Under jockey Justine Klaiber, Shaken Goin On was unchallenged at the wire in the Grade 1 $430,000 Los Alamitos Oaks on Saturday night at Los Alamitos Race Course.

© William Zuazo

LOS ALAMITOS, CA–MARCH 22, 2025– What figured to be the most competitive and wide open field for the Grade 1, $430,000 Los Alamitos Oaks turned out to be a one-filly showcase for James Sills and Abel Flores' Shaken Goin On, as the Eddie Willis-trainee flew out of the gate and dominated every step of the 400-yard race in route to a much easier victory than the ¾ length winning margin would suggest here on Saturday night.

Ridden by Justine Klaiber from post number one, Shaken Goin On took off as soon as the gate opened to establish a 1 ¼ length advantage after the first 100 yards. By the midway point, the daughter of Freighttrain B had a 1 ½ length lead, and from there, she was on cruise control all the way to the wire to post her sixth win in 11 career starts.

Sent off as the favorite at 7-2 odds, the Oklahoma homebred earned $180,600 for her spectacular win to take her career earnings to $284,708. Her Oaks victory came in her fifth appearance in a stakes race following a solid juvenile campaign in which she made four finals, including the Mystery Futurity and the Black Gold Fillies Futurity both at Will Rogers Downs.               

Owner James Sills and trainer Eddie Willis accept the Los Alamitos Oaks stakes trophy Saturday night at Los Alamitos Rae Course © William Zuazo

Shaken Goin On has won both her Los Alamitos starts with her Oaks success preceding her ½ length victory in the trials on March 1.

"She's really fast," Willis said. "She showed it last year. She got a little sore (last year) so we backed off. She ran in two futurities at Will Rogers Downs and had the fastest time both times. The trials races would take a little out of her and she wouldn't come back as well as I thought she would in the finals. Now being a little older and with three weeks in between the trials and the final, that helped her out a lot. She's sound. We don't have to do too much to her. We just feed her and run her. She's a good one."

Willis knows he has some great Quarter Horse owners In Sills and Flores.

"I've trained for Mr. Sills for about 30 years," Willis added. "We've been friends for a long time. I've trained for them for a long time, probably 35 years or more. We've had a lot of horses together."

Sills, Flores, and Willis have enjoyed fabulous success in graded stakes races at Los Alamitos. The trio teamed up to win the 2024 Grade 2 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity winner with Cedar Hill, and 10 years before that, they won the 2014 Grade 1 Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship with A Toss Up. And all three of their Los Alamitos graded stakes winners trace back to the 1996 mare Shake N Quack.

Trainer Eddie Willis with Los Alamitos Oaks winner Shaken Goin On. © William Zuazo

"This filly, Cedar Hill and A Toss Up have the same great grandma in Shake N Quack," Willis said. "I bought her for James and Abel for $25,000. We only got two fillies out of her. One of them (Shaken Easy Dash) is the grandma of Shaken Goin On.  Shake N Quack was a good purchase for $25,000. A Toss Up is also out of this family. He made over $500,000."

Willis credits the great horseman Butch Wise for the opportunity to buy Shake N Quake.

"He called me and told me he had mare in foal to Corona Cartel," Willis added. "She was available for $25,000. I bought her right there for James Sills and Abel Flores. The two owners never questioned me about the purchase."

Shake N Quake went on to have Shaken Easy Dash and Shake Cartel, Shaken Easy Dash is the mother of Shaken Goin On's dam, Shaken Pappasito, who made $91,787 on the track.  A multiple graded stakes placed mare and an earner of $186,960, Shaken Easy Dash is also the mother of Cedar Hill's dam, Ms Shaken Cartel. Shake N Quake's other daughter, Shake Cartel. is the dam of the family's leading earner, A Toss Up.

The Willis' team congratulate jockey Justine Klaiber following their Los Alamitos Oaks victory. © William Zuazo

"And the family is not nearly done," Willis said proudly. "We'll have some good things continuing to come out of this family. I have Suzy De Capi, who is a half-sister to Shaken Goin On. She's made over $100,000 just by nickeling and diming her way to that money. She's won here before. I bred her today."

Sills and Willis also have strong connections to Shaken Goin On's sire, Freighttrain B.

"I bought him as a yearling for $27,000 and he went on to make $420,000 for James Sills and Gerald Swindell," Willis said. "We bred him a couple of years and then I solid him to Bobby Cox for a lot of money."

Currently the leading Quarter Horse trainer at Los Alamitos, Willis also spends a lot of time with his horses in Oklahoma. Having great help at the Orange County oval allows the former AQHA champion trainer the flexibility to go back and tend for his horses back home.

"I'm fortunate to have a good assistant here in Albert Valles," Willis said. "He's dedicated to the business. He's been with me for four years and pretty much runs my operation at Los Alamitos. I have to travel back and forth, but I talk to him every day. We get along well, and I trust him with everything that I have. I have 75-80 head of horses to take care of. I just brought 10 horses to Los Alamitos. I bring them out here and try to make some money in races like the Los Alamitos Oaks. I'll have six or seven in the Kindergarten and the others will go in the Ed Burke."

Parsons Ranch's homebred Powerful Wise Lady broke nicely from the outside post 10, dueled with fastest qualifier Beach Walk the entire way before outrunning her to finish in second place.

Ridden by Henry Reynoso Lopez for trainer Paul Jones, Powerful Wise Lady earned $73,100 for her effort. Powerful Wise Lady is the daughter of the Thoroughbred sire Power Jam and is out of the multiple stakes-placed mare Another Wise Lady.

Gentry Farms' Beach Walk, who was the fastest qualifier for this race, earned $51,600 for running third. Eduardo Nicasio rode the Kentucky-bred daughter of the sire Freighttrain B and the broodmare Heartbeat. Gentry Farms bred Beach Walk, who has now finished in the money in nine of her 10 career starts.

Apolitical Chilitas, Bold N Beautiful, Hott Temptation, Elizabeth Alexandria, Streakin Sis, Up To Party, and Call Her Perfect completed the field.   

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For more information, please get in touch with larace@losalamitos.com. You can also follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @losalracing or visit us online at www.losalamitos.com.

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