Bon Accord, Nellie Delaney tune up for Champion of Champions

The end-of-year goals are set for Bon Accord and Nellie Delaney, two runners in Saturday’s $150,000 Los Alamitos Championship for older Quarter Horses.

They have qualified for the $600,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 13, which plays a pivotal role in championship voting. The Los Alamitos Championship is a tune-up race and a chance to enhance credentials for them.

The Los Alamitos Championship is run over 440 yards and carries an automatic berth to the Champion of Champions. If Bon Accord or Nellie Delaney wins, the berth will revert to the winner of a time trial Nov. 16. Accordingly, the Los Alamitos Championship drew a strong group of 11, all stakes winners, including Last to Fire, the 2013 world champion, and Once Over, who won the Spencer Childers Championship in July.

Only 10 will start. Creole Williams is on the also-eligible list.

KEY CONTENDERS

Bon Accord

◗ Bon Accord won the Remington Park Championship over 440 yards on May 31 and was rested over the summer before winning the Go Man Go Handicap over 400 yards on Sept. 20.

◗ Trainer Juan Aleman said a repeat of the Go Man Go Handicap may be good enough Saturday.

“He really can close, and I think he’ll like the 440,” Aleman said. “I think he ran a superb race last time out.”

◗ A 4-year-old gelding, Bon Accord races for Nancy Yearsley, Garvan Kelly, and Vinewood Farms.

Nellie Delaney

◗ Trained by Aleman for Yearsley and Kelly, Nellie Delaney beat males in the Los Alamitos Winter Championship last February. She broke through the gate before the start of the Mildred Vessels Handicap on Sept. 28 and finished fourth.

“She’s never done that before,” Aleman said. “The rider said once they closed the door on [another] horse, she false broke. She tried to run at the end.”

◗ Nellie Delaney was a late addition to the Los Alamitos Championship field.

“We weren’t going to run her,” Aleman said. “The owner said, ‘Let’s run her.’ It wasn’t my first choice to run them together.”

Last to Fire

◗ Last to Fire is winless in three starts since the Champion of Champions last December. In the Go Man Go, Last to Fire ran well late to finish within a half-length of Bon Accord, suggesting a longer race would work in his favor.