Powerful Favorite impressive against top-class opposition in Go Man Go

Powerful Favorite, the winner of three derbies in 2019, won a stakes against older horses for the first time in Saturday’s $100,000 Go Man Go Handicap at Los Alamitos, easily beating a top-class field of nine.

Ridden by Jose Nicasio, Powerful Favorite broke extremely well and was quickly in front. After 100 yards, Powerful Favorite led by three-quarters of a length, and widened the advantage to 1 1/4 lengths at the finish.

Sent off as the second choice, Powerful Favorite ($9.60) was timed in 19.42 seconds for 400 yards.

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Bail Czech, the winner of the $100,000 Spencer Childers Handicap for statebreds at Los Alamitos on July 26, was second at 18-1, finishing a neck in front of 9-1 Zoomin for Spuds. The Go Man Go was the first start for Zoomin for Spuds since a seventh in the $600,000 Champion of Champions last December. Zoomin for Spuds, 7, was the champion 3-year-old gelding of 2016, the year he won the Champion of Champions.

Chocolatito, the 2-1 favorite in the Go Man Go Handicap, finished fourth, beaten 1 3/4 lengths. Chocolatito trailed Powerful Favorite a few strides after the start and could not reach contention.

Chocolatito won the Vessels Maturity on July 5 to earn a berth in the Champion of Champions on Dec. 12. The same race is a goal for Powerful Favorite, who earned an indirect provisional berth with the win in the Go Man Go Handicap. If a horse that wins a race with an automatic berth does not accept the invitation for the Champion of Champions, or if a horse wins more than one race with an automatic berth, Powerful Favorite would earn a spot in the Champion of Champions.

Powerful Favorite has won 12 of 21 starts and earned $830,222, all for Connie Rosenthal and trainer Chris O’Dell. In 2019, Powerful Favorite won the Los Alamitos Winter, El Primero Del Ano and Governor’s Cup derbies before finishing second in the Los Alamitos Super Derby in November.

In February, Powerful Favorite was third as the 4-5 favorite against older horses in the Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship to Bos Time Machine, who earned an automatic berth to the Champion of Champions with the win.

Powerful Favorite won a division of the time trials for the Vessels Maturity on June 14, but was found to have bled and did not start in the final. O’Dell gave Powerful Favorite two 220-yard workouts in July and August to prepare for the Go Man Go Handicap.