TRAINER JOHN COOPER WINS HIS FINAL RACE, THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DERBY WITH BOONDARBIAN
John Cooper enjoyed a perfect ending to a great career, as the great trainer won the final race of his training career thanks to Jerald and Lacie Davenport’s Boondarbian in the Grade 2, $155,300 Southern California Derby on Sunday at Los Alamitos.
Cooper, 84, is retiring after a great career in which he won 1,521 Quarter Horse races and 122 stakes races at Los Alamitos. He’s fourth all-time in wins and third in stakes wins at Los Alamitos.
“It’s an honor,” Cooper said. “I’ve worked hard. All I can say is that this is the way for me to leave. It’s pretty emotional. I’ll miss it.”
Cooper and his wife, Carol, will be heading out of California in the coming days to enjoy their time together at their newly purchased home on 2.2 acres of land in Nampa, Idaho. Cooper leaves having trained champions like Moonist, Separatist, Sign of Landy, and Tiny’s Gay. He also won big races at Los Alamitos with the likes of Aladuino, Uncle West, Cartel Jess Rockin, Black Fryday and now Boondarbian.
The Utah-bred runner won his trial by a neck at 14-1 odds, but he proved in the final that his previous win was not a fluke. Ridden by Cruz Mendez, Boondarbian had the lead by ½ length and stayed strong throughout in route to winning by a head at 11-1 odds. The son of Jr Dynasty Mountain, Boondarbian covered the 400 yards in :19.683 while earning $65,226.
“It’s been a beautiful night and it’s even more beautiful now,” said owner Jerald Davenport. “I used to have Blane Schvaneveldt, who was John Cooper’s friend, train my horses. They’re a couple of great Idaho horseman and a year ago Monty Arrossa had this horse. Boondarbian is the product of Splash Bac and his sire, Tolltac. My friend David Payne owned Tolltac. David and I bought a mare called Katies Victory out of Oklahoma. She’s Boondarbian’s granddam.”
Davenport and Payne bred Katies Victory to Splash Bac and the result was Splash Tac, who is the dam of Boondarbian.
Vic3tory LLC’s Stuck In Probate was a strong second, as he finished a length ahead of third place finisher Dasha Dynasty. Ridden by Ruben Lozano for trainer Valentin Zamudio, Stuck In Probate earned $26,401 for running second. Dasha Dynasty was followed Apollitical J Streak, Insider Information, Conant Valley, Watch Out, Up The Ladder, and Whizkey Glasses.
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