APOLLITICAL PATTY, APOLLITICAL PENCE
STRONG BUSINESS FIGURES HIGHLIGHTED 2020 LOS ALAMITOS MEET
Walker Family Trust’s Apollitical Patty won California’s richest race of 2020 – the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity – and Dunn Ranch and Valeriano Racing Stables’ Apollitical Pence became a Grade 1 winner for the first time when he defeated nine other Grade 1 winners in the Champion of Champions to highlight the completion of the 70th year of Quarter Horse racing at Los Alamitos. The 150-night meet concluded on Sunday night, December 18. The opening day for the 2020-2021 meet is set for Saturday, December 26.
Among the other highlights of the year, trainer John Cooper won his 1,500th Quarter Horse race in the Champion of Champions thanks to Apollitical Pence. The win was Cooper’s second in the Champion of Champions and first since Mr Doty Bars won the 1979 running. In another highlight, owner/breeder Martha Wells won her richest race ever when her homebred Tell Cartel won the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Super Derby.
Walker Family’s 7-year-old gelding Zoomin For Spuds was not a Grade 1 winner 2020, but he did tie the record for most appearances ever in the Champion of Champions with five. With two stakes wins during the meet, Zoomin For Spuds tied Flight 109 for fifth place all-time with 13th career stakes wins at Los Alamitos. Ed Allred’s Chocolatito was one of the meet’s top aged horses thanks to his two Grade 1 stakes wins in 2020 – the Vessels Maturity and the Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship. Allred’s Nomadic and Circle City, a pair of full brothers, won derbies three weeks a part with Nomadic taking the Governor’s Cup Derby on July 26 and Circle City taking the Golden State Derby on August 16. Valeriano Racing Stable’s Chance To Excel and Grant Cox Revocable Trust’s Apollitical Gold were the other million dollar futurity winners this season. Chance To Excel won the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity and Apollitical Gold won the Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity.
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The Pick Fours continued to be the track’s most popular wagers with record numbers posted during spring and early summer. The 28 highest Early Pick Four pools ever at Los Alamitos were set this year, led by the record $454,040 set on May 10. Similarly, the eight highest Late Pick Four pools ever at Los Alamitos were set during this meet, including the record Late Pick Four of $244,772 on May 2.
The all-sources single night average for the meet was $1.31 million, which is a 12.8% increase from 2019 figures. The business figures were highlighted by a record single night handle of $2,901,650 on Sunday, May 10.
Ed Allred won the Quarter Horse owner title after picking up 74 wins, while Martha Wells was second with 21 wins and EG High Desert Farms third with 17. Allred led in earnings with $1,385,401. Scott Willoughby scored his first Los Alamitos Quarter Horse training title when he saddled 55 winners from 287 starters. He finishes the meet with a solid 19.2%-win ratio for the year. Willoughby is only the fifth trainer to lead the standings here since 1990. Jaime Gomez finished second with 46 wins and Jose Flores was third with 44. Monty Arrossa led all Quarter Horse trainers in earnings with $1,936,252. Jesus Rios Ayala won the Quarter Horse riding title for the fourth consecutive year after piloting 78 winners. Oscar Andrade, Jr. was second with 62 winners and Oscar Peinado finished third with 57 winners. Armando Cervantes, who piloted Apollitical Patty in the Two Million, led Quarter Horse pilots in earnings with $1,537,893. In the Thoroughbred rankings, Francisco Orduña Rojas won his first riding title with 69 wins followed by Ramon Guce (51) and Juan Sanchez (43). Sergio Morfin, an assistant trainer for John Cooper for many years, won his first training title after saddling 30 Thoroughbred winners. Angela Aquino finished second with 25 wins and Brian Cunningham was third with 18. Cunningham Stables took the title for leading Thoroughbred owners with 15 wins followed by Oscar Heredia and Jaime Morfin with 11 wins each. In mixed raced categories (870 and 1,000-yard races), Edgar Payeras led the jockey standings with 52 wins and Jesus Uranga was the leading trainer with 14 wins. Owner Silvia Soto tied with Albert Gonzaz and Antonio Mojarro with 6 wins each in the mixed-races category.
The 71st year of racing at Los Alamitos resumes with nighttime Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds racing Saturday, December 26. For more info, please contact 714-820-2690.
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