Page 152 - Speedhorse December 2019

L
L
o
os
sA
Al
la
am
mi
it
to
os
s
C
Cl
lo
o
s
si
in
ng
gW
W
e
ee
ek
ke
en
n
d
d
Champion of Champions-G1
HE LOOKS HOT
by Tracy Gantz
Dr. Ed Allred’s contributions to the Quarter Horse racing industry are legend- ary, perhaps the biggest of which is his owning
and operating Los Alamitos Race Course.
So, it seemed especially fitting that Dr. Allred won one of Los Alamitos’ most prestigious races in the Dec. 14 Grade 1 Champion of Champions with He Looks Hot, a 2012 sorrel gelding he bred and nurtured through a lifetime of challenges.
This is Allred’s first
Champion of Champions vic-
tory with a horse he owns solely.
He and Dr. Kenneth Wright
owned World Champion Charger Bar, who won the Champion of Champions in 1973.
“I can hardly talk—I’m very happy,” said an elated Allred after the race.
He Looks Hot drew the outside post for the 440-yard Champion of Champions. He stumbled a little at the start, but he still
received the first call from the gates. Jockey Vinnie Bednar got him back into the race immediately and they led at every subse- quent call. He Looks Hot got to the finish line a 1/2-length in front in a wire-to-wire run, stopping the timer in :21.380 for a career high 102 speed index.
“Every horse in that race is a great horse,” said trainer Scott Willoughby. “When he stumbled a little
bit out of the gate, I was very concerned. But Vinnie let him pick himself up, and he was right in stride right there on the lead. When he breaks that good, he’s pretty tough to outrun.”
Bednar is a former Thoroughbred jockey who has risen up to second in the Los Alamitos Quarter Horses jockey standings.
“We wanted to convert him from being a Thoroughbred rider, and I think we’ve done it,” said Allred.
Bednar noted that He Looks Hot is a relax- ing horse to ride because of his consistency.
“He fell out of there, but he fell in front and he stayed there,” the rider said. “Everything went right. He ran to his full potential.”
He Looks Hot was winning the Champion of Champions as a seven year old.
He was completing a difficult double that began in 2014, when as a two year old he won the Los Alamitos $2 Million Futurity-G1. Only three others have completed the feat of winning the Los Alamitos $2 Million Futurity and then the Champion of Champions: Ocean Runaway (2004 and 2005), Blues Girl Too (2006 and 2007), and Good Reason SA (2009 and 2011).
The years between the 2014 Los Alamitos
Los Alamitos $600,000 • 440 yards :21.380 • si 102
First Down Dash
Walk Thru Fire
Sweet Beduino
HE LOOKS HOT, ’12-g.
Check Him Out
Look Her Over
Oh La Proud
148 SPEEDHORSE, December 2019
He Looks Hot and jockey Vinnie Bednar win the $600,000 Champion of Champions-G1 by 1/2-length.
Los Alamitos