Apollitical Pence surprises in Champion of Champions

Apollitical Pence avoided the trouble that plagued several leading contenders to record an upset win in Saturday’s $600,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos.

The win gave John Cooper his 1,500th career victory at Los Alamitos and was his second win in the track’s most prestigious race for older horses. Cooper won the 1979 Champion of Champions with Mr Doty Bars.

Cooper, 81, is Apollitical Pence’s third trainer this year. The 4-year-old gelding was trained by Blane Wood and Monty Arrossa earlier this year and was transferred to Cooper this fall.

Ridden for the first time by Raul Valenzuela on Saturday, Apollitical Pence ($26.20) bumped slightly with Hotsempting in the initial strides, but recovered quickly.

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Powerful Favorite, the winner of the Go Man Go Handicap on Aug. 30, was always near the front and held a narrow lead over Apollitical Pence midway through the 440-yard race after Hotsempting faded from contention. Apollitical Pence reached the front in the final 100 yards, winning by a neck over 5-2 favorite Tell Cartel, who ran well late. Powerful Favorite, the 3-1 second choice, finished a head behind Tell Cartel.

Chocolatito, the winner of the Los Alamitos Championship in October, finished fourth, followed by Eagle Coast, Dexxter, Curls Happy Wagon, Hotsempting, Zoomin for Spuds, and Bos Time Machine. Curls Happy Wagon was beaten less than a length.

Tell Cartel and Chocolatito were bumped shortly after the start, affecting their chances. Bos Time Machine broke through the gate at the start, an incident that delayed the race by more than three minutes.

The Champion of Champions was Tell Cartel’s final start before going to stud in Arizona next year.

Apollitical Pence was timed in 21.44, winning for the ninth time in his 23rd start. With the $300,000 winner’s share of the Champion of Champions, Apollitical Pence has earned $1,017,391.

The Champion of Champions was his third stakes win, preceded by two stakes at Remington Park – the Heritage Place Derby in 2019 and the Mighty Deck Three Stakes in March.

Earlier in his career, Apollitical Pence was third in the Golden State Million Futurity and fifth in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity in 2018 when trained by Arrossa.