Quirky defends title in Mildred Vessels

CYPRESS, Calif. - Quirky has made two starts this year, both in stakes and nearly seven months apart, and she won them both. The mini winning streak will make Quirky a heavy favorite in the $100,000 Mildred Vessels Handicap at Los Alamitos on Sunday evening.

The winner of the 400-yard race for fillies and mares receives a fees-paid berth for the $600,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 10, the championship race of the year for older Quarter Horses. Quirky won last year's Mildred Vessels Handicap and was sixth in the Champion of Champions, her only loss in eight starts since the beginning of 2015.

This year, Quirky won the Charger Bar Handicap for fillies and mares in January, and the California Breeders’ Matron Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares in July. Both were at Los Alamitos.

Owned by track chairman Ed Allred and trained by James Glenn, Jr., Quirky will be ridden by Eulices Gomez. Quirky, 5, has won 9 of 17 starts and earned $415,598, by far the most of the entrants in the Mildred Vessels. The race drew 12 horses, but will be limited to 10 starters.

The 4-year-olds Bac in Front and Sass Me Blue pose the biggest threats to Quirky.

Bac In Front, trained by Jaime Gomez, won two derbies in 2015 and was third in the California Matron Stakes behind Quirky in her first start of the year. Bac in Front won a 300-yard allowance race by a nose on Aug. 21 despite a troubled start.

Sass Me Blue was second or third in three derbies last year, and second to Quirky in the Charger Bar Handicap. Trained by Mike Casselman, Sass Me Blue won a 400-yard allowance race on July 23 in her only subsequent start.