Page 183 - December2022

Breeders/Owners Jeff Jones and Steve Holt in the Champion of Champions winner’s circle.
Co-owner Steve Holt foaled Empressum in Oklahoma out of his mare Crazy Down Corona. She has produced 5 winners in
8 starters including graded stakes winner
Hes Judgeandjury, the 2021 All American Futurity-G1 winner who the night after the Champion of Champions ran third in the Los Alamitos $2 Million Futurity.
Dean Frey bred and trains second-place Danjer (FDD Dynasty-Shez Jess Toxic) and owns him with Downtime Enterprises LLC and Billy G. Smith. James Flores rode the 6-year-old gelding, who has won 14 stakes, most recently the Bank of America Challenge Championship-G1.
Matt and Bendi Dunn’s Dunn Ranch owns third-place Apollitical Pence (Apollitical Jess-Send City). Trainer Monty Arrossa had jockey Armando Cervantes pilot the 6-year-old gelding. Apollitical Pence had won his last seven consecutive races prior to the Champion of Champions.
Completing the field were Bomb Cyclone (Favorite Cartel-Remember Me Rose), A Pollitical Candy V (Apollitical Jess-Rock Candy SA), Cattail Cove (Favorite Cartel- Katie Katella), in a DH for 7th were Powerful Favorite (Favorite Cartel-Remember Me Rose) & Pattys Saint (Jess Got Easier-SP Saint Patty), followed by Sweet Dasha Fire (Walk Thru Fire-Dasha Freda), and Jessapolliticalgirl (Apollitical Jess-Kirklyns Dynasty).
“When the gates opened, I wasn’t looking for any other horse,” said jockey Rodrigo Vallejo in an interview with StallioneSearch, Empressum’s regular rider. “I just wanted my horse to break well, and that’s what happened.”
Danjer overtook Apollitical Pence for second while Empressum barreled down the track as if fixated on the wire. As the finish line approached, Empressum shifted into gear and the gelding drew out to a 1 1/4-length victory over Danjer, completing 440 yards in :21.089. This impressive clocking earned a speed index of 111. The lucrative $375,000 winner’s share of the purse boosted his career earnings to $1,620,025.
“We are blessed that he got it done,” said trainer M. Heath Taylor in an interview with StallioneSearch. “I think a good clean start, up on his feet, and a clean path, I think that was probably the biggest key.”
Empressum added the Champion of Champions-G1 to his six earlier stakes victories, which included the 2021 Rainbow Derby-G1 and Ruidoso Derby-G1 and, most recently, the Go Man Go Handicap-G1.
After the Go Man Go, Apollitical Pence defeated Empressum in the Robert L. Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship Stakes-G1 on Oct. 8. Taylor credited Apollitical Pence with a “tremendous, tremendous race” in the Boniface.”
But he also blamed himself for Empressum’s defeat. “I thought (Empressum) had gotten a little soft,” said Taylor. “I thought he had gotten a little fat and maybe not quite as sharp on conditioning. He came out of that last race really remarkable. We did his teeth, dewormed him, and his coat started improving and his energy level got high.”
“I’m so proud of Empressum,” co-owner Jeff Jones said in an interview with StallioneSearch. “When you looked him in the eye when he was a baby, he was special and he knew he was special. He’s continued to be special here at Los Alamitos.”
Trainer Heath Taylor and jockey Rodrigo Vallejo headed to the Champion of Champions winner’s circle.
RACING NEWS
SPEEDHORSE December 2022 181
William Zuazo, Los Alamitos
William Zuazo, Los Alamitos