&farmLOS ALAMITOS, CA—OCTOBER 2, 2010—For three straight races on Friday night, Vessels Stallion Farm was represented in the winner’s circle at Los Alamitos Race Course with horses that were bred by the famous Bonsall farm.

Then, in the ninth race of Friday’s program, a Vessels homebred did it again, except that this time Vessels Stallion Farm, along with co-owner Bud Feldkamp, owned the winner and this time the race was the feature of the night.

Ridden by Francisco Rubio for trainer Adan Farias, the homebred Whole Lot Of Karma worked his magic with a half length victory over 1-5 heavy favorite Headturner in the $153,700 PCQHRA Breeders Derby.

The victory was an emotional one for Vessels Stallion Farm, as it represented its first major stakes victory since Frank “Scoop” Vessels passed away in a plane accident. In the winner’s circle, Vessels Stallion Farm was represented by Scoop’s wife, Bonnie, and his son, Kash.

Bonnie Vessels was emotional following the victory, but Vessels ranch manager Kevin Dickson was right on the money when he said “this is a good kind of emotions. When the first homebred won a $7,000 maiden race earlier on this night, it felt as good as when (Vessels’) Sentimental Chick won a race during the week that Scoop passed away.

There were forty of us at Scoop’s house when the horse won. Sentimental Chick was breaking from post four and in that race the number three horse broke inside and the five horse broke outside and Sentimental Chick had a clear path to victory. We almost tore the roof down on the house that night. You would have thought we had just won the biggest race in the sport.

“‘Can you imagine how we feel after winning this race right now? Bonnie’s emotions are all over the place right now, but these are good kinds of emotions. The big guy, Scoop, is looking down on us right now with a smile,’ ” Dickson added.

Sent off at 9-1 odds, Whole Lot Of Karma earned $64,554 for the win to take his career earnings to $108,265. The son of Apollo TB out of Its Good To Be Queen improved his record to five wins in 13 starts.

“It’s important for us that everybody keeps in mind our breeding program because it will keep being the same,” said Bonnie Vessels. “A couple of the horses that won tonight were Scoop’s experiments so it was nice to see them win. (Scoop) and I sat through a lot of meetings together about breeding horses. I have Kash here with me and I think the two of us can keep things going like Scoop would have wanted. Horses are what Scoop planned, did and loved. We’ll try to continue on.”

“We’re going to do the best we can and keep moving forward,” Kash Vessels added.

“We had a lot of help from above on this one,” said Bonnie before talking about the co-owner of Whole Lot Of Karma. “Bud Feldkamp is a real good, dear friend. I called him about this race, but he’s on a boat somewhere yachting. He called the ranch to say that he had received my message and I just called him to let him know that we had won. I think he heard me sobbing enough to figure out that we had won.”

Whole Lot Of Karma’s victory is only the start of what Vessels Stallion Farm hopes will be a huge weekend of fun. The farm is preparing for the first of two days that make up the Los Alamitos Equine Sale.

“The sales were always Scoop’s babies,” Dickson added. “I’ve been at Vessels for 16 years and I think the Vessels/Schvaneveldt Sale started about 17 years ago. Scoop loved it when people would come to his home to see his horses. The sales were a lot of work, but they were a lot of fun. They were like our spring cleaning because we always wanted to make the place spark. We’re really looking forward to this year’s Equine Sale. Our barn was busy today. Scoop would have loved it. He loved the horse business. He loved every aspect of it. We have a lot of great prospects this year and I think the standout colt is (#417 Down At The Lake) a full brother to My Lady First. He is by First Down Dash. The filly at the Equine Sale that I really like is (#321) by Mr Jess Perry out of Separate Bet’s mother, Better Bet On Me.”

The simple mention of First Down Dash made Bonnie point out a few facts about the all-time leading sire.

“Everybody needs to realize that a 26-year-old horse will not be here forever,” Bonnie added. “Nothing made Scoop happier than seeing people visit First Down Dash. He still loves to have his photo taken, but just bring a bag of sunflowers when you come to visit him.”

Headturner, a gelded son of Check Him Out earned $26,129 for running second for trainer Jose Flores and owner Jose Ramon Sandoval.

Making Fire, Effectiveimmediately, Fire Specialist, Beer Blast, Sea Worthy, Wimping, and Shes First Down completed the field.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com