Win in Catchmeinyourdreams Stakes could lead to bigger things

The Catchmeinyourdreams Stakes on Saturday at Los Alamitos is worth a mere $15,000, but the race has a potential importance literally worth 40 times the purse.

The Catchmeinyourdreams Stakes is a prep for the $125,000 Los Alamitos Championship on Oct. 11 and the $600,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 12, a race that mirrors the Breeders’ Cup Classic in importance in the Quarter Horse world. The winner of the Los Alamitos Championship receives an automatic berth to the Champion of Champions.

The five runners in the Catchmeinyourdreams Stakes, at 330 yards, are stakes winners – Bos Time Machine, Golden Boy Gonza, Kissed by an Eagle, Tac Me Up, and Zoomin for Spuds.

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Bos Time Machine, trained by Paul Jones, earned a berth to the Champion of Champions with a win in the Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship in February, the 4-year-old gelding’s most recent start.

Zoomin for Spuds won the Champion of Champions and was named champion 3-year-old gelding in 2016. Trained by Monty Arrossa, Zoomin for Spuds was third in the Champion of Champions in 2017, fourth in 2018, and seventh last December.

This year, Zoomin for Spuds has had one start, finishing third in the $100,000 Go Man Go Handicap at 400 yards on Aug. 30.

While Bos Time Machine and Zoomin for Spuds are accomplished in races at 400 and 440 yards, Saturday’s race may be a better fit for the former claimer Golden Boy Gonza. Trained by Jesus Nunez, Golden Boy Gonza was the 34-1 winner of the California Breeders’ Sprint at 350 yards on July 25.

For Bos Time Machine, the Catchmeinyourdreams Stakes is his first start at less than 400 yards since a win in the Sgt Pepper Feature Handicap at 350 yards in August 2019. Zoomin for Spuds has raced at 400 and 440 yards for the last two years. He was third in the Kaweah Bar Handicap at 350 yards in May 2018 in his last start at a distance similar to Saturday’s race.

Jones said Thursday that Bos Time Machine could skip the Los Alamitos Championship and go straight to the Champion of Champions after Saturday’s race.

“I didn’t want to come back in the Los Alamitos Championship,” he said. “This is a pretty tough race. It’s got the same caliber of horses that will be in the Championship. We need to give him an out.”