Los Alamitos: Chivalry SR earns berth in Champion of Champions

Chivalry SR earned a berth to the $750,000 Champion of Champions for Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos on Dec. 10 with the fastest qualifying time from Saturday’s time trials.

Ridden by Rodrigo Aceves for breeder Stern Ranches, Chivalry SR ran 400 yards in 19.37 seconds to win by 1 1/4 lengths. Sparky E Boy, runner-up to Chivalry SR, was timed in 19.59 seconds, and had the second-fastest time for the trials.

Sparky E Boy will gain a berth in the 440-yard Champion of Champions if one of the nine horses who earned automatic berths earlier this year with major stakes wins does not participate in the final.

In the second and final of Saturday’s trials, Senor Toby won by three-quarters of a length over Flaming Out in 19.64 seconds. Freaky, the winner of the 2009 Champion of Champions, finished third, in 19.79 seconds.

Chivalry SR has won 7 of 18 starts. A 4-year-old gelding, he won the Spencer Childers Championship in July and was third in the Los Alamitos Championship on Oct. 9. Chivalry SR was trained by Adan Farias during those races, but Farias’s stable was disbanded earlier this week for a reported medication violation earlier this fall. Track officials did not comment on the matter and Farias was not available for comment last week.

For Saturday’s race, Chivalry SR started for trainer Francisco Ramirez, who has a stable at Los Alamitos and is the ranch trainer at Vessels Stallion Farm, near San Diego.