Page 186 - Speedhorse, December 2018

Champion of Champions-G1
BODACIOUS EAGLE
by Tracy Gantz
Johnny Trotter has owned plenty of first- class Quarter Horses, from racehorses to roping and ranch horses. A past president of the American Quarter Horse Association, he knows what makes a good horse.
So, it is the highest of praise when Trotter called Bodacious Eagle “the best horse I’ve ever owned.”
Bodacious Eagle proved worthy of those words with a spectacular performance in the $600,000 Champion of Champions-G1 at Los Alamitos on Dec. 15.
“He’s been my favorite since he was a baby,” said Trotter, who bought Bodacious Eagle as an embryo. “He’s just been extraordinary.”
Bodacious Eagle not only gave Trotter his first Champion of Champions victory, he ful- filled a prediction made by Trotter’s wife, Jana.
After the gelding’s sire, One Famous
Eagle, won the 2007 Los Alamitos $2 Million Futurity-G1, Trotter advised Jana to “enjoy this because we might never get to do this again.”
Jana told him that they’d be back in the Los Alamitos winner’s circle with one of One Famous Eagle’s sons.
And, that’s exactly what Bodacious Eagle did. He also gave jockey Cody Jensen and trainer Justin Joiner their first Champion of Champions wins.
“I’ve been coveting this race for a long time,” said Jensen. “It’s kind of like
that last bucket-list race that I’ve been wanting to scratch off. I had some good shots to win this, and things just didn’t quite flow my way on the day.”
In 2008, Jensen had
four regular mounts who
received berths in the race.
He selected No Secrets Here,
only to have the horse scratch and have to watch from the sidelines.
Joiner had Bodacious Eagle primed and looking on his toes in the paddock. The geld- ing needed to be 100% to meet a very tough field. Three heads and a nose separated the first five horses across the line.
Bodacious Eagle broke on top in the Champion of Champions and led throughout the 440 yards, but he didn’t have an easy time of it.
Zoomin For Spuds, the 2016 Champion of Champions winner and third in the 2017 ver- sion, was breathing down his neck early. Then, favorite Jesstacartel and multiple Grade 1 win- ner BH Lisas Boys closed ground ferociously.
Bodacious Eagle held them all off, winning wire-to- wire by a head in :21.472.
In doing so, Bodacious Eagle went over $1 mil- lion in lifetime earnings to $1,299,486, a goal Trotter had long felt the gelding deserved to reach.
Earlier in the year, Bodacious Eagle won the All American Gold Cup-G1 at Ruidoso Downs. He now
has eight lifetime stakes wins. His race record stands at 33-14(8)-7(4)-3(2). He earned his AQHA Superior Race Horse title in 2016 and his AQHA Supreme Race Horse title in 2017.
Joiner has learned to give Bodacious Eagle plenty of leeway in his morning training.
“He has a funny personality,” said the trainer. “He likes to play games. My training routine for him is pretty much whatever he wants to do. He runs better that way. When we come out here,
it might take us 20 minutes to gallop him or 45 minutes to gallop him because he’s liable to walk or trot halfway around this racetrack. He’ll sit on the backside for 20 minutes watching horses break out of the gate. When he’s ready to come home, he’ll let you know.”
Los Alamitos $600,000 • 440 yards :21.472 • si 99
Mr Jess Perry
One Famous Eagle
One Famous Lady
BODACIOUS EAGLE, ‘12-g.
Corona Cartel
Bodacious Dream
Dashing Phoebe
184 SPEEDHORSE, December 2018
Bodacious Eagle & Cody Jensen receive every call winning the $600,000 Champion of Champions-G1.
RACING NEWS
Scott Martinez