Page 147 - December 2017

Champion of Champions-G1
MR PYC TO YOU
by Tracy Gantz • photos by Los Alamitos & Susan Bachelor
With the winners of the last two Champion of Champions-G1, Zoomin For Spuds and Heza Dasha Fire, squaring off in the 2017 edition, and considering that Heza Dasha Fire is a World Champion, the result proved even more shock- ing than the $123 payoff. Not only did Mr PYC To You upset the two previous winners, Jose Flores, who trains Mr PYC To You and Heza Dasha Fire, beat himself to run one-two.
“I guess I had nice horses in this race,” said Flores in what must be one of the biggest understatements in Quarter Horse racing.
Mr PYC To You, owned by Flores with Denise and Ron Van Amburgh, easily scored the biggest mutuel payoff in the history of the Champion of Champions. The colt went off at 60-1, the longest shot in the 10-horse field. Prior to 2017, Mr Doty Bars’ $46.20 payoff in 1979 was the largest in the race.
Bettors made Heza Dasha Fire the 11-10 favorite in a field that included BH Lisas Boy, undefeated in 2017 in six starts, and Grade
1 winners Jess Good Reason, He Looks Hot, Time For Jess, Chazaq, and The Fiscal Cliff. Mr PYC To You didn’t even initially qualify for the Champion of Champions, his time
while running third in the Z. Wayne Griffin Trial #1 not being quite fast enough to get in. However, Firing Tools tested positive for the B2-agonist clenbuterol via post-race hair test- ing done at the University of California, Davis, and was ruled ineligible for
the race. That moved Mr PYC To You into the field.
Heza Dasha Fire rushed
to the lead right after the
gate opened, while Mr PYC
To You broke out from post
10 in second. Jockey Carlos Huerta immediately put Mr PYC To You into the race,
and the two of them worked hard to catch Heza Dasha
Fire. They got the job done late in the 440-yard race,
and Mr PYC To You kept
to his task to make the final margin a 1/2-length in :21.618.
“I thought Heza Dasha Fire had it won,” said Flores. “At the midway point, I thought Heza Dasha Fire had him. At the last jump I see the black horse (Mr PYC To You), and I
said, ‘Did he get him?’ I had mixed emotions. I was happy for the Van Amburghs and myself, and I was sad for my other horse, too.”
Going into the race, Flores said that he hoped Mr PYC To You would hit the board
“to get him more creden-
tials to become a stallion.” Prior to the Champion of Champions, Mr PYC To
You hadn’t won a stakes, but he had qualified to several Grade 1 races, including the 2015 Rainbow Futurity-G1. He finished second in the 2017 Bank of America Los Alamitos Championship Challenge-G3 and fourth in the 2017 Los Alamitos Winter Championship-G1.
“Mr PYC To You qualified as a 2 year old to the Rainbow
Futurity, but then he slabbed (fractured),” said Ron Van Amburgh. “Then at Ruidoso he qualified for all three Derby consolations. We knew we had a good horse that liked 440.”
Added Flores, “I just think Mr PYC To You
Los Alamitos $750,000 • 440 yards :21.618 • si 97
Corona Cartel
PYC Paint Your Wagon
Dashin Follies
MR PYC TO YOU, ’13-c.
Vital Sign
Stylish Sign
Down Pillow
Mr PYC To You and Carlos Huerta win the $750,000 Champion of Champions-G1 by 1/2-length.
SPEEDHORSE, December 2017 145
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