Page 74 - February_2023

World Champion, Champion Aged Horse, Champion Aged Gelding
EMPRESSUM si 111, $1,620,025
World Champion Empressum and jockey Rodrigo Vallejo winning the 50th Champion of Champions-G1.
Breeders: Jeff Jones & Steve Holt Owners: Jeff D. Jones & Steve A. Holt Trainer: M. Heath Taylor
Jockey: Rodrigo Sigala Vallejo
2022 Record: 6-4(3)-2(2)-0, $587,896
Vessels Maturity-G1, Go Man Go Handicap-G1, Champion of Champions S.-G1, 2nd The Championship at Sunland Park-G1, Robert L. Boniface Los Alamitos Inv. Champ. S-G1.
Following a tough three-year-old campaign in 2021 that took Empressum throughout
the country and earned him his first Championship titles as Champion 3 Year Old and Champion 3-Year-Old Gelding, trainer Heath Taylor decided to base the gelding at Los Alamitos in 2022.
“We thought that the best thing for the horse to extend his career was maybe for that particular year to give him one place to stay,” said Taylor, who was also named the Blane Schvaneveldt Champion Trainer of 2022.
Los Alamitos showcased Empressum’s many talents, culminating in a Champion of Champions-G1 for the ages. It set him on a path to the 2022 World Championship, as well as earning him Champion Aged Gelding and overall Aged Champion for his owner/ breeders, Steve Holt and Jeff Jones.
Technically, 2022 began for Empressum in the Jan. 2 Championship at Sunland Park-G1, where he finished second by just a neck. But that was more of an end to his 2021 season, and his 2022 World Championship year more rightly began with the trials for the July 3 Vessels Maturity-G1.
Oklahoma-bred Empressum quickly embraced Los Alamitos and California, qualifying the fastest under regular rider Rodrigo Vallejo in wire-to-wire style by 2 1/4-lengths and then capturing the final in another wire-to-wire victory in a swift :19.329 for 400 yards. It was the third-fastest time ever in Vessels Maturity history.
He ran even faster in the Aug. 28 Go
Man Go Handicap-G1, leading from start
to finish and completing the distance in :19.312. It was the second-fastest time in that race’s history, and Empressum won by an astounding 2 1/2-lengths.
“Here is a champion racehorse at the peak of his powers—he is a sight to behold,” said Los Alamitos track announcer Michael Wrona in calling the race.
72 SPEEDHORSE February 2023
William Zuazo, Speedhorse
APOLLITICAL JESS
si 107
Bred by: Juan Alberto Tirado Lizarraga
Raced to 3 • $1,399,831 14-8(2)-4(2)-0
1,216 foals, 117 SW Progeny Earnings: $57,649,923
MR JESS PERRY si 113 Bred by: Jesse Perry Raced to 4 • $687,184 21-12(5)-2(1)-0 1,994 foals, 160 SW Progeny Earnings: $60,704,344
STREAKIN LA JOLLA si 99 Bred by: B. F. Phillips Jr./Delbert Smith Raced to 3 • $56,227
8-8(1)-0-0
1,536 f, 87 SW • $25,112,496
STREAKIN SIX si 104
BOTTOM’S UP si 82
SCOOPIE FEIN si 99
Bred by: Strole D. G. Dr. and Mrs. Raced to 4 • $15,807
20-6-3-4
8 f, 1 SW • $837,511
SINN FEIN si 98
LEGS LA SCOOP si 95
APOLLITICAL TIME si 104 Bred by: Vessels Stallion Farm LLC
Raced to 6 • $904,242 35-14(10)-7(2)-5(4)
12 foals, 1 SW Progeny Earnings: $1,527,555
APOLLO TB
Bred by: Eclipse Investment & Leon Rasmussen Raced to 6 • $354,475 23-5(2)-4(4)-4(3)
737 f, 36 SW • $14,699,395
FALSTAFF
TUMBLE ALONG
HALF TIME ATTRACTION si 96 Bred by: Tom Carlson/Vessels Stln Frm Raced to 2 • $14,734
11-1-2(1)-2(1)
18 f, 1 SW • $1,032,161
FIRST DOWN DASH si 105
FAVORITE ATTRACTION si 88
CRAZY DOWN CORONA
si 96
Bred by: Steve A. Holt Raced to 3 • $73,162 6-2-1-0
9 foals, 2 SW Progeny Earnings: $3,650,409
FIRST DOWN DASH si 105 Bred by: A. F. Stanley Jr./B. F. Phillips Jr.
Raced to 3 • $857,256 15-13(8)-1(1)-0
2,534 foals, 259 SW Progeny Earnings: $90,116,494
DASH FOR CASH si 114 Bred by: B. F. Phillips Jr. Raced to 4 • $507,689 25-21(9)-3(2)-0
1,368 f, 145 SW • $39,991,197
ROCKET WRANGLER si 97
FIND A BUYER TB
FIRST PRIZE ROSE si 98 Bred by: Gordon H. Wilson Raced to 4 • $22,754 34-6-8(1)-6(1)
7 f, 2 SW • $986,098
GALLANT JET si 102
ROSE BUG si 96
CRAZY ABOUT CORONA si 100 Bred by: Ginger & Rainy Graham
Raced to 3 • $90,252 16-7(1)-2(1)-2(2)
13 foals, 1 SW Progeny Earnings: $468,586
CORONA CARTEL si 97 Bred by: Robert D. Etchandy Raced to 3 • $557,142 14-6(3)-3-0
2,135 f, 190 SW • $68,156,503
HOLLAND EASE si 109
CORONA CHICK si 113
FONTANA BEAUJOLAIS si 94 Bred by: Herbert Graham
Raced to 3 • $31,063
12-2(1)-2-2(1)
16 f, 2 SW • $566,694
MOON LARK si 99
DEBONAIRESS si 94