COURTESY OF STALLIONESEARCH & LOS ALAMITOS
Silencing Los Al's Best
Soul Of Silence upset a talented field at odds of 22-1 to win the $164,100 Grade 1 Spencer L Childers California Breeders Championship Handicap at Los Alamitos Race Course on Saturday. While the field of nine included three Grade 1 winners with 11 Grade 1 victories among them, Soul Of Silence had never even competed in a Grade 1 race before Saturday.
Ridden by Saul Ramirez, Jr., for trainer Patricia Visscher, who also owns the 4-year-old gray gelding along with Douglas Rau and Marci South, Soul Of Silence gradually pulled away to win by 3/4 of a length in 19.59 seconds. Kirk Goodfellow's Catchmeinyourdreams finished second in the race for the fourth year, and Juan Alberto Tirado-Lizarraga's 2006 AQHA Champion Aged Horse Apollitical Time was third.
"[Soul Of Silence] had a lot of problems," Visscher said. "We laid him out for a while and took the chips out of his knee."
Soul Of Silence's previous best performance was a win in the Grade 3 Vandy's Flash Handicap in July 2006. The son of sire Separatist and dam Royal Dip came into the Spencer Childers off a second-place finish in a 350-yard allowance race on June 22 after more than eight months away from the races. Soul Of Silence has now won five races in 13 starts and more than doubled his career earnings to $137,631.
Catchmeinyourdreams, at 8 years old, was running in his final Spencer Childers Handicap, according to his trainer Christopher O'Dell, after finishing second in 2003, 2005 and 2006.
"He ran his heart out," O'Dell said. "It's hard to beat those younger horses. It was a good performance that he's 8 years old competing in that kind of race. He didn't get beat very far." Catchmeinyourdreams became a millionaire in an allowance race in his last start in July and will retire as one of Los Alamitos' most accomplished horses, having won five Grade 1 races, including three straight Los Alamitos Championships.
Apollitical Time was looking for her third different California Breeders Champions Night win after capturing the 2005 Governor's Cup Derby and the 2006 California Breeders Matron Stakes. The Spencer Childers Handicap had been won the previous three years by the Spencer Childers-owned Be A Bono.
Hold Me Now Aims For Top
Jose Gonzalez' Hold Me Now took a step toward becoming one of Los Alamitos Race Course's top mares by winning Saturday's $55,400 Grade 3 California Breeders Matron Stakes. With Hold Me Now capturing her first graded stakes race, trainer Hector Jaime Hernandez said he will now test the 5-year-old gray mare in the $250,000 Grade 1 Mildred N Vessels Memorial Handicap on Sept. 21, Los Alamitos' richest race for fillies and mares.
"She pulled it off, and we did it," Hernandez said. "I think she's now a candidate for the Mildred Vessels after winning this race. This was a test for her if she was a Millie Vessels or not, and I think she's a good candidate for it."
Earlier this year Gonzalez switched Hold Me Now from the barn of trainer Paul Ramirez to Hernandez' stable. Under Hernandez, the daughter of sire Separatist and Thoroughbred dam Fornow finished fifth in the Grade 3 Miss Princess Handicap and second in the Top Rockette Overnight Handicap before winning the Matron Stakes. On Saturday, Hold Me Now defeated Benny Rosset's Strength In Numbers, who had been competitive with Grade 1 winning mare Five Bar Molly.
"If we beat Strength In Numbers, I thought we'd be in a good spot for the Millie Vessels," Hernandez said.
Hernandez said Hold Me Now was aided by the increase in distance from 350 yards in her recent races to 400 yards on Saturday.
"I would rather have her go 400 because of the length of her and her agility. She looks like a 400 type of horse," Hernandez said.
Hold Me Now clocked 19.59 seconds in holding on by a nose over Ed Allred's Romanticist. John Sperry's Dreams Can Fly took third.
"I thought I had lost," owner Gonzalez said about the photo finish. "Then when we saw the number on the board we started running down to get in the picture."
Last year, Apollitical Time parlayed a win in the Matron Stakes into a victory in the Mildred Vessels Handicap and a selection as the AQHA Champion Aged Horse and Champion Aged Mare.
Trisk Gets Clean Trip In Jens List
With a clean trip from the outside, Lucas Racing's Trisk won Saturday's $44,650 Grade 3 Jens L List Jr Memorial California Breeders Stakes for 3-year-olds at 400 yards. It was the third time this year that the Paul Jones-trained First Down Dash colt has broken from either the extreme outside or inside, and he was won all three of those races. In the two races this year that Trisk has had to compete from between horses, he has run into trouble and been beaten.
"He's been spotty," owner Dan Lucas said. "He's had a lot of bad luck. He breaks slowly and takes a few jumps to get going. If the horses next to him break a little better and get him in real tight and start banging him - that's why he didn't qualify for the big race [the Governor's Cup Derby]. He needs to have a clear run at it. Tonight we were in the outside post, and I really felt this was going to be his night because of that."
The 9-5 favorite under jockey Ramon Sanchez, Trisk made up more than half a length in the final 220 yards and pulled away to win by a length in a time of 19.56 seconds. He ran the final 220 yards in a fast 9.43 seconds. He is a full brother to Champions Wave Carver and Ocean Runaway.
Julian Morfin's Lassen County finished second for jockey Rodrigo Aceves and trainer Charles Treece. Lassen County has been second in five of his six starts in 2007. In addition to the Jens List, Lassen County has also been the bridesmaid in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby and the Grade 1 El Primero Del Ano Derby this year. Fakri Family Limited and Benny Rosset's First Dinastia, also trained by Jones, took third under jockey G.R. Carter, Jr. Lucas said that Trisk's next race will likely be the Golden State Derby trials on August 18.
Soto And El Corona Ariero Reunite
When El Corona Ariero was born in 2003, the foal was first cared for by trainer Antonio Soto. Then breeder and Soto's friend Alfredo Del Toro decided to sell El Corona Ariero, and the horse raced in obscurity for three different trainers in maiden races in New Mexico. Soto and El Corona Ariero were reunited earlier this year when new owners Edmundo and Elizabeth Gutierrez purchased the gelding, and under Soto, El Corona Ariero broke his maiden earlier this month and on Saturday won the $43,950 Grade 3 California Breeders Sprint Stakes at Los Alamitos Race Course.
"What goes around comes around sometimes," Soto said. "I never imagined I'd get this horse now as a 4-year-old because I knew him when he was just born."
"I think it was just fate," Elizabeth Gutierrez said.
At odds of 15-1 under jockey Carlos Huerta, El Corona Ariero broke on top from the outside, was passed halfway through the race but regained the lead and pulled away to win by half a length in 17.42 seconds for the 350-yard race. Jose Santos' Hezaspicymeatsaballa finished second, and Robert Labbe and Nancy Scane's Labbe was third.
After going winless in his first six career races, El Corona Ariero has now won his last two and more than quadrupled his earnings on Saturday night to $30,667. The gelding seemed to surprise everyone but his connections. The owners brought a large crowd to the track.
"He broke his maiden in a fast time, and when I saw that, I thought we'd go for it," Soto said. "We had big pressure to get this horse to the winner's circle. I didn't feel any pressure. I knew this horse could do it. The sky is the limit. Wherever he wants to go, we'll go."
El Corona Ariero is the first horse owned by the Gutierrezes, natives of Chihuahua, Mexico, who now live in Los Angeles. He was purchased in September at the recommendation of Edmundo Gutierrez.
"We both like the sport and we did it as a hobby for the sport. It's part of our nature," Elizabeth Gutierrez said.
"I'm happy for them. We need new guys who can have fun," Soto added.
Claimer Flashin Dashin Wins Stakes Debut
A claimer for nearly her entire career, Flashin Dashin won her stakes debut in the $21,150 Newport Beach Overnight Handicap to kick off Saturday's California Champions Night at Los Alamitos Race Course. The 3-year-old gray filly had run for a claiming tag in 10 of her 11 career races and been claimed three times, most recently by current owner Jon Henderson and trainer Justin Clark for $10,000 in April. The victory also marked the first Los Alamitos stakes win for Clark, who relocated to Los Alamitos full time in September 2006.
Ridden by Cesar De Alba, Flashin Dashin used a late surge to beat Conquistador Farms's Dashin Nana by a nose in a time of 15.23 seconds for the 300-yard race. Gone First finished third. Flashin Dashin was the 6-1 second choice and earned $9,900 for the win.
"I didn't really think she'd be a stakes horse," Clark said. "I thought she would be a solid $10,000, $12,500 claimer. Then after she ran I thought maybe we'd give it a shot. But I thought this race was too short to be honest. We barely got 'em. We'll take 'em any way we can get 'em."
Ladies Day
Owner Teo Castro and trainer Elena Andrade claimed One For The Ladies in March, and the 6-year-old has steadily improved for his new connections, culminating in a half-length win in the $10,000 Senior Claiming Stakes at 400 yards on Saturday's California Breeders Champions Night. After being claimed for $6,250 in a fifth-place effort, One For The Ladies was third in a $10,000 claimer in April and then finished second by a nose in two $10,000 claimers. Having come up short in his recent races at 350 yards, Andrade stepped One For The Ladies up in distance to 400 yards, and the gelding won for the first time for his new connections and the first time since September 2006.
"We're always looking for horses that are consistent, and he always seemed to be very consistent," Andrade said.
The oldest and most experienced runner in the field of five, One For The Ladies won from the outside in 19.84 seconds as the 6-5 favorite to give jockey Cesar De Alba his second victory of the night. Sergio Morfin's The Hawks Sneakers finished second, and Hector Jaime Hernandez' The Willie Way was third. Having found his niche, Andrade said One For The Ladies would stay at "this level, this distance."
Diamond Gives Fiscal First Major Victory At Los Alamitos
One race after Justin Clark saddled his first Quarter Horse stakes winner, another young trainer celebrated an important victory at Los Alamitos. Sergio Fiscal, just one year into his training career, sent Diamond Jazz Man to victory in the $21,120 Sophomore Claiming Stakes for $10,000 claimers on Saturday's California Breeders Champions Night.
Diamond Jazz Man, who is owned by Fiscal after the 23-year-old claimed him for $6,250 on March 31, has won two in a row for the trainer. "He's been feeling great all week," Fiscal said. "I figured that Aquickchick would be his main competition in this race but the horse has been training sharp and when I looked at him on Friday he looked ready for this race."
Fiscal, a graduate of South Gate High School, fell in love with horse racing after watching it as a kid. "I used to go crazy whenever I saw a race on TV," he said. "About four years ago I got a chance to help trainer Adan Farias and Erasmo and Hector Jaime Hernandez. I was a handy man around the barn. Whatever they needed done I would do. I washed horses and cleaned their legs. I learned everything possible from them."
Fiscal left the Farias nest and opened up his own public stable in July of 2006. "Diamond Jazz Man is the only horse that I own," added the resident of North Long Beach. "I'm fortunate in that a couple of great clients have given me an opportunity to train their horses as well."
Ridden by Alejandro Luna, Diamond Jazz Man won the 350-yard race in a time of :17.60. The son of Takin On The Cash earned $10,560 to raise his career earnings to 30,241. He's won three of 19 starts. David Brownell's Sissy Q Hawk ran second, while Bf Check The Echo finished third.
Home 
Subject: CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONS NIGHT RESULTS 
July 29th 2007, 11:50 pm
