Hes Chickless is among the eight finalists who will compete in the $40,000 Moonist Stakes on Sunday, March 17 at Los Alamitos

© William Zuazo

LOS ALAMITOS, CA–MARCH 14, 2024–Hes Chickless, the winner of the Moonist Award in 2023, will now look to win the running of the $40,000 Moonist Stakes when he leads a strong field of eight runners in the eighth race on Sunday at Los Alamitos.

​​A multiple stakes winner, Hes Chickless is owned by Jeryl Hartley, who along with her husband, the late Ron Hartley, campaigned the great champion Moonist during a career that spanned 34 starts for 24 wins from 2013 to 2016.

Ron Hartley dreamed of winning the race named in honor of his Grade 1 stakes winning champion and he came close a few times. His stakes winning gelding Black Fryday ran third in the 2019 running of this race and the Hartleys’ multiple graded stakes winner One Proud Eagle also competed in the stakes’ inaugural running in 2018.

Champion of Champions winner Zoomin For Spuds won that first running, making him the first of a nice list of superstars to have won this race. In addition to Zoomin For Spuds, the 2019 World Champion He Looks Hot, the Grade 1 winner Shott Gun, and the hard-knocking star Mister Tornado also scored victories in this outstanding race.

Hes Chickless will now look to add his name to this outstanding collection of stars when he starts from three in this 400-yard race. The 4-year-old horse by Hes Relentless won the Grade 2 El Primero Del Ano Derby and the A Ransom Handicap last year while making 12 starts, all against competition.

His stakes success and hard working style earned him the 2023 Moonist Award as well as the PCQHRA champion 3-year-old colt title last year. To be ridden by Juan Pablo Leon, Hes Chickless will start from post number three while going after his 10th win in 23 career starts.

J. Francisco Diaz’s El Aventurero, who has looked razor sharp in his last couple of starts, will also be in action in the Moonist. The gelding by Docs Best Card won the First Down Dash Handicap to close out his 2023 campaign and then made his season debut a winning one with a solid allowance win on February 3.

To be ridden by Jesus Rios Ayala and trained by Lindolfo Diaz, El Aventurero has won four of his 13 starts while finishing in the top three in nine of those outings.

Ed Allred’s Up For Everything, who was second to El Aventurero in that February outing, will look for his first stakes victory after making appearances in four stakes events earlier in this career. Eleazar Gonzalez’s Mahomes Magic, who raced in seven stakes races during his time on the track, will join his longtime foe Hes Chickless in the Moonist. Terrific Phoenix, VF Bonafide and Chivalry will complete the field.