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Strength In Numbers defeats Go Love A Lark Go by a nose in Saturday's $200,000 Championship. Photo by Scott Martinez
Strength At The End Decides Los Alamitos Championship LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA—OCTOBER 13, 2007—Benny Rosset will have an excellent chance to win the richest running ever of the Champion of Champions after his prized mare Strength In Numbers defeated Go Love A Lark Go by a nose in Saturday's $200,000 Los Alamitos Invitational Championship at 440 yards.
With the victory, Strength In Numbers earned a starting berth to Grade 1 Champion of Champions on December 15, which this year features a $1 million purse for the first time in its 36-year history.
It could be a déjà vu of sorts for Rosset, who won last year's All American Futurity on his first trip to Ruidoso Downs with No Secrets Here, a colt that he co-owns with Vessels Stallion Farm. Rosset, a noted Brazilian businessman, has never before been involved in the prestigious 440-yard Champion of Champions, but the late running style of Strength In Numbers could earn her Quarter Horse racing's biggest prize for older horses.
"We knew that
Strength In Numbers could run at the end," said trainer Paul Jones, who saddled the 4-year-old mare by Strawfly Special. "We knew coming into this race that this distance would benefit her a lot. She was coming off a race (the 400-yard Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap) in which she finished a half-length behind Apollitical Time for second place. A few more jumps and she would have passed Apollitical Time. I knew she would love the distance but what I didn't know was whether she would be good enough to beat this group."
Against a cast that included champion Apollitical Time, the winner of last year's Los Alamitos Invitational Championship, plus champions Strawkins, Catchmeinyourdreams, and Leading Spirit, Strength In Numbers showed her goods at the end.
Bred by Double Bar S Ranch LLC, Strength In Numbers left the outside post 10 in fifth place and right away she began to battle her rivals in what was a very contentious race. Go Love A Lark Go, Five Bar Molly, and Apollitical Time were all in the mix with Strength In Numbers and last year's runner-up Strawkins not too far behind. Strength's strengths began to show with about 100 yards to go, as jockey Cesar De Alba piloted her to perfection as she rallied to defeat
Go Love A Lark Go by a nose. Her winning time of :21.23 was the second fastest ever in this race, only behind Heza Ramblin Man's 1997 stakes record of :21.18.
"I was happy that she had post number 10," Jones explained. "It's my opinion that the outside draw is a good spot for closers. Strength In Numbers does not have early speed, so if she's between horses on the inside part, she could have been shut off her running lane. With the outside post, there was little chance that she would run into that type of a problem. It seemed to me like the outside horses were getting a good hold of the track."
Runner-up Go Love A Lark Go broke from post nine, while
Apollitical Time finished fourth after leaving the gate from post eight. R.D. Hubbard's
Ketel Won ran an impressive race, overcoming last place after bobbling at the start to finish in third place from along the rail.
Strength In Numbers and Ketel Won were two of the four horses that Jones, a five-time AQHA champion trainer, saddled in this race. He also saddled Bank of America California Championship winner
Strawkins, who settled for fifth place as the 3-1 favorite, and
Leading Spirit, who never got going on the way to an eighth place finish. With numbers on his side, more specifically Strength In Numbers, Jones picked up his first ever win in the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship.
"I've finished second several times in this race, so it's nice to finally get a win," he said. "The only three major races that I've not won at Los Alamitos are now the Golden State Million Futurity, PCQHRA Breeders Futurity and the Ed Burke Million Futurity."
Jones saddled No Secrets Here to All American glory for Rosset and Vessels Stallion Farm. He would like nothing more than help Rosset achieve another tremendous victory in the Champion of Champions.
"Benny is one of the nicest guys in the business," Jones said.
He's also one the busiest. Rosset could not attend the running of the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship, as he was in Portugal at the time. In Brazil, Rosset runs a company that manufactures lingerie and swimsuits for retailers such as Victoria's Secret and The Gap. He owns the 1,500-acre Haras Flor do Campo near Sorocaba, Brazil, a farm that in past has been home to stallions Splash Bac and Dash To Chivato. A father of three children ages 11 to 7, Rosset is the president of the Jockey Club de Sorocaba. His company's Cia Maritama beachwear has been featured at New York's Fashion Week.
"Benny is one of the most unassuming guys that you'll ever meet," said Vince Genco, who manages Rosset's horse business in the United States. "When he won the All American I thought he was going to have a heart attack because he was so excited. For a moment, I thought everyone was going to be in the winner's circle celebrating while I was going to be stuck giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
"I just left him a message on the phone telling him that it had rained last night and that his mare had the outside post, but that none of that mattered because she won anyways," Genco added. "He'll be excited about the Champion of Champions. He calls it 'the thunder in his belly.' He'll get excited and nervous - I will too - but you know, he deserves it because he loves the sport and he's made a big investment in Quarter Horse racing. Plus, he's one of the nicest guys that you'll ever meet."
Meanwhile, jockey Cesar De Alba continues to be one of the big stories of the 2007 meet at Los Alamitos. An unknown to Quarter Horse racing fans less than 18 months ago, De Alba is now the track's third leading jockey and in the last six racing nights, he's piloted the winners of the $484,000 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity, the $50,000 Blane Schvaneveldt Handicap and now the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship. Prior to this year, De Alba had only 15 Quarters Horse wins to his name.
"A year or two ago, if you would have asked me who Cesar De Alba was, I wouldn't have known a thing about him," Jones said. "I told him before this race, 'you're the upset king,' and he said, 'that's me.' He's a nice kid, smart, great personality, sharp, aggressive, and a good rider. He's doing everything right and it's not just me saying that, everyone is saying that about him."
A winner of two of nine starts this year; Strength In Numbers earned $100,000 for this effort to take her career earnings to $210,708. This was her fourth stakes win at Los Alamitos. Her previous wins were all non-graded races: the Cash For Kas Overnight Handicap on January 21; the Newport Beach Overnight Handicap on July 29, 2006; and the Cypress Overnight Handicap on April 21, 2006. Perhaps her most impressive stat is her competitiveness in stakes races, as she's now hit the board in 10 of her 12 stakes appearances at this level. She ran fourth in her two other starts.
"We knew she had a chance to become a really good mare after the Newport Beach," Genco recalled. "She had a lot of trouble in that race and she still found a way to win."
She found a way to win. Just like she did in the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship.
Erasmo Hernandez's Go Love A Lark Go, who ran second in the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity and third in the Grade 1 Go Man Go Handicap, earned $34,000 for his second place finish in this race. A two-time overnight handicap winner this season, Go Love A Lark Go was ridden by Jeff Williams for trainer Hector Jaime Hernandez.
Ketel Won earned $20,000 for his third place finish. This was his eighth race at 440 yards in 12 career starts. Saul Ramirez Jr. piloted the Stoli winner of this year's All American Gold Cup and Higheasterjet Handicap.
Apollitical Time earned $14,000 to take her career earnings over the $900,000 mark. She's now made $902,422 in her career. Her paycheck in this race helped her move past Sgt Pepper Feature, PYC Paint Your Wagon and Separatist in the all-time list of horses by money earned.
Strawkins, who will make his next appearance in the $300,000 Bank of America Challenge Championship, earned $10,000. "He stumbled at the start and that was the difference," said owner Don Boyle. The Hawkinson gelding finished about a length behind Strength In Numbers.
Catchmeinyourdreams, a three-time winner in this race, finished sixth and followed by Five Bar Molly, Leading Spirit, Soul Of Silence and Startlet Hawk. Los Alamitos Invitational Championship(G1)$200,000, Los Alamitos, Oct 13, 3 year-olds & up, 440 yards
1.
Strength in Numbers, sor. f. 4, by Strawfly Special--Strength of Heart, by Heza Fast Man, Bred by Double Bar S Ranch LLC (CA). Owner-Benny Rossett. Trainer-Paul C. Jones. Jockey-Cesar DeAlba.
2.
Go Love a Lark Go, b. g. 5, by Love a Lark--#Picture Me Gone, by Deregulate, Bred by Gale E Searle (UT). Owner-Erasmo Hernandez. Trainer-Hector Jaime Hernandez. Jockey-Jeff Williams.
3.
Ketel Won, sor. c. 4, by Stoli--Sixy Lady, by Streakin Six, Bred by R D Hubbard (TX). Owner-R. D. Hubbard. Trainer-Paul C. Jones. Jockey-Saul Ramirez, Jr.
Margins: no, ½, no
Value to winner: $100,000 2nd $34,000 3rd $20,000
Time: 21.234
Track: Fast
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Subject: LOS ALAMITOS INVITATIONAL THIS SATURDAY 
October 11th 2007, 12:23 am
