Page 15 - April 2017

2017 CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS PURSE BUMP
Los Alamitos is upping the ante for the Grade 1 Champion of Champions, the prestigious
race for older Quarter Horses. The purse for
the stakes that often carries championship title implications is being raised to $750,000 for 2017. That’s a $150,000 boost from the 2016 purse level. The 2017 Champion of Champions is scheduled to be contested at the classic Quarter Horse distance of 440 yards on Dec. 16.
“The Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos is and has always been the most important race in the country for older Quarter Horses,” said Los Alamitos Race Course Owner Ed Allred. “The race represents the top of
the sport and as such we wanted to give it a significant purse increase to accentuate that fact. We want to catch the attention of those that own the best Quarter Horses in the sport. The Champion of Champions is one of the events that makes Los Alamitos a special place to race.”
The Champion of Champions has been
an institution at Los Alamitos since World Champion Mr Jet Moore won its inaugural running in 1972. The Champion of Champions offered a $50,000 purse for its first four years before going up to $100,000 in 1977, just in time for World Champion Dash For Cash’s second consecutive victory in the race. Dash For Speed won the first $250,000 running of the
race in 1990 with the purse eventually reaching $500,000 for World Champion Tailor Fit’s victory in 2001. The Champion of Champion had a record $1 million purse for one year in 2007 and a $750,000 purse from 2008 through 2012. It had featured a $600,000 purse from 2013 until last year. The 2014 edition of the Champion of Champions was cancelled by track management due to a widely publicized Clenbuterol controversy. Los Alamitos instituted hair testing guidelines for the 2015 Champion of Champions, which remain in place for this race and most of the major stakes races at Los Alamitos. A record 28 winners of the Champion of Champions have been named AQHA World Champions since 1972.
BH Lisas Boy earned the first berth to this year’s Champion of Champions by winning the Los Alamitos Winer Championship on Feb. 17. Other races offering automatic starting berths include the Remington Park Championship on June 3, Vessels Maturity on July 2, All American Derby on Sept. 3, Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap on Sept. 24, Albuquerque Fall Quarter Horse Championship on Sept. 24, Bank of America Challenge Championship on Oct. 14, Robert L. Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship on Oct. 15, Los Alamitos
Super Derby on Nov. 12 and Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials on Nov. 19. If an additional berth should open up, the winner of the Go
Man Go Handicap on Sept. 3, will receive that open berth.
Los Alamitos Race Course also raised purses to four key races in the distaff division for 2017 led by the Grade 1 Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap, which was increased to $125,000 up from $100,000. The Grade 3 Miss Princess Handicap, Grade 3 Las Damas Handicap, and the Ivan Ashment Handicap for Cal-Breds also received purse increases.
In addition, Los Alamitos Race Course is home to three different futurities with purses of $1 million or more in the form of the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million Futurity in June, the Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity in November. and the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity in December. The Orange County track is also home to the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Super Derby, which traditionally features a purse of more than $900,000. For the entire 2017 Los Alamitos stakes schedule, visit losalamitos.com.
CRUELTY PUNISHMENT FOR FORMER TRAINER DIMITT
The wheels of justice sometimes turn slowly, but after two years, Robert Howard Dimitt had his day in court for animal cruelty charges and will be serving time for his conviction. The 57 year old, who trained horses in Oklahoma, was found guilty on March 23 in Sequoyah County Oklahoma on five felony counts of cruelty to animals.
Facing up to five years for each count, Dimitt was sentenced to five years in Oklahoma’s state prison, followed by 20 years suspended with probation on the condition that he will not train or be around any horses, according to the County District Attorney’s Office. Dimitt was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
Arrested in August 2015, Dimitt inflicted abuse on his equine victims that included starvation, hoof mutilation and other cruelty. Gold Digging Ashley, a 2012 daughter of Inseperable with earnings of $355,195 in her racing career, was one of the horses abused by Dimitt. According to court documents, three horses in Dimitt’s care died from their injuries.
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TRACK CHATTER