Apollitical Pence tries to complete Champion of Champions hat trick

CYPRESS, Calif. – In the 49 runnings of the Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos, the legendary gelding Refrigerator is the only three-time winner (1992 to 1994). Apollitical Pence can become the second in Saturday’s $750,000 race for Quarter Horses at 440 yards.

“It’s surreal to talk about him and Refrigerator in the same breath,” trainer Monty Arrossa said Wednesday. “It’s pretty amazing.”

To get his third consecutive win in the Champion of Champions, Apollitical Pence must beat what is widely considered the best field assembled since the race was introduced in 1972.

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Apollitical Pence is the 2-1 favorite on the morning line, a slight choice over 5-2 Empressum, the champion 3-year-old of 2021 and winner of two major stakes at Los Alamitos in the summer.

Danjer, the 2021 Quarter Horse World Champion, is 3-1, as is the 3-year-old Bomb Cyclone, the brilliant winner of the Los Alamitos Super Derby at 400 yards on Nov. 6. Bomb Cyclone is racing against older horses for the first time.

Apollitical Pence, a 6-year-old Oklahoma-bred gelding who races for Matt and Bendi Dunn, is unbeaten in five starts this year. He won the Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship in February to secure a berth in the Champion of Champions and did not race again until he won the Labor Day Weekend Stakes at 250 yards on Sept. 3 at Ruidoso Downs.

Since then, Apollitical Pence has won the Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Championship at 440 yards on Oct. 8 by three-quarters of a length over Empressum, and won a division of the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors’ Trials at 400 yards on Nov. 13 as a prep race.

Apollitical Pence did not need to run in the Directors’ trials for any reason other than Arrossa wanted to give the gelding a race closer to the Champion of Champions.

“He came out of the Boniface Championship really well,” Arrossa said. “The Z. Wayne has been a good prep for us. Rather than work the horse, we decided to run him. He ran well. I think it was a good prep.”

Danjer was beaten in his 2022 debut in April, but has since won four stakes, all at 440 yards at four different venues. This will be his first race at Los Alamitos.

Empressum seemed a likely favorite in the Champion of Champions after winning the Vessels Maturity in July and the Go Man Go Handicap in August. But in the Los Alamitos Championship, Empressum could not catch Apollitical Pence, who had a brilliant start. Empressum did finish well and was beaten by three-quarters of a length.

Trainer Heath Taylor thought Empressum carried extra weight in October, which he said is not the case this week.

“We have no excuse this time,” Taylor said. “He’s really doing well. He’s tighter. He has a lot more tone and is a lot more athletic looking.

“He’ll have to be better for this race than the last one.”

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