Be a Bono, Buccaneer Beach take Los Al stakes

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Be a Bono and Buccaneer Beach won $200,000 stakes for Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos over the weekend, displaying the form that made them top horses in their respective divisions last year.

Be a Bono is unbeaten in six starts following his win in Friday's Los Alamitos Winter Derby. Ridden by G.R. Carter, Jr., Be a Bono ($4.40) ran 400 yards in 19.623 seconds, winning by a neck over 43-1 Mocha Blast. Owned by Spencer Childers and trained by Dan Francisco, Be a Bono won the Golden State Futurity last fall. He will be pointed for the Governor's Cup Derby in June.

Buccaneer Beach won Saturday's Los Alamitos Winter Championship, earning an automatic berth into the $500,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 11.

Ridden by Carlos Bautista, Buccaneer Beach ($7) finished a nose in front of Meteoric, running 400 yards in 19.631 seconds. Owned by Jose Santos, Buccaneer Beach was claimed for $8,000 last July. He finished third in the 2003 Champion of Champions in December.