Heza Dasha Fire a strong favorite in Los Alamitos Championship

Heza Dasha Fire returned from a layoff of more than six months to record an easy win in the $100,000 Go Man Go Handicap for older Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos on Sept. 4.

The two-length victory makes Heza Dasha Fire a prohibitive favorite to win Sunday’s $125,000 Los Alamitos Championship at 440 yards. The winner of the race receives an automatic berth in the $600,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 10, a race that plays a pivotal role in year-end voting.

Heza Dasha Fire won the 2015 Champion of Champions and was named the World Champion for that season. A 4-year-old, Heza Dasha Fire is the leading contender for the same award this year.

Owned by Don, Kathy, and Shawn Meneely of Kennewick, Wash., Heza Dasha Fire will break from post 2 in a field of seven in the Los Alamitos Championship. Cruz Mendez has the mount for trainer Jose Flores.

“We’ve always felt Heza Dasha Fire is a true 440-yard horse,” Flores told Los Alamitos publicity this week. “It’s not an easy distance for many runners, but we believe this horse loves the distance.”

Heza Dasha Fire has won 12 of 15 starts and earned $1,761,487. He underwent knee surgery last winter after finishing second to Moonist in the Los Alamitos Winter Championship in February. Sadly, Moonist was euthanized due to complications of colic in June.

Without Moonist, the older horse division in California lacked a clear leader through the summer, although Heza Dasha Fire went to the fore after the win in the Go Man Go.

In the Los Alamitos Championship, Heza Dasha Fire’s main rival is He Looks Hot, who won the Vessels Maturity at Los Alamitos on July 3. He Looks Hot gained a berth in the Champion of Champions with that win.

Other contenders in Sunday’s race are Stevie B First Cash, who won the $100,000 First Down Dash Handicap at Ruidoso Downs on Sept. 4, and Bh Lisas Boy and Viento Negro, who were second and third in the Go Man Go Handicap.