The seventh running of California Champions Night - a showcase event for the finest California-bred runners in training - is set for Saturday, July 29 at Los Alamitos Race Course. Featuring combined purses of almost $1 million, the event is the product of joint cooperation between the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association and track management at Los Alamitos Race Course.

This year's California Champions Night will feature 15 stakes races all written for Cal-bred Quarter Horses. The main event of the night will be the restricted Grade 1 $400,000 estimated Governor's Cup Futurity, the richest race of any breed for California-bred runners. The restricted Grade 1 $130,000 estimated Governor's Cup Derby and the restricted Grade 1 $150,000 estimated Spencer L. Childers California Breeders Championship Handicap are among the other top races to be contested.

Ninety-four-year-old Hall of Fame owner/breeder Spencer Childers will be looking to win the race named in his honor for an unprecedented third year in a row with his superstar World Champion Be A Bono. Childers won this race last year with Be A Bono now looks like the one to beat following his great victory in the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity on June 23.

A winner of 10 of 15 lifetime races, Be A Bono has captured seven Grade 1 stakes in his career. Those major stakes wins are the Vessels Maturity (twice), the Spencer Childers Handicap (twice), the Los Alamitos Derby, the Los Alamitos Winter Derby and the Golden State Futurity. Be A Bono's victory in the $900,000 Golden State in 2003 gave Childers the richest win in his nearly 60 years in Quarter Horse racing.

In addition to Be A Bono's win in last year's Spencer Childers Handicap, the 2005 edition of California Champions Night was also highlighted by trainer Dennis Ekins, who won the Governor's Cup Futurity with eventual PCQHRA Champion 2-year-old colt Finding Nemo. Juan Aleman's Apollitical Time, who went on to win the Los Alamitos Derby and finished second in the Champion of Champions, won the Governor's Cup Derby. This year's top Governor's Cup Derby contender is Wave Carver.

The Jens L. List Jr. Memorial California Breeders Stakes for 3-year-olds is another top race on the schedule. The Jens L. List honors the memory of one of the sport's great breeders and owners, Jen L. List Jr., who founded the Double Bar S Ranch in 1989.