Los Alamitos: Check N Fetch scores in Mildred Vessels Handicap

Check N Fetch won the most prestigious race of her career in Sunday’s $150,000 Mildred Vessels Handicap for Quarter Horse fillies and mares, giving owner Lorena Velazquez Rodriguez of Arizona her second automatic qualifier for the $750,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 14.

Sent off favored, Check N Fetch ($8.60) ran 400 yards in 19.55 seconds under jockey Ramon Sanchez, finishing a nose in front of 30-1 Zoomdasher. Shes Jess Toxic was a head behind Zoomdasher in the field of 10.

Check N Fetch won three minor stakes at Los Alamitos earlier this year before finishing third in the California Distaff Challenge on Aug. 17. Trained by Paul Jones, Check N Fetch has won 11 of 20 starts and $189,812.

The Mildred Vessels Handicap is the most lucrative race for older fillies and mares at Los Alamitos.

Check N Fetch joins defending champion Rylees Boy as an automatic qualifier for the Champion of Champions. Trained by Jones, Rylees Boy earned a berth by winning the Los Alamitos Winter Championship last February.

Other automatic qualifiers for the 440-yard Champion of Champions so far this year are Priceless Feature, winner of the Remington Park Championship in June; Last to Fire, who won the Vessels Maturity in July; and Feature Hero, winner of the All American Derby in September.