Heza Dasha Fire, Moonist square off in Champion of Champions

CYPRESS, Calif. – One was the champion 2-year-old gelding of 2014, a year in which he won two seven-figure futurities at Los Alamitos. The other was the champion 3-year-old of 2014, a year in which he won a record four derbies at Los Alamitos.

Heza Dasha Fire, 3, and Moonist, 4, were outstanding in 2014. They have been equally as brilliant this year, leading to their first meeting in Saturday’s $600,000 Champion of Champions for Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos.

The race has played a pivotal role in year-end voting, and could easily do so this year. Should Heza Dasha Fire or Moonist win the 440-yard race, he would almost certainly be named World Champion Running Quarter Horse, the sport’s horse of the year title.

Heza Dasha Fire, who races for Don and Kathy Meneely and trainer Jose Antonio Flores, will break from the outside in a field of 10. Flores chose that post position at a draw event on Wednesday afternoon with the third selection.

Moonist, owned by Ron Hartley and trained by John Cooper, will break from post 7. Cooper had the fourth selection and aimed to get as close to Heza Dasha Fire as possible.

“I wanted to be next to Jose,” he said.

Heza Dasha Fire will be a slight favorite, a role Flores is not taking lightly. He says the gelding has thrived since winning the Los Alamitos Super Derby at 400 yards on Oct. 31, the fourth major stakes win of his career.

Heza Dasha Fire will race at 440 yards for the first time on Saturday.

“I’ll have to be 100 percent,” Flores said. “We can’t make any mistakes. It’s the first time he’ll go 440, but it seems the farther he runs, the better. I’m thinking that might be good for us.”

In recent weeks, Heza Dasha Fire has gained weight, Flores said. At this time last year, Heza Dasha Fire’s weight was down, which might have contributed to his lone loss in 11 starts – a fourth-place finish in the Los Alamitos Two Million in December 2014.

The field includes Far Niente, winner of the Vessels Maturity in July; Quirky, the leading older female in the nation this year; Rock You, who won the All American Gold Cup at Ruidoso Downs in September; and Dashin Brown Streak, who won the Remington Park Championship in May.

Moonist has been the leading older Quarter Horse in the nation this year, a position solidified with wins in the Go Man Go Handicap in September and the Los Alamitos Championship in October.

Moonist has won a remarkable 20 of 29 starts and has 11 stakes wins at Los Alamitos, leaving him tied for seventh on the all-time list.

Moonist lost the Vessels Maturity in July after a poor start, but has been better at the gate since then. Cooper said the start is key.

“He needs to get away from the gate,” Cooper said.