Empressum goes for Vessels Maturity three-peat

CYPRESS, Calif. – Empressum can become the second horse to win three consecutive runnings of the $150,000 Vessels Maturity on Sunday at Los Alamitos, the track’s leading race of the summer for older Quarter Horses.

To help his chances of claiming the title of 2024 World Champion Quarter Horse, which he won in a brilliant 2022 campaign, Empressum needs a win Sunday evening to boost his current-year credentials.

The Vessels Maturity, run at 400 yards, is Empressum’s first start since a second by a half-length to stablemate Flash Bak in the $350,000 Championship at Sunland Park in New Mexico on Jan. 7.

Empressum was second to Flash Bak in the $750,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos last December, a race he won in 2022. The recent losses in the Champion of Champions and Championship at Sunland Park are the first time Empressum has lost consecutive races since he was a 2-year-old in 2020 and trained by Guillermo Valdivia.

A gelding, Empressum has won 22 of 32 starts and earned $2,020,623.

For Empressum, the most significant change for Sunday’s race compared to his wins in 2022 and last year is the absence of time trials. The Vessels Maturity had 10 nominations when entries closed in mid-June. With the field limited to 10 starters, there was no need for time trials.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

In 2022 and last year, the Vessels Maturity trial was Empressum’s first start following a layoff from the previous winter.

Empressum, who will be ridden by Rodrigo Vallejo for trainer Heath Taylor, will start from post 8 in a field of 10 which includes five other stakes winners, notably London Toby, who won the Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship on Feb. 16 and the minor Be a Bono Stakes at 400 yards on June 16 in his first start in four months.

The Be a Bono Stakes at 400 yards was run instead of time trials to give Vessels contenders a recent start. Four runners who finished behind London Toby in the Be a Bono Stakes are part of the Vessels field – Normandy (fourth), Edberg Verde (fifth) and Dont Sass Kvn (last of seven).

Edberg Verde was a multiple stakes winner in Brazil and had his American stakes debut in the Be a Bono, finishing 1 3/4 lengths behind London Toby after a troubled trip.

On Sunday, Taylor also starts Jeriko, who was a troubled sixth as the 11-10 favorite in the Winter Championship and fourth by a length in the Champion of Champions in his first start against older horses.

Jeriko is best known for winning the $935,650 Los Alamitos Super Derby at 400 yards last November.

Taylor trains Flash Bak who is based at Ruidoso Downs this summer and is expected to race at Los Alamitos in the fall.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.