Chocolatito the heavy favorite in Spencer Childers Championship

Gate manners will determine how much Chocolatito can accomplish in the second half of the year.

Already, Chocolatito is having a fine summer, winning the $157,400 Vessels Maturity on July 5 at Los Alamitos for his first major stakes win. The victory gave Chocolatito a berth in the $600,000 Champion of Champions in December, a key race for championship considerations.

Sunday, Chocolatito will be a massive favorite against a weaker field in the $100,000 Spencer Childers Championship at 400 yards at Los Alamitos.

The Childers is one of two six-figure stakes on Sunday’s program, followed by the $185,000 Governor’s Cup Derby at 400 yards. The races were originally scheduled for Saturday, but track officials decided earlier this week to spread an evening of stakes over two programs.

Chocolatito, owned by track chairman Ed Allred and trained by Scott Willoughby, has won three of his last four races. In a time trial for the Vessels Maturity on June 14, Chocolatito hopped in the air at the start and closed with an impressive rally to finish second by a neck to Cole Man 47.

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Gate issues were a problem for Chocolatito in 2019. He broke slowly or bumped with a rival at the start of three six-figure derbys. His best result in those races was a second by a nose in the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Breeders’ Derby.

In the Vessels Maturity, Chocolatito was away with the field despite bumping with a rival. He quickened noticeably in the second half of the 400-yard race, closing from fifth to win by a comfortable half-length.

Cole Man 47 was fourth in the Vessels Maturity, beaten 1 1/2 lengths, and is part of a field of seven in the Childers.

Chocolatito, a 4-year-old gelding, breaks from the inside post. He won the Kaweah Bar Handicap at 350 yards on May 2 from that position.

Nomadic, owned by Allred and trained by Willoughby, was the fastest qualifier for the Governor’s Cup Derby from time trials held July 12 and could be a slight favorite. Jockey Vinnie Bednar, who rides first call for the Allred-Willoughby team, has the mount on Chocolatito and Nomadic.

Nomadic was timed in 19.59 seconds in the trials, finishing three-quarters of a length over Cattail Cove and Runforyourlife, his chief rivals on Sunday, who were in a dead-heat for second.

Runforyourlife had his first start of 2020 in the Governor’s Cup Derby. Last fall, Runforyourlife won the Golden State Million Futurity in November and was seventh in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity in December.

Cattail Cove was second in the Two Million Futurity. The Governor’s Cup Derby is the third start for Cattail Cove, who stumbled at the start of the Vandys Flash Handicap at 400 yards on June 28, losing all chance.

Allred and Willoughby also start trial-race winner Up for Speed, who was timed in 19.80.