Preview Racing


Final Berths To Champion Of Champions Up For Grabs On Sunday Night
Grade 1 Albuquerque Fall Quarter Horse Championship winner Mi Amor Secreto will head the first of two Z. Wayne Griffin Trials at 400 yards Sunday night at Los Alamitos Race Course.

© Coady Photography
Final Berths To Champion Of Champions Up For Grabs On Sunday Night

LOS ALAMITOS, CA—NOVEMBER 15, 2019—The road to the Grade 1, $600,000 Champion of Champions wraps up on Sunday night at Los Alamitos with the final berths up for grabs in the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials.

The horses with the fastest times in the trials will receive provisional berths to the prestigious 440-yard Champion of Champions to be held here on Saturday, December 14. As of right now, it appears that there will be four berths available in Sunday’s trials. Grade 1 winners BH Lisas Boy, Zoomin For Spuds, Katies Easy Moves, Tequila Sangria, Flash And Roll and Sf Hot Pass are the other horses expected to compete in the Champion of Champions.

The first of two Z. Wayne Griffin Trials at 400 yards will be headed by Kelly Perez’s Mi Amor Secreto, the winner of the Grade 1, $300,000 Albuquerque Fall Quarter Horse Championship at The Downs at Albuquerque. The son of The Louisiana Cartel ran second in the Grade 1 Remington Park Championship and Eastex Stakes also at Remington Park. His last start at Los Alamitos came in mid-November of 2018 when he finished second to Corona Ranger in the $150,000 Adequan Derby Challenge Championship. Trained by Marcos Carrizales, who earlier this year saddled Mr Jess Jenkins to victory in the All American Futurity, Mi Amor Secreto will start from along the rail in this trial with jockey Jose Amador Alvarez up.

Monica Williams’ Hoststepper, the AQHA champion 3-year-old last year, will also be in action while searching for his first victory of the year. The son of One Famous Eagle was unstoppable in big races last year, as he won the All American Derby and Texas Classic Derby. He also ran second in the Rainbow Derby. His best local finish here was a runner-up finish in the Independence Day Handicap back in July.

Bobby Simmons’ Suze Returns is the lone 3-year-old filly in the trials and one of three sophomores competing for a Champion of Champions spot. The daughter of High Rate Of Return was third to Tequila Sangria in the Grade 1 Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap here and prior to that she was third to eventual All American Derby winner Rustys Miracle in an All American trial.

Ed Allred’s millionaire He Looks Hot is another top contender in this trial, as he's hoping for his fourth consecutive trip to the Champion of Champions. He's also looking for his fifth win in a year in which he's won the Spencer Childers Championship Handicap and Moonist Handicap. Scott Willoughby will saddle the gelding by Walk Thru Fire. Zoomin For Spuds is also racing in this event, but he already owns a berth to the Champion of Champions.

The second trial will be headed by Lesley Joyner’s Jesstacartel, the runner-up in last year’s Champion of Champions, Jess Macho Corona, the second place finisher in this year’s Grade 1 All American Derby, and As And Js, the runner-up in this year’s Mildred Vessels.

Trained by Mark Skeen, Jesstacartel looked great when winning his trial to the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity before finishing a solid third to BH Lisas Boy in the 400-yard final. He's finished fifth and nine in his last two starts, both in Grade 1 stakes races. Gary Nutt and Turner Farms' Jess Macho Corona broke through the gate in his Los Alamitos Super Derby trial, but he's one of the best sophomores in the country and a favorite to contend here.

Richard Frandsen's Favorite Motion is the other sophomore in the trials with a big time chance to contend.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.