Bh Lisas Boy, Tarzanito, Zoomin for Spuds meet again in Vessels Maturity

CYPRESS, Calif. – The rankings change, but the leading older Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos have been a consistent bunch in recent years. Several of those horses are leading contenders in Sunday evening’s $155,100 Vessels Maturity at 400 yards.

Bh Lisas Boy won the 2017 Vessels Maturity as a heavy favorite, only to emerge from the race with a knee injury that kept him sidelined for four months. Last year, Zoomin for Spuds beat Bh Lisas Boy by a nose in the Vessels Maturity, with Tarzanito a neck behind in third.

On Sunday, Bh Lisas Boy, Tarzanito, and Zoomin for Spuds are part of a field of 10 in the Vessels Maturity that includes He Looks Hot, who won the Los Alamitos Championship last October, and Jesstacartel, who won the Los Alamitos Super Derby last November.

The winner of the Vessels Maturity receives an automatic berth in the Champion of Champions on Dec. 14, a race that plays a pivotal role in voting for year-end championships. Last December, Bodacious Eagle won the Champion of Champions and was named World Champion. Jesstacartel and Bh Lisas Boy were second and third, while He Looks Hot was sixth and Tarzanito was ninth.

Tarzanito was later named champion aged stallion for 2018, largely on the basis of his win in the Go Man Go Handicap at Los Alamitos last September.

He Looks Hot, Jesstacartel, and Tarzanito won divisions of the Vessels Maturity time trials on June 16. He Looks Hot was timed in 19.56 seconds, setting the fastest qualifying time. Trained by Scott Willoughby, He Looks Hot finished a neck in front of Bh Lisas Boy.

The Vessels Maturity was Bh Lisas Boy’s first start since a disappointing sixth in a division of the Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship trials in February, a race in which he did not qualify.

Zoomin for Spuds, who won the 2016 Champion of Champions as a 3-year-old, won the Los Alamitos Winter Championship on Feb. 10. Trained by Monte Arossa, Zoomin for Spuds was a troubled third behind Jesstacartel in the Vessels Maturity trials but qualified for the final with a time of 19.89 seconds.