Apollitical Jess likely to become a stallion in 2011

Apollitical Jess’s record-setting performance in the $750,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos last Saturday was probably the final race of his career.

Owner Juan Alberto Tirado Lizzarraga and trainer Juan Aleman were scheduled to meet this week to discuss 2011 plans for the 3-year-old Apollitical Jess – whether to continue racing or send the colt to stud.

Aleman said late Tuesday that he was advising his client to send Apollitical Jess to stud.

“If he were mine, I would stand him,” Aleman said. “What more does he have to prove? He can’t go out on top any higher.”

Apollitical Jess won the Champion of Champions by a half-length over A Tempting Dash, setting a track record of 20.93 seconds for 440 yards. The field included defending champion Freaky, the 2009 Quarter Horse World Champion, a title that Apollitical Jess may have clinched with his victory.

The Champions of Champions carries immense clout with championship voters, considering the race brings together the winners of major Quarter Horse stakes run throughout the nation each year. There will also be support for Double Down Special, the winner of the Ruidoso and All American derbies at Ruidoso Downs this year.

Apollitical Jess ended the year in outstanding form, also winning the Los Alamitos Super Derby in November to earn a berth in the Champion of Champions.

Aleman, 36, emphasized that Apollitical Jess is physically capable of another season on the racetrack. The trainer won the most prestigious race of his career in the Champion of Champions.

“He’s sound,” he said. “We’ve had him on the hotwalker and he’s playing. We took him out the day after the race and didn’t look like the horse that just broke a track record. He was happy as can be.”

Aleman said several stallion farms throughout the Quarter Horse industry, particularly in California, Oklahoma, and Texas, have inquired about standing Apollitical Jess. A winner of 8 of 14 starts and $1,399,831, Appollitical Jess is by leading sire Mr Jess Perry and out of Appollitical Time, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2005 and champion aged mare of 2006.

“I think a horse of his caliber, Why risk running him back at the racetrack?” Aleman said. “My advice is to do what’s best for the horse. I’ve had this horse since he was nine months old.”