LONDON TOBY DEFENDS HIS SPENCER CHILDERS TITLE
Ed Allred’s London Toby became the first Quarter Horse to win consecutive runnings of the Spencer Childers California Breeders Championship Handicap since Be A Bono scored a threepeat in this event from 2004 to 2006.
Ridden by Gabriel Lara for trainer Scott Willoughby, London Toby was sensational in successfully defending his Spencer Childers title, as he went to sixth place in the early going to second by the midway point before rocketing to the lead in route to a ¾ length victory over Link Newcomb’s ageless Cattail Cove in the Spencer Childers.
After trailing early on, London Toby rushed into contention while chasing George and Ruben Villalobos’ Required First and matching strides with Cattail Cove. The 5-year-old gelding by Favorite Cartel turned the tables in the blink of an eye, as he hit the turbo button and immediately pulled away from his rivals.
“He is so strong at the end of races,” Lara said. “I was letting him run, just letting him, letting him do his thing. I was confident that he would turn it up and that he would catch them. He always runs his race and I just stayed patient. I know the horse well now. We understand each other and fortunately everything went great for us.”
London Toby won the Spencer Childers at 400 yards in a time of :19.707 while earning $55,000. He also improved his record to eight wins from 19 starts and took his career bankroll to $281,806. This season London Toby has won three of his five starts and his record includes winning the Grade 1 Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship. That effort earned him a provisional berth to the Grade 1, $700,000 Champion of Champions to be held on December 14.
As for his connections, Allred has now won the Spencer Childers 10 times including the last four runnings. This was Willoughby’s seventh win in the Spencer Childers and 25th stakes victory on California Breeders Champions Night.
Trained by Juan Aleman, Cattail Cove earned $22,500 for his runner-up effort. The 7-year-old gelding, who has raced at the highest level his entire career, has hit the board in 31 of his 47 career starts. Required First, You Can Run, Terrific Phoenix and Always A Chance completed the field.
NYMPHETTE IS POWERFUL LATE TO WIN ROLLING A RANCH MATRON STAKES
Ed Allred’s Nymphette announced herself to the Quarter Horse racing world in the California Breeders Debutante Stakes in 2021. On that night, the daughter of Fly Thru The Fire won the 350-yard race by going from seventh to first to take the Debutante for 3-year-olds in only her second career start. From there, Nymphette finished second to the stakes winning machine Pattys Saint in the Grade 1 Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap.
Nymphette has faced nothing but the best mares at Los Alamitos, running third in the Grade 2 Las Damas Handicap in 2021 and third in both the Grade 1 Charger Bar Handicap earlier this year and the Abigail Kawananakoa Handicap on June 16.
Still very lightly raced with only 10 career starts, the now 5-year-old Nymphette is a bonafide super star mare, her credentials increasing even more after outdueling Allred’s Remember Her by a head in the $50,000 Rolling A Ranch Matron Stakes for fillies and mares at 350 yards.
In her familiar running style, Nymphette was fifth at the start but soon got rolling with Jesus Rios Ayala in the irons. By the midway point, she was third behind Remember Her and Phoebes Baby Girl but at the wire her potent finishing ability was in full display, as she picked up her third career win and richest stakes.
“Her whole deal has been getting away from the gate,” Glenn said. “She always finishes and flies late. When they kicked it I think she actually tried to break. She stumbled a little bit and the one horse (to the inside) came out a little bit. I held my breath for a moment. She kind of plowed through the middle of them. With 50 yards to go she still had quite a ways to make up. She just bulled through and got it done. (Ayala) said he was on a mission tonight and got it done. We’ve only run her in the bigger races. She went from winning her maiden to stakes races and the big mares. This was at 350 and she needs every bit of 400 yards. She can go 440. We’ll be glad to get the 400 in this year’s Mildred Vessels and hopefully we draw the outside.”
Nymphette earned $27,500 for the win to take her career earnings to $119,170. She covered the distance in :17.650. Following Remember Her in this race was Favorite Lady Cartel running third followed by Phoebes Baby Girl, Temple Court, Corona Rose and Sylencer completed the field.
The Matron Stakes featured a richer purse by $10,000 thanks to a sponsorship by Allred’s Rolling A Ranch. The increase from $40,000 to $50,000 meant that this year’s Matron purse was 25% higher than last year.
STRAIGHT AND TRUE, CHEATER AND ROCKIN WITH ENERGY WIN ON CALIFORNIA BREEDERS CHAMPIONS NIGHT
The California-based stallion Kiddy Up continues his red-hot season, as one of his progenies picked up another trophy thanks to Ed Allred’s Straight And True winning the $25,000 California Breeders Claiming Stakes to kick off the stakes action on California Breeders Champions Night.
Ridden by Henry Reynoso Lopez for trainer James Glenn, Jr., Straight And True was the big favorite in this event and he responded by winning the 300-yard dash for $20,000 claimers by a half-length. Sent off as the 6-5 favorite, Straight And True was solid throughout on the way to posting his third career victory. He has finished in the money in 10 of 15 career starts. Bred by Keith Craigmyle and Paul Lewis, Straight And True is out of the stakes winning Thoroughbred mare Miss Loujean, who won top level races here at 870 yards.
In addition to his consistency, Straight And True was the top choice in this race based on his strong efforts in allowance races. He came into this race after running third against a strong allowance group that included stablemate Up For Everything on June 16. Straight And True was an allowance winner at Los Alamitos here last October and in nine allowance starts, he’s finished third or better in six of those outings. Straight And True earned $13,370 for the win and he remains in Allred’s stable, as he was not claimed, surprisingly. His winning time was :15.709.
Fly Thru Parra, BF Outrageous, Im Delighted, Specialmiraclerunner, Coronas Invader and Moms Legacy completed the field.
Ed Allred made it back-to-back wins on Saturday night as his Favorite Cartel gelding Cheater won the $30,000 Jens List Memorial Stakes. The homebred broke cleanly from post number one, picked up speed past the gap and then took off to establish an unsurmountable lead to win the 400-yard event for 3-year-olds.
Gabriel Lara piloted Cheater for trainer Scott Willoughby, who has now won 24 stakes races during his career on California Breeders Champions Night. That’s the second most stakes wins by a trainer in this series, second only to Paul Jones’ 33 wins.
Allred is Quarter Horse racing’s all-time leading owner and the all-time leading owner on California Breeders Champions Night. Cheater has now won his last two starts and three out of his last four outings. His dam is Forgive Him, who won seven races in her career for over $205,000 in earnings. Her stakes wins included the California Breeders Debutante Stakes on Champions Night 2008, plus the Grade 1 La Primera Del Ano Derby and the Grade 2 Las Damas.
Cheater covered the distance in :20.059 and earned $16,500 for the win. Verbosity finished second and was followed by Try Harder, Beduinos Favorite, Jess Being Famous, and Favorite Nuke.
Parsons Family Limited Partnership’s classy filly Rockin With Energy scored her first stakes in dominant fashion, winning the $30,000 California Breeders Debutante Stakes at 350 yards by 1 ¼ lengths. The filly by Parsons Rock has always been a potent stakes runner and her stakes record features a second-place finish in last year’s Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity while also being part of the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby.
Ridden by Henry Reynoso Lopez and trained by Paul Jones, Rockin With Energy was impressive from gate to wire, as she led by a ½ length during the early part of the race before extending her lead to a length and then finishing strongly to be far ahead of the rest as she crossed the finish line for third win in eight starts.
Out of the Parsons’ great producer Terrific Energy, Rockin With Energy covered the distance in a fast :17.578. She earned $16,500 for the win to take her career earnings to $176,719. For Reynoso Lopez, this was his second winning rider of the night after also piloted Straight And True in the Claiming Stakes. For Jones, this was his 34th stakes win on California Breeders Champions Night, which is a record in this series.
Jorge Landeros’ Above finished second and was followed by Delightful Again, Cowgirl Upp, Sassperilla and In The Mode.
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