Freaky
5-Year-Old Gelding
(TR Dasher - Chickasecret by Raise A Secret)

Qualified by winning the Los Alamitos Winter Championship and Robert L. Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship

Lifetime Record: 27-12-1-6, $838,444          2010 Record: 4-3-1-0, $192,444

World champion Freaky returns to the Champion of Champions with an eye on becoming the first repeat winner of this prestigious race since SLM Big Daddy's back to back victories in 1997-98. If Freaky can keep his Champion of Champions crown, he'll join SLM Big Daddy as well as Dash For Cash (1976-77), Refrigerator (1992, 1993 and 1994) and Tailor Fit (1999 and 2001) as the only multiple winners of this race. Each of those horses was named world champion at the end of the Champion of Champions winning year with the only exception being Refrigerator in 1994. That was the year in which the "Fridge" played the role of Cinderella in a year that was dominated by eventual World Champion Down With Debt.

Currently ranked number one in the national Quarter Horse racing poll, Freaky was bred by Ed Allred, the sport's all-time leading breeder. The 5-yearold gelded son of Allred's TR Dasher, who stands at Burns Ranch in Menifee, California. Freaky's mother is the Allred-bred mare Chickasecret, who is the daughter of 2008 PCQHRA Broodmare of the Year Chickasis. Freaky races for Armando Aguirre of Surprise, Arizona, who bought him from Allred in January 2009.

Freaky's road to this year's Champion ofChampions has not been 100% smooth but at the same time it has not been terribly grueling. The California-bred sprinter has actually enjoyed a season worthy of a world champion title. Two months after winning the 2009 Champion of Champions, Freaky earned the right to defend his title by winning the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Championship, giving him an automatic berth to this year's Champion of Champions. Then on October 16, he defeated champion aged mare Stylish Jess BR to win his second consecutive Grade 1 Robert L. Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship at 440 yards. His only blip so far this year was a second place effort to Champion of Champions contender A Tempting Dash in the Grade 1 Go Man Go Handicap.

Freaky's Go Man Go setback spoiled his hopes of becoming the first horse ever to win all six major stakes races for older horses at Los Alamitos. Freaky's career stakes victories include the Los Alamitos Winter Championship, Spencer L. Childers California Breeders Championship Handicap, Vessels Maturity, Robert L. Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship (twice), and Champion of Champions. That leaves the Go Man Go has the only major Los Alamitos stakes race for older horses that has eluded the current world champion.

With the Go Man Go being his only non-winning effort in four starts this season, can the phenomenal Freaky dominate the Champion of Champions for the second year in a row? His 2010 performances in races like the Los Alamitos Winter Championship and Robert L. Boniface Invitational Championship seem to indicate that he is ready for this race. After posting the fastest qualifying time to the Winter Championship on January 30, Freaky came back with an unbeatable stakes record setting performance in the $228,450 Los Alamitos Winter Championship in mid-February. Freaky won the Winter Championship won the race by a comfortable 1 1/4 lengths over 2009 Remington Park Championship winner Separate Bet. His winning time of :19.243 beat the previous track record set by A Stoli Mate in 2008 by 1/10th of a second. The outstanding Freaky set a then record final fractional time for the time for the last 220 yards when coming home in a time of :09.23 (a mark that has since been lowered by Apollitical Jess).

Freaky's Winter Championship win came after a minor scare in the trials when he suffered a small about the size of a quarter on his right hind leg. His team quickly handled the superficial cut and fortunately it did not require any stitching. "We were concerned when we heard that he got hurt," Aguirre said. "Adan told us right away that it was just a scratch and that he would be okay with antibiotics, so that made me feel better right away."

"His back legs got caught underneath the breaking bar," jockey Francisco Rubio said.

Following the Winter Championship, Freaky was turned out at Vessels Stallion Farm for the rest of the spring. "We took care of the horse and gave him a rest at Vessels Stallion Farm," said Adan Farias, who is headed to win his first ever Quarter Horse training title here in 2010. "I missed him while he was on vacation because you can't replace a horse like Freaky."

Freaky was turned out at Vessels Stallion Farm for the rest of the spring. Upon his return, Freaky suffered his only loss of the year as the 1-5 heavy favorite in the Go Man Go Handicap in September of 2010. While he looked sharp at the start of that race, he flattened as the race progressed. Freaky did not look composed in the final 150 yards and by then it was too late to challenge A Tempting Dash. The loss snapped a seven race win streak and was his first since running third in the Kaweah Bar in April 25, 2009.

"There's always next year to win the Go Man Go," said trainer Adan Farias. "I (was) not upset or sad. I was actually pleased with Freaky's effort. I thought Freaky broke in front of A Tempting Dash, but then he dominated us. When Freaky started feeling the pressure from A Tempting Dash he started changing leads and that made it too hard. That was his first start after his time off and Freaky needed the race."

Freaky proved his trainer correct by coming back with his Robert L. Boniface Los Alamitos Championship win. "We were sad to see him lose, but I think it was logical considering that he was coming off a layoff going into the Go Man Go," said owner Armando Aguirre. "In the Los Al Championship we saw the same Freaky that we are used to. We will go in the Champion of Champions and we'll keep going with him in 2011. He still has a lot left for racing."

Freaky did suffer another small cut during this race, this time near the front of his rear left foot.

"A minor nick," Farias said. "I don't know if it happened when he stumbled or when he got pushed, but I (was not) concerned about it at all. We'll have our veterinarian check him thoroughly because you have to take care of every angle with a horse like Freaky. You can't take any chances. He was wearing protective padding because recently he's been hitting himself. My horse shoer will correct that I am sure."

In 2009, Freaky completed one of the most remarkable seasons in recent memory after posting a 1/2 length victory in the 38th running of the Champion of Champions. Freaky won that race in :21.06 over a wet fast track, the second fastest 440-yard time ever at Los Alamitos. Jess You And I posted the track record of :20.94 when he won the 2008 Champion of Champions. He also posted stakes records in three Grade 1 races while enjoying a total of four Grade 1 victories.

"I (was) thrilled and completely blown away with what Freaky did in 2009," said Aguirre. "What this horse has done has been amazing. The support that so many of our friends and family have given us has been one of the most outstanding things about this whole experience. Last year we had about 70 people cheering for this horse on the night of the Champion of Champions, all of them for no other reason than they wanted this to happen for the horse and us."

Jose Valdez is Aguirre's son-in-law and one of the family's most fervent racing fans. Aguirre and Valdez were the ones that decided to purchase Freaky privately from Allred in 2009.

"My daughter Arianna simply loves Freaky," explained Jose Valdez. "Freaky is a people horse. Everyone that is around him loves this horse."

Another key component of Freaky's team is jockey Francisco Rubio, who is well on his way to becoming the leading Quarter Horse rider in victories at Los Allamitos in 2010. He has ridden Freaky in every one of his races this year.

"Rubio has been a blessing," Farias said. "Mario Gonzalez was working for us galloping horses and helping us out but he got injured. With Mario being out we were looking for someone to help us. (Jockey) Eddie Garcia told us about Francisco and highly recommended him. We brought him to gallop for us in 2009 and we started giving him mounts on some longshots. Francisco is a class guy. He listens and works hard. He's not bothered by the magnitude of Grade 1 races and looking at him I never see him being affected by the pressures of big races."

"It's impossible for me to explain how good it feels to ride Freaky," said Rubio, the winner of the 2009 Val Tonks Award for top up and coming jockey. "He's too much horse. He's got unbelievable courage and so much heart. There's no comparison to any other horse I've been around."

"We love Freaky," Aguirre said. "The most important thing is the horse. The money that he's made is great, but the money will be spent. What's important now is the horse and what will hopefully be a nice legacy. At this point, the trophies that he's accumulated for us are the real accomplishments more than the money. I have all of his blankets, buckles, trophies, and plaques in our home. We are also getting this beautiful bronze from the AQHA for being named World Champion. He has given us so much."

Freaky is the owner of three of the four fastest 440-yard winning times ever recorded at Los Alamitos.