second foal. His third dam, Daring Difference, was an All American Futurity finalist and produced the earners of more than $450,000. She was a half-sister to the great Mr Eye Opener.

The late Joe Kirk Fulton's famed Fulton Quien Sabe Ranches has bred legendary horses for over 60 years, first under Joe Kirk's watchful eye and now with his family carrying on the efforts. World champions Dashs Dream and Special Leader are among the great runners to be bred at the Lubbock, Texas-based operation.

Hotstepper will look to give trainer Paul Jones his seventh win in the Champion of Champions. Jones, the all-time leading active Quarter Horse trainer at Los Alamitos with 3,713 Quarter Horse wins. Jones is currently only 269 wins away from tying the great Blane Schvaneveldt for most wins ever at the Orange County oval. The great Blane has the record for most Champion of Champions wins with nine. In his career, Jones has been the meet's leading Quarter Horse trainer 20 times at Los Alamitos.

Hotstepper previously raced for the partnership of Hubbard, Southway, Cope and Rafter. Legendary owner and racing executive R.D. Hubbard won the 1981 Champion of Champions with Denim N Diamonds and the 2003 renewal with The Down Side, a horse he owned in partnership with the late Johnny T.L. Jones and country music star Toby Keith.

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Jesstacartel, 4-Year-Old Gelding
One Sweet Jess - Stolmeacartel by Stoli

Qualified via the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials
Lifetime Record: 17-9-3-1 $663,600
2019 Record: 6-2-0-1 $38,137

Lesley Joyner's homebred runner Jesstacartel is the reigning Pacific Coast Quarter of the Year following a great 2018 campaign in which he won two graded derbies and ran second to eventual World Champion Bodacious Eagle in the Champion of Champions. Jesstacartel's 2019 season has been more of a rollercoaster ride, as he's had some outstanding moments like winning his trial to the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity and looking great in his Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials victory. He ran third in the Vessels final, but has also finished out of the money in a couple of stakes level races. Joyner and her husband, former MLB All Star Wally Joyner, are hoping that Jesstacartel reaches the pinnacle on Champion of Champions night.

His win in the Z. Wayne Griffin left his connections feeling good about his chances on Saturday night. "I thought he was more focused in the paddock (in the Z. Wayne) and looked better," Lesley Joyner said. There was a delay to the start of his Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials due to a late scratch, but the waiting time may have helped Jesstacartel even more. "It probably helped us a little bit because he had been having some problems in the gate," the owner added. "He had been throwing his head down before the race. He had not been interested in the race part of it. (In the trials) he got to go in and out of the gate. I think that helped him settle a little better."

Jesstacartel's other victory of the year came in the Vessels Maturity trials. Prior to his Vessels trial, he posted a surprising sixth place finish in a trial to the Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship. "He had four months off (after the Winter Championship trial) so we all had four months to think about (his previous start) and wonder," she added. "He broke well and he ran great the whole way. It was a relief to see him come back and run like that."

A year ago, the son of One Sweet Jess won the Grade 2 Golden State Derby on August 19 and then scored an impressive win in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Super Derby on November 11. The Utah bred's development as a major stakes runner was pure joy for Joyner, who also bred Jesstacartel's dam, Stolmeacartel. She made only $84 in her only two career starts, while racing only once each in 2012 and 2013. Additionally, Jesstacartel's granddam, the Corona Cartel mare Buena Cartel, never even made it to the track.

"I went to the Los Alamitos Equine Sale with (trainer) Mark Skeen and Fawna Knight and I was looking for a horse by Corona Cartel," said Joyner of Mapleton, Utah. "We came across this (2004) Corona Cartel filly named Buena Cartel bred by Paul Jones. She was small, but affordable. We bought her, but we were never able to race her. She was a little bit on the smaller side, but she was by Corona Cartel and out of Marmeta, whose family had stakes winners, so we decided to make her a broodmare. We bred Buena Cartel (to Stoli) and got Stolmeacartel, who I like to call "Ella". We sent Ella to St. George, Utah with trainer Mark Skeen, but she just did not want to race. We ran her a few times, but she just didn't want to do it. We tried a lot of different things with her with no much luck, but she was just this big, beautiful mare so we decided to breed her. That's how we got Jesstacartel."

Jesstacartel's outstanding development was one of the stories of 2018. "He's always been really big," Lesley continued. "I remember Mark Skeen saying when he started training him that he didn't know where all his parts are yet. As a 2-year-old, we decided to run him later in the year and we would just see what would happen. In his first out, he got bumped around from both sides," she continued "We started him again and this time he was on the outside. He (lugged out) at the start, but halfway through the race he started picking up speed and he won the race."

Finally, Joyner got to enjoy a win from this family of horses. Best of all, it was only the start of a lot of fun nights at the track for Ella's gentle giant. "You know, Ella is a funny mare," she added. "She's very protective of her babies. She's always had a lot of attitude. Jesstacartel doesn't have any of that attitude. He's a very sweet horse."

The owner paid the late supplement of $25,000 to make Jesstacartel eligible to run in last year's Super Derby trials. It turned out to be a winning move, as he daylighted the field. "After Stolmeacartel, we didn't think Jesstacartel would race," Lesley Joyner added. "You just never know in racing."

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Katies Easy Moves, 6-Year-Old Gelding
Maknmoves-Katie Lane Finder, by Lanes Leinster

Qualified by winning the Vessels Maturity
Lifetime Record: 25-7-7-3 $372,829
2017 Record: 8-2-2-0 $102,495

As he was developed into a legitimate Grade 1 stakes contender during the 2018 racing season, Katies Easy Moves came close to qualifying to that season's prestigious Champion of Champions. The son of Maknmoves became a fixture in the top stakes races at Los Alamitos, running fourth in both the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity and Grade 1 Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship before running second in the Grade 1 Bank of America Challenge Championship. A win in any of those races would have earned him a spot in last year's Champion of Champions, but it was not to be. "Last year, we opted to go in the Bank of America Challenge Championship final instead of the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials," trainer Monty Arrossa said. "The owners left it up to me. I knew we had to win the race to get into the Champion of Champions and we didn't. We ran second. It was a gamble. We knew we had one choice. It was either go in the Challenge or go in the trials."

"We were so close. It didn't work out, but we felt that there was always next year," said Curtis Earll, who along with his wife, Jennifer Earll, co-owns Katies Easy Moves in partnership with Five Livestock Company LLC.

In 2019, Katies Easy Moves finally earned his elusive spot in the Champion of Champions when winning the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity here in early July. It was goal accomplished for his connections. "This year, if we didn't qualify through one of these races we were going to go in the Z. Wayne," Arrossa added.

"It's just been an amazing ride," Jennifer said. "He's just so much fun to watch and follow. We couldn't ask for better partners in (Dr. Melinda Roche and Matt Telford of Five Livestock Company) or a better trainer in Monty Arrossa. He's been amazing in the way he's managed Katies Easy Moves. (Jockey) Eduardo Nicasio is a fantastic rider. It's been a dream come true. He's a once in a lifetime horse for us."

The gelding's career started with little fanfare. "We actually purchased him for $2,000 when he was just a 2-year-old before his very first start," added Jennifer Earll. "He's our very first race horse. He won't be our last."

Bred by Walker Finder in Utah and out of a mare named Katie Lane Finder, Katies Easy Moves has finished in the top three in 17 of 25 career outings, but it's been in his campaigns as an older horse where he has really shined. He has now finished in the four in each of his last eight Grade 1 stakes outings and has hit the board in 16 out of his last 20 starts. After beating BH Lisas Boy in the Vessels Maturity, he's run second to him in the Go Man Go Handicap and third in this year's Los Alaimitos Invitational Championship. "He's been running his heart out," Jennifer added.

"I have to thank my crew. I have the best team here," Arrossa said when asked to talk about Katies Easy Moves. "Ramiro Castillo is my assistant and he does a great job. Everardo Velazquez is his groom and he does a fantastic job as well. This horse ran in the Northwest. He ran in Utah and Idaho for his 2-year-old and most of his 3-year-old year. Then they shipped him down here to me. He did go back as a 4-year-old and ran a bit in the Northwest before coming back here. His owners are from the Intermountain region and they love racing at Los Alamitos. You look at Katies Easy Move's record and that's what he runs against every single time. He's facing the Champion of Champions crew each time." Katies Easy Moves is one of three qualifiers in the Champion of Champions for Arrossa. He'll also saddle 2016 Champion of Champions winner Zoomin For Spuds and the mare As And Js.

For more than 14 years, Dr. Melinda Roche has run Roche Equine Veterinary Services, P.A, an ambulatory equine practice in Twin Falls, Idaho. She established her practice after moving to Idaho from Pasco, Washington. Dr. Roche saw the need for specialized equine veterinary care for the large population of performance and recreational horses in the area. In 2017, Dr. Roche opened a clinic in Filer, Idaho. The use of this space has allowed Roche Equine to provide more services to horses in the area. Comprehensive reproductive services, performance dental care, routine wellness care, preventative medicine, lameness diagnosis, nutritional consulting, soundness examination, foal care and emergency care are just some of the services offered at Roche Equine Veterinary Services.

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Mi Amor Secreto, 4-Year-Old Gelding
The Louisiana Cartel-Streakin In Secret, by Feature Mr Jess

Qualified through the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials
Lifetime Record: 17-4-6-1 $349,862
2019 Record: 7-1-3-1 $253,002

If you see the toteboard displaying 13-1 odds on Mi Amor Secreto on the night of the Champion of Champions, you may want to to put a few bucks on the gelding by The Lousiana Cartel. Mi Amor Secreto was a 13-1 longshot when he won the $300,000 Albuquerque Fall Quarter Horse Championship for owner/breeder Kelly Perez and trainer Marco Carrizales at Albuquerque Downs on September 22. The 23-year-old Carrizales also won with another 13-1 longshot when Mr Jess Jenkins took home the $3 million All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs on Labor Day. The 13-1 odds have been gold for Carrizales.

Carrizales has certainly enjoyed good fortunes in 2019. His wins with Mr Jess Jenkins and Mi Amor Secreto have helped him become the nation's third leading trainer in money earned with $2,130,307 this year. He's also qualified to several major races this year with American Hussle both at Ruidoso Downs and Lone Star Park.

Longtime horse owners will tell you that there's nothing more special than winning a big race with a horse that you also bred and raised. In a way, the 2019 Champion of Champions will be a celebration of Quarter Horse homebreds, as six of the 10 starters in this race fit that description, and Perez's Mi Amor Secreto is one of the six.

Mi Amor Secreto's 2019 scoresheet includes a pair of runner-up efforts in major races. He was second in the Eastex Stakes and second in the Grade 1 Remington Park Invitational Championship. After a fifth place finish in the $200,000 All American Gold Cup (G1) at Ruidoso Downs, Mi Amor Secreto won his big race for Perez in the aforementioned $300,000 Albuquerque Fall Quarter Horse Championship (G1) at 440 yards.. It took the son of The Louisiana Cartel about 200 yards to take the lead, and from there the race was his. Mi Amor Secreto won the race by three-quarters of a length with Jose Alvarez in the irons. With that as his marquee victory, Mi Amor Secreto has earned over a quarter of a million dollars this year.

"I'm really excited; this win has been a long time coming," said Perez just a few minutes after the Albuquerque Fall Quarter Horse Championship. "He's just a special horse."

Of course he is. After all, he is a homebred.

Mi Amor Secreto's fifth-place finish behind winner CDS Wine N Dine in the 440-yard, All American Gold Cup (G1) came on a sloppy track at Ruidoso Downs. "I don't think he liked the mud in the All American Gold Cup," Perez added.

In Southern California, Mi Amor Secreto has started twice at Los Alamitos. He ran second $150,000 Adequan Derby Challenge Championship in 2018 and most recently finished fourth to 2018 AQHA champion Hotstepper in the first division of the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials. Mi Amor Secreto's 400-yard time of :19.688 was not fast enough to qualify to the Champion of Champion on the night of trials, but a few days later he was added to the final field after Grade 1 winners SF Hot Pass and Political Attraction declined their berths to the Champion of Champions. The homebred will now have an opportunity to rise to the top of Quarter Horse racing once again with a win in the Champion of Champions at 440 yards.

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Tequila Sangria, 3-Year-Old Filly
Favorite Cartel-Ynot Bar, by Chicks Beduino

Qualified by winning the Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap
Lifetime Record: 7-4-1-0 $101,160
2019 Record: 4-3-0-0 $77,235

It's now been 12 years since Blues Girl Too won the Champion of Champions, making her the last 3-year-old filly to win this 440-yard classic. Since then, four notable fillies have been a part of the Champion of Champions. And none have come closer to duplicating Blues Girl Too's feat than AQHA 3-year-old champion filly and La Primera Del Año Derby winner Flame N Flash, who finished second to Rylees Boy in 2012. Matabari, also an AQHA 3-year-old champion filly,, won the Los Alamitos Super Derby and then finished a strong third to eventual World Champion Last To Fire in the 2013 running. This field also featured PCQHRA Breeders Derby winner Significant Heart, who was 10th across the wire against a star-studded cast. Going back to 2011, Miss Racy Jess, the Los Alamitos Super Derby winner, finished sixth on the way to being named the AQHA champion. 3-year-old filly.

Similarly to 2013 when Matabari and Significant Heart ran, the 2019 field will have two outstanding fillies in action in 2018 AQHA champion Flash And Roll and the multiple stakes winner Tequila Sangria. Trained by Mike Casselman for powerhouse breeder and owner Dr. Steve Burns, Tequila Sangria defeated older mares in the Grade 1 Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap on September 22. Her victory came against a field that included the 5-year-old mare As And Js, who will also race in this year's Champion of Champions.The daughter of Favorite Cartel has raced just once since her victory in the Millie, and that was a forgettable fifth place finish in a trial to the Los Alamitos Super Derby. Prior to her only out-of-the money finish of the season, Tequila Sangria had won all three of her starts this year. She scored an easy victory in the Big Lew Handicap against male rivals and outdueling a solid group in an allowance race to kick-off her 2019 campaign in mid-June. When on her game, Tequila Sangria has proven capable of beating the boys and also defeating older foes. The Champion of Champions, racing's biggest test, will offer Tequila Sangria both challenges against the highest possible level of competitors.

Dr. Steve Burns operates the highly influential Burns Ranch in Menifee, California along with his wife, Jo Rae. Burns Ranch is home to the tremendous stallion Favorite Cartel. Burns' stallion station also stands Walk Thru Fire, Teller Cartel, Foose, Fly Thru The Fire, Jess Being Valiant, Seperate Interest, and Stel Corona. Dr. Burns is the nation's second leading breeder in earnings with $2,610,643 and second in wins with 136. It's possible that Dr. Burns could finish first in both by year's end. The recipient of the 2012 Frank Vessels, Sr., Memorial Award presented in appreciation of an outstanding contribution to the sport of Quarter Horse racing, Dr. Burns is the co-owner of 2019 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity winner Sass Go Blue. His past top runners have included Grade 1 Golden State Million winner Little Talks and All American Futurity finalist Crooked Path. His past Champion of Champions runners have included Militarist in 2016 and Seperate Interest in 2015. In his career as an owner, Dr. Burns has won 181 Quarter Horse races from 1,592 starts for earnings of over $3.6 million.

Mike Casselman has become one of the big money trainers at Los Alamitos. Since October of 2015, the trainer has won the Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity twice, Grade 1 Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap and the PCQHRA Breeders Derby and Futurity. He's trained 10 different horses with earnings of $100,000 or more. This list is headed by Golden State Million winners Lotta Blues Man and Little Talks. Other top trainees include AQHA champion aged mare Sass Me Blue and both Militarist and Seperate Interest. Sass Me Blue, Militarist, Seperate Interest all previously raced in the Champion of Champions. For his career, Casselman has won 339 Quarter Horse races from 2,878 starters for earnings to over $6.08 million.

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Zoomin For Spuds, 6-Year-Old Gelding
Zoomin For Bux - A Perfect Cocktail, by Corona Cocktail

Qualified by winning the Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship
Lifetime Record: 41-14-11-9 $794,171
2019 Record: 6-2-0-2 $84,605

Jim Walker's homebred Zoomin For Spuds became the fifth horse to qualify four or more times to the prestigious Champion of Champions after scoring a wire-to-wire victory in the Grade 1, $157,200 Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship on February 10. Refrigerator and Jess You And I (each with five) and He Looks Hot, Whosleavingwho, and Heza Dasha Fire (each with four) are the only others to have qualified to the Champion of Champions at least four times.

In 2016, Zoomin For Spuds won the Champion of Champions after qualifying via the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials. In 2017, he ran a strong third in the Champion of Champions after once again qualifying via the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials. In 2018, as Zoomin For Spuds qualified by winning the Grade 1, $170,500 Vessels Maturity in July, but why disrupt tradition? Trainer Monty Arrossa agreed. He saddled Zoomin For Spuds to a victory in the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials before the gelding's strong fourth place finish in the Champion of Champions.

After qualifying to the Champion of Champions for a four straight year, Zoomin For Spuds once again ran in the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trial this year, running third in his customary prep for the Champion of Champions. Now aiming for his second Champion of Champions victory, Zoomin For Spuds will look to join two-time World Champion Tailor Fit as the only horses to win two runnings of the Champion of Champions in non-consecutive years. Tailor Fit won the 1999 and 2001 editions.

Zooming For Spuds has 11 career stakes victory at Los Alamitos, making him one of only 11 Quarter Horses ever to reach that figure here. Back in July of 2018, he became the 41st Quarter Horse since 2002 to earn the AQHA Supreme Race Horse title. The Supreme Race Horse title recognizes Quarter Horse that during its career earns $500,000 or more, wins two or more open Grade 1 stakes races and at least 10 races. "Jim's goal with this horse is that he wants to see him win a million dollars," Arrossa said. "My goal has always been to get back in the Champion of Champions. We are there and hopefully we can make that million dollar goal next." Zoomin For Spuds will become a millionaire with a victory on Saturday night.

Jim Walker bred Zoomin For Spuds in Idaho out of his Corona Cocktail mare A Perfect Cocktail. The first person Zoomin For Spuds saw on the day that he was born was the smiling face of the owner and breeder. "I pulled him out of his mother," said the 87-year-old resident of Bellevue, Idaho. "First person he saw in this world was me grinning. I knew he was going to win (the Wild West Futurity)," Walker said. "I never doubted it and I never wanted to think anything different. There's no other way to think. I've owned racehorses on and off for about 40 years now," said Walker, who for years operated a sand and gravel company in Bellevue. "I feel lucky that at my age I've blessed with some good horses. I just hope that God cuts me a little (slack) and I can watch these horses a few more years."

"Jim is 87, but he's as sharp as a tack and a goer," Arrossa added. "He's a health nut. He takes care of himself and eats very healthy. Even when Idaho is getting pounded with snow, he's out on a loader moving snow and chasing elk out of his place. He has Zoomin For Spud's mother (A Perfect Cocktail) and Zoomin For Spud's half-sister, Doing Trix. He's already looking (two) years down the road about breeding those mares."

Zoomin For Spuds had a sensational campaign in 2016, as he won six stakes races headed by the Grade 1 Champion of Champions. He also won the his Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trial, Blane Schvaneveldt Handicap, Costa Mesa Handicap, Fullerton Handicap, and Wrangler Stakes. Zoomin For Spuds would go on to be named the PCQHRA Horse of the Year and AQHA champion 3-year-old gelding in 2016. He won the Wild West Futurity in 2015.

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Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.