A Toss Up ends drought in Los Alamitos Championship

CYPRESS, Calif. – A Toss Up won his first stakes since April 2012 in Saturday’s $150,000 Los Alamitos Championship, earning a berth to the $600,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 13.

The victory left trainer Eddie Willis confident that A Toss Up can play a leading role in the Champion of Champions, which has a significant influence on year-end voting.

“They’re in trouble,” he said of the competition. “That’s all I can tell you. If he runs like that, you can bet your money.”

Ridden by Carlos Huerta, A Toss Up ($8.40) led throughout the 440-yard Los Alamitos Championship, winning by three-quarters of a length over Last to Fire, the winner of the 2013 Champion of Champions. Bon Accord, who qualified for the Champion of Champions by winning the Remington Park Championship in May, finished third in the field of 10.

A Toss Up was timed in 21.43 seconds and earned $75,000 for owners and breeders James Sills and Abelardo Flores Jr. A 5-year-old gelding by Sweet First Down, A Toss Up has won 11 of 24 starts and $488,105. The Los Alamitos Championship was his first stakes win since the Grade 1 Sooner State Stakes at Remington Park in 2012.