Curls Happy Wagon earns Champion of Champions berth with Vessels victory

Curls Happy Wagon won her Los Alamitos debut and first start in four months in Sunday’s $125,000 Mildred Vessels Handicap for fillies and mares for her fourth career stakes win.

Ridden by Armando Cervantes, Curls Happy Wagon ($10) took the lead at the start of the 400-yard race and won by three-quarters of a length over 16-1 Victorioso Dinastia. Curls Happy Wagon was timed in 19.83 seconds.

Hot Little Kiddy (9-2) finished third, while Tequila Sangria, the 4-5 favorite, finished a quiet sixth, her first loss in three starts this year. Tequila Sangria was unsettled behind the gate, and was beaten 3 1/2 lengths.

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With the win, Curls Happy Wagon earned an automatic berth to the $600,000 Champion of Champions against males at Los Alamitos on Dec. 12.

Trained by Juan Aleman for Michael Pohl and Martin Stacy, Curls Happy Wagon was the second choice in a field of seven in the Mildred Vessels Handicap, the track’s richest race for older fillies and mares.

Curls Happy Wagon, a 5-year-old mare by PYC Paint Your Wagon, has won 8 of 17 starts and earned $308,174. Aleman said in the winner’s circle that Curls Happy Wagon may not race again until the Champion of Champions.

Curls Happy Wagon won the Decketta Stakes for fillies and mares at Remington Park in her 2020 debut in March when trained by Stacy Charette-Hill. She was beaten in two stakes for fillies and mares later in the spring at Remington Park, finishing fourth in the Easy Date Stakes in April and fifth in the Junos Request Stakes in May.