Bill Hoburg’s BH Lisas Boy became only the 16th Quarter Horse to win 10 stakes races at Los Alamitos Race Course after posting a half-length victory in the Grade 1, $100,000 Go Man Go Handicap here on Sunday.
With 17-year-old Oscar Andrade Jr. in the irons, the 7-year-old BH Lisas Boy broke perfectly from post number nine and eventually outdueled Grade 1 Vessels Maturity winner Katies Easy Moves to win the 60th running of the Go Man Go. The gelding by Mighty Invictus covered the 400 yards in :19.444 while improving his career record to 22 wins in 41 starts. BH Lisas Boy has now won 13 stakes in his brilliant career with 10 of those coming at the Orange County oval. It’s quite a feat to reach double-digit stakes wins at Los Alamitos, as he now joins an elite group of Quarter Horses. AQHA Hall of Fame racehorses Charger Bar and Kaweah Bar are the all-time leading career stakes winners at Los Alamitos with 18 each. The others on that list are Sign Of Lanty (16), Griswold (14), Flight 109 (13) A Ransom (12), Moonist (12), Chingaderos (11), Native Empress (11), Apollitical Time (10), Corona Cash (10), Heza Dasha Fire (10), The Black Alliance (10), Whosleavingwho (10), and Zoomin For Spuds (10).
“It’s amazing how this horse just keeps running at this level,” said Hoburg, who bred, owns and trains BH Lisas Boy. “He’s 7-year-olds and has started in 41 races. I’m tickled to death with this horse. I knew he was fit enough, but 400 yards isn’t his forte. It was such a stellar field tonight. Looking at all those big horses just bred to the purple and all these horses have the best connections in the world, I knew it would be a good race. Those other horses in the field included six Grade 1 winners and you don’t win those races by accident. This was going to be anybody’s race. It’s about how you get away and hope you don’t get brushed or bumped.”
Andrade Jr. helped guide BH Lisas Boy to sharp start and a beautiful finish on the way to their second stakes victory together this season. Their first stakes win as a pair came in the 440-yard Bank of America California Challenge Championship just three weeks ago.
“We didn’t have the 40 extra yards (tonight) so I knew we had to break in front of these horses because they’re pretty sharp,” the young pilot explained. “If we broke in front we would have a better chance to be first to the wire. He was feeling really good. He was calm and collected. He was very mellow. When we got in the gates he put his head in there and he was ready to rock and roll.
In their four races together Andrade Jr. and BH Lisas Boy have two stakes wins and two second place finishes, one of those a runner-up effort to the aforementioned Katies Easy Moves in the Vessels final.
“We’ve made more of a bond now. We trust each other. We just go along and don’t get in each other’s way,” Andrade Jr. added.
The Go Man Go is BH Lisas Boy’s fifth Grade 1 victory at Los Alamitos. He’s a two-time winner of the Grade 1 Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship (2017-18) and a winner of the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity in 2017 and Bank of America Challenge Championship in 2018. BH Lisas Boy could defend his Bank of America title when the annual event is held at The Downs at Albuquerque on October 26, but it appears that BH Lisas Boy will remain in California and be pointed to the Grade 1 Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship on October 13.
“We thought about going to Albuquerque, but with the altitude there I’m worried going from 30 feet to 5,300 feet (in elevation),” Hoburg said. “I think I’ll be better off just staying here and run him in the Boniface, at least that’s my plan. Right now I’m going to go make sure that he’s got a good bed and the rest of his supper.”
BH Lisas Boy earned $50,000 for the win to take his career earnings to $858,553.
Eduardo Nicasio piloted Katies Easy Moves to the early lead and a strong runner-up effort in this race. The 6-year-old gelding earned $17,000 for his effort to take his career bankroll to $302,539. The Grade 1 stakes winning racehorse has now finished in the money in 29 of 36 career starts. Caballo Rapido LLC and Five LiveStock Company LLC campaign the Walter Finder-Utah bred son of Maknmoves. Monty Arrossa saddled Katies Easy Moves.
Ed Allred’s He Looks Hot earned $10,000 for finishing third to take his career earnings to $1,305,930. The multiple Grade 1 winner was ridden by Vinnie Bednar for trainer Scott Willoughby. Tarzanito, the defending Go Man Go winner, finished fourth and was followed by Jesstacartel, Hotstepper, Chicks Fayvorite, Zoomin For Spuds, and Well Good. Da One Two Special did not finish the race.
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