Page 74 - 31 August 2012

bank of america los alamitos championship challenge-G3
sPaRky e boy
by Tracy Gantz
only a nose kept Sparky E Boy from triumphing in last year’s Champion of Champions-G1. Now 5, the gelding isn’t letting
that near miss stop him. Off since February, he stormed back to capture the Aug. 19 Bank of America Los Alamitos Championship Challenge-G3. That earned him a berth
in the Oct. 27 Bank of America Challenge Championship-G1 at Prairie Meadows, and if he can win there, he will
get another chance in the
Champion of Champions. Going off as the 8-5
favorite in the Los Alamitos Championship Challenge, Sparky E Boy stumbled slightly at the start. He recovered immediately under jockey Rodrigo Aceves and took the lead. While Shining First Dash stayed at Sparky E Boy’s hip, he couldn’t close any
ground, and Sparky E Boy won by a half- length in :21.621.
Francisco Ramirez trains Sparky E Boy for Reed Pierson, who owns the gelding and bred him in Utah. Sparky E Boy is no stranger to the stakes ranks. At 2 in 2009, he won the Dutch Masters III Futurity, Q Racing Stakes, and Holiday Handicap. At 3 in 2010, he captured the Town Policy Stakes and the Intermountain
Overnight Handicap. His consistency has also snared him seconds or thirds in seven other stakes, and he has now earned $290,493.
A son of the First Down Dash stallion Hawkinson, Sparky E Boy is out of the winning Lanes Leinster
mare YR Brown Lucy. The mare has produced one other starter, the placed gelding Flaash, and she has a yearling full sister to Sparky E Boy
named Miss Fifty Niner.
Alex Bautista rode Shining First Dash
(First Down Dash-Keep On Shining) to sec- ond for owner-breeder Muller Racing LLC and trainer Dennis Ekins. The 5-year-old horse most recently finished third in the Spencer Childers Handicap-G1.
Wade Siegel and Don Boyle’s BF Farm Boy (Hawkinson-Shirleys Strawfly) finished third with Ramon Sanchez aboard. Paul Jones trains the stakes-placed 4-year-old colt.
Completing the field were Little Bit Of Baja (First Down Dash-BCR Pale Moon), Pathological Liar (Devon Lane-TB-Secrets And Lies), Ambush Alley (Snowbound- TB-Fames Easy), Forrest Fire (Walk Thru Fire-Chicks Tell), Hes A Strawfly (Strawfly Special-Nancys True Love), and Flaming Out (Walk Thru Fire-Jetsetting Girl).
Los Alamitos $69,840 • 440 yards :21.621 • si 89
First Down Dash
Hawkinson
Oh La Proud
SPARKY E BOY, ’07-g.
Lanes Leinster
YR Brown Lucy
Ruddy Runner
Racing news
keokuk stakes-G3
cHI TeR
by John Moorehouse
chi Ter continues to pile up the stakes wins. Mary Passmore Kirby’s gelding charged to the wire in the $45,000 Keokuk
Stakes-G3 on Aug. 18 at Prairie Meadows, col- lecting his sixth victory in stakes company.
The 5-year-old gelding has at least one stakes triumph in each of his seasons of competition and seven other money finishes in stakes, with
a third in the Sooner Stakes-RG1 at Remington Park on April 28 his most
recent out before this one. The layoff of more than
three months, apparently, benefited Chi Ter. He made a smooth break from the four gate and zoomed to the front under jockey Jesus Salazar. Cruzin The Wagon, the even-money favorite, made a bid to challenge Chi Ter, but Salazar kept Chi Ter in the lead and widened the gap to bring the gelding to the wire
72 SPEEDHORSE, August 31, 2012
in front by three-quarters of a length.
A Jackie Kirby trainee, Chi Ter covered
the 400 yards in :19.470, registering a 104 speed index while collecting his 15th win
in 36 lifetime outs. Chi Ter has hit the board in all seven of his outs this season, posting four wins including two in stakes. He also finished first in the Sawgrass Stakes back in February at Hialeah Park. The payday from
this race, a sum of $28,462, improved Chi Ter’s career earnings to $376,608.
Herb and Doris Pierce bred Chi Ter out of This Chicks Stylish, an unraced 1995 mare. Of This Chicks Stylish’s eight foals, five are starters with four winners. Make Out Artist, a half- brother to Chi Ter, also holds a stakes victory.
Brent Clay, the top trainer at Prairie Meadows last year,
saddled runner-up Cruzin The Wagon. Terry and Mary Louise Pursel own Cruzin The Wagon (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Penelope Cruzin), who was ridden by Stormy Smith and running for the first time since winning the Jack Brooks Stakes-RG3 at Remington Park in May. Jorge Haddad owns Giorgino (Apollo TB-Las Alamitos), who finished third. The Kasey Willis trainee had Agustin Silva aboard.
The remaining order of finish was Jesse In Town (Feature Mr Jess-Whatsthatfillysname), Believers Gathering (Agouti-None As Easy), Jess Katiebug Blue (Jess Louisiana Blue- Katiebug Driver), First Black Wagon (PYC Paint Your Wagon-First Black Rose), T
Gold J (Gold Medal Jess-Turns To Cash), Surprise Ending (Royal Quick Dash-
Sinful Shenanigans) and Streakin Rare (Fredricksburg-Regally Rare).
Prairie Meadows $51,750 • 400 yards :19.470 • si 104
First Down Dash
Granite Lake
Clever Miss TB
CHI TER, ‘07-g.
Chicks Beduino
This Chicks Stylish
Private Style
shelly Mcshane: coady Photography los alamitos