Los Alamitos: Good Reason Sa pulls off 15-1 shocker in Champion of Champions

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Good Reason Sa ended a wildly-successful career, and may have earned a championship, with a victory in Saturday’s $750,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos for older Quarter Horses.

A 4-year-old, Good Reason Sa will stand at stud in Oklahoma in 2012.

The winner of the 2009 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity and the 2010 Golden State Derby, Good Reason Sa won his second major stakes of 2011 in the Champion of Champions, having won the Los Alamitos Winter Championship in February. The two wins make him a candidate for older horse of the year.

In Saturday’s race, Good Reason Sa ($32.20) caught early leader Sparky E Boy in the final 50 yards to win the 440-yard race by a nose in 21.44 seconds. Chivalry Sr finished third in the field of 10, a half-length behind Sparky E Boy and a half-length in front of Jess You and I, the 5-2 favorite who finished fourth.

Good Reason Sa was ridden by Eduardo Nicasio for Gianna Samaja of Brazil. Paul Jones was the winning trainer, recording his fifth career victory in the Champion of Champions, which annually brings together the winners of major stakes throughout the nation. Good Reason Sa qualified for the Champion of Champions with a victory in the Los Alamitos Winter Championship.

By the 1998 Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Favorite Trick, Good Reason Sa won 7 of 15 starts and $1,446,620.