Moonist aims for 10th straight win in Winter Championship

CYPRESS, Calif. – Sunday will be the one-year anniversary of the last day Moonist was beaten. He finished fourth in the Los Alamitos Winter Derby on Feb. 15, 2014, and was undefeated for the remainder of the year, winning four trial races and four derbies at Los Alamitos.

The win streak extended to nine when Moonist faced older horses for the first time in a division of the Los Alamitos Winter Championship trials on Jan. 25. Moonist won his trial as the 3-5 favorite, setting the fastest qualifying time of 19.74 seconds in the 400-yard race. Moonist, the champion 3-year-old of 2014, will be favored to get a 10th consecutive win in Sunday’s $169,800 Winter Championship.

The Winter Championship is the first major race of the year for older Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos. The winner receives an automatic berth to the $600,000 Champion of Champions in December, if the race is held.

Last year, the race was canceled six weeks in advance of its scheduled running after track president Ed Allred expressed concern about the potential use of the bronchodilator clenbuterol in some out-of-state qualifiers. Clenbuterol is not allowed at Los Alamitos. Last month, at a year-end awards banquet, Allred said in a speech that he was unsure whether the Champion of Champions would be held this year, pending the implementation of medication regulations on other circuits.

Regardless of whether the Champion of Champions goes forward, the Winter Championship has drawn a strong field, with several contenders capable of gaining berths in the Champion of Champions.

KEY CONTENDERS

Moonist

Moonist, who races for Ron Hartley and trainer John Cooper, will be favored. The trial race was Moonist’s first start since a win in the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association’s Breeders’ Derby in October. He missed a scheduled start in the Southern California Derby trials in late November because of a bruised foot.

Cooper almost second-guessed his decision to skip that race earlier this week.
“I could have run him in the [Southern California] Derby,” he said. “I could have ruined him, too.”

Jake Gold BR

Trained by national leader Paul Jones, Jake Gold BR won the $60,000 Christmas Handicap at Los Alamitos in December, a race run as a consolation for the Champion of Champions. Jake Gold BR won a division of the Winter Championship trials by a half-length in 19.91 seconds.