Page 91 - March_2023

After graduating from high school, four years of age, when Heza Dasha Fire HIS BEGINNINGS
crossed the wire second by .052 seconds and 1/2-length.
But even before that, Jose expanded
on fulfilling his dream by winning the
Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity with Matabari in 2012, and again with Ima Fearless Hero in 2015, the day after Heza Dasha Fire’s Champion of Champions win.
Jose’s trainees now include three AQHA Champions: IB Quick, Heza Dasha
Fire and Ima Fearless Hero. And at age 48, Jose earned
another trainer accolade by being named the 2022 Los Alamitos
Leading Trainer after ranking in the track’s top three for multiple years.
Jose Antonio Flores enrolled in
college. But just a few days into his studies, he realized that it wasn’t the path he was meant for. “From the time I was
8 years old, I knew what I wanted to do,” he says. “My dream was to train horses at Los Alamitos and win the Champion of Champions; I still think of that as the best Quarter Horse race in the world.”
Jose withdrew from college and in the 30 years since, has met his Champion of Champions goal
not just once, but twice: in
2015 with Heza Dasha Fire
at three years of age, and
two years later in 2017
with Mr PYC To You at
Antonio and Cecilia Flores raised Jose and his younger sister, Jazmin, in Pasadena, California. Antonio had grown up on a cattle ranch in Poncitlan, Jalisco, Mexico, and dabbled in racehorses with Jose’s uncles. When the family moved to the United States, Antonio and his brothers began acquiring claimers, including Love That Speed and Casadys Second Look. Love
That Speed (Winning Speed-To You With Love, Mickey Fein) earned $150,609 from 11 wins in 33 starts, with seven seconds and five thirds in six years on the track. Casadys Second Look (Casady Casanova-Special Review, Hempen TB), won 11 of 62 starts, with nine seconds and 17 thirds, and earned $33,366 in six years.
Mr PYC To You winning the 2017 Champion of Champions-G1.
SPEEDHORSE March 2023 89
“From the time I was 8 years old, I knew what I wanted to do. My dream was to train horses at Los Alamitos and win the Champion of Champions; I still think of that as the best Quarter Horse race in the world.” – Jose Flores
Los Alamitos
Los Alamitos