Pazazz Quarterhorses Ltd's Ah Commotion posted a 25-1 upset win in his stakes debut en route to winning the richest running ever of the $159,000 PCQHRA Breeders Derby Friday at Los Alamitos. 

Ah Commotion

      Ridden by Carlos Bautista for trainer Connie Hall, Ah Commotion enjoyed a perfect trip in an otherwise messy contest that featured two horses losing their riders and the disqualification of 2-1 favorite Casique Corona from fifth to eighth place.

     The trouble began when Casique Corona veered out at the start from post five while Dragon Night drifted in sharply from post 10. This resulted in a heavy traffic jam for Redwood Creek, Jts Cash Profit, Imdashndown and Soul Of Silence. Eddie Aceves and J.R. Ramirez, who were aboard Dragon Night and Imdashndown, respectively, hit the ground at that point while the riderless horses ran all the way to the finish line on their own. Neither horse appeared to suffer any serious injuries. Ramirez walked away from the incident unharmed, while Aceves got up under his own power but later complained of neck pain and was taken to the hospital for further examination.

     Redwood Creek, Jts Cash Profit and Soul Of Silence were all pinballed at the start and were too far behind to challenge at that point, leaving Ah Commotion with Los Alamitos Winter Derby finalist He Storms, All American Derby finalist In Dispute and Los Alamitos Million Futurity finalist Cut The Snow as his only threats. Ah Commotion held off his rivals from there, crossing the wire 3/4 lengths ahead of He Storms and another neck ahead of In Dispute. Ah Commotion covered the 400 yards in :19.77.

      "My horse had a great start and he felt stronger with each stride," said Bautista, who first urged Ah Commotion left handed before switching the stick to his right hand for the second half of the race. "This horse ran a super race when he broke his maiden (on August 25) and then he ran a solid second in the trials to this race. Those two races made me think that he had a good chance here."

Kathie Bobenrieth with the trophy

      A gelding by First Down Dash out of Chicks Got Pazazz, Ah Commotion is a full brother to 2000 World Champion A Ransom, 2005 Champion of Champions finalist Righteous Brother and Garden Grove Handicap winner A Sisstar, who were also campaigned by John and Kathie Bobenrieth of Pazazz Quarterhorses Ltd. Prior to the Breeders Derby trials, Ah Commotion had raced in three other stakes trial with little success.

        "The history of this family is that they get better as 3-year-olds," John Bobenrieth said. "That made it easy for us not to give up on him. We kept remembering that his siblings improved as 3-year-olds and we hoped that that would also be the case with Ah Commotion. I don't know what it is, but this family just gets better as they mature.

             "We were just happy that he made it into the race," Bobenrieth added. "We felt that he had overachieved a little bit in the trials, so this victory is very exciting for us. He benefited from a great start. When the gates opened the seas parted and he was in the middle of it."  

         The Bobenrieths were also enjoying their second win in the Breeders Derby, having first won it with Air Beduino in 1996. Air Beduino is a full brother to Chicks Got Pazazz.

         "Until I read it in the program I had forgotten that we had won this race with Ah Commotion's uncle 10 years ago," Kathie Bobenrieth said. "It's so much fun to win it again with another member of this family."

Connie Hall leads Ah Commotion

            Ah Commotion has now won two of 12 career starts and his earnings of $62,580 in this race lifted his career earnings to $74,550. He's won two of four starts this year.

          "We gave him some time off after his 2-year-od campaign," said Hall. "He has been doing great."

           Hall also trained Air Beduino, A Ransom, Righteous Brothers, A Sisstar, etc for the Bobenrieths. Ah Commotion appears to be done with derbies now as he's not in the Los Alamitos Super Derby or Southern California Derby.

            Trained by Scott Willoughby for owner Ed Allred, He Storms earned $25,330 for his second place finish. Ridden by Sam Thompson, He Storms was fourth at the start before finding his best stride in the final 220 yards.

           "He broke in and I had to correct him," Thompson said. "We lost the race right there. (Ah Commotion) took off and even though we made up a lot of ground, we just spotted him too much ground at the start.

          "He Storms is going to get better," added the jockey. "This was his second start after a layoff. He needed his race in the trials and probably needed this one too. I think he'll be great in his next start."

            A gelding by champion Separatist out of Grade 1 winner Mega Storm, He Storms has now earned $132,318. Jose Santos' In Dispute, the third place finisher here, banked $17,880.  

          Cut The Snow, who was saddled and co-owned by Hall and Gail Bloom Trust, earned $10,430 for fourth place. From there, the official order of finish consisted of Soul Of Silence, Redwood Creek, Jts Cash Profit, and Casique Corona.

          "My horse bumped out of the gate but there was a lot of bumping going on," said trainer Adan Farias, who trains the disqualified Casique Corona. "This was a tough race for a lot of horses. Casique Corona came back sore and cut up. We're disappointed."

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