OH JERRY WINS $50,000 FINAL AT 1,000 YARDS,
CA DREAMER, WINDING ALSO WIN BIG AT 1,000 YARDS
William Hedrick’s homebred Oh Jerry has been a winning machine at Los Alamitos since arriving at the Orange County track in October of 2020. The 6-year-old gelding by Oh Tanner has won nine of 11 starts during that span, none bigger than his hard-fought length victory in the $50,000 final at 1,000 yards on Saturday night.
In scoring the biggest victory of his career with earnings with $26,500, Oh Jerry(left) also avenged a rare loss at Los Alamitos in his previous start on October 24. In that outing, Oh Jerry got caught in a speed duel right from the start before being outfinished down the stretch by Capture The Sea and Castle Gate. In the $50,000 final, Oh Jerry chased the Quarter Horse stakes winner Ballast Point right from the word go but took the lead turning for home before holding off a late run by Angel Santos’ Terrible Ted. Ballast Point crossed the wire third with Dan Wells’ Capture The Sea and Perkinson Racing Stables’ Prince Ali completing the top five.
The $50,000 final culminated the eight-month long point series for Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds racing at either 870 or 1,000 yards here. Oh Jerry led the points standings for a large portion of the year thanks to a record in which he won his first six starts here in 2021. He also carried an eight-race win streak at Los Alamitos until the previously mentioned allowance event spoiled his perfect Southern California event. However, trainer Adriana Vallejo and jockey Francisco Orduña Rojas shrugged off the loss and focused on the rich finale.
“It’s part of racing and you never know,” Vallejo said. “When you’re in a race you never know what’s going to come up. He did amazing with eight wins in a row and third place wasn’t that bad. And we came back (with this win). That horse has always done his best. We’ve never complained. I always had the hope right at the turn in this race. Ballast Point is an amazing horse but once (Oh Jerry) hit the turn and was on the rail, I could feel it that we had it. Mr. Hedrick is very happy and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
“It was a great race with this horse,” Orduña Rojas said. “We took it. We’ve been thrilled with this horse all along and we’ve been waiting for this race for a while. It was a great race and a very tough race. Ballast Point was ahead of us and was looking to take the rail away from us. I talked to my horse and he responded. He did great from there.”
Oh Jerry has now won seven of nine races for earnings of $86,218 this year. For his career, he has 11 wins from 22 starts and earnings of $160,888.
Ridden by Ricardo Ramirez for trainer Jesus Uranga, Terrible Ted trailed the two pacesetters early on before pouncing on the opportunity to move up to second place. Claimed twice since August 15, Terrible Ted earned $11,050 for running second – his 11th top three finish from 14 starts this year.
Thompson Racing and Paul Jones’ Ballast Point flew early to lead by over a length before drifting out around the turn. He lost ground at that point and settled for third place and earnings of $6,100.
The field was completed by Zimba Warrior, Castle Gate, Baby Gronk, Nazare, and Silverwind.
Jesus Uranga had a big night with his horses at 1,000 yards on Saturday. In addition to Terrible Ted, Uranga saddled his CA Dreamer to win the $30,000 final for fillies and mares and Battle Born Racing’s Winding to a runaway score in the $30,000 allowance final. Ricardo Ramirez piloted both CA Dreamer and Winding.
Uranga claimed CA Dreamer for $3,200 at Golden Gate in October of 2020. The 6-year-old mare by Tale Of The Cat has gone on to win six of seven starts for Uranga at Los Alamitos since then. She’s won each of her last five starts at 1,000 yards for her new barn. Her 2 ½ length victory in the $30,000 final was worth $15,500. Ashley Garcia’s Flashy Pass finished second and earned $6,550 for trainer Angela Aquino and jockey Diego Herrera. Don and Jack Hibard’s Dannybob ran third.
Winding has proven to a tremendous claim as well. The 5-year-old Coil gelding has won all four of his starts for Battle Born Racing since being tagged for $6,250 on August 15. He dominated the $30,000 undercard feature at 1,000 yards, leading by nearly three lengths heading for home and then coasting to a six-length victory over runner-up Kenny Benny. Winding earned $15,500 for the win and Kenny Benny picked up $6,250 for running second.
A new point series begins next season starting on the meet’s opening night on Sunday, December 26. The rules will be consistent with the now concluded inaugural series and the prize money will also return unchanged with a $50,000 final and a pair of $30,000 divisional races awaiting the top point earners. The date for these finals will soon be announced.
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