The Champion of Champions is a stakes race annually held at
Los Alamitos Race Course
Los Alamitos Race Course is a horse racing track in Cypress, California. The track hosts both thoroughbred and quarter horse racing. The track has the distinction of holding four quarter horse stakes races with purses over $1 million, more than a ...
in
Cypress, California
Cypress is a city in northwestern Orange County within Southern California. Its population was 50,151 at the 2020 census.
History
The first people living in the area now known as Cypress were the Gabrieleno, a Native American tribe of the Ton ...
. It is the championship race for Quarter Horses.
The field is determined by the winners of qualifying races held around the United States.
The races currently are:
*
Los Alamitos Winter Championship,
*
Remington Park Championship,
*
Vessels Maturity,
*
All American Derby
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All a ...
,
*
Mildred Vessels Memorial,
*
Robert L. Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship,
*
Los Alamitos Super Derby, and the
*
Bank of America Challenge Championship.
The two fastest times in the
Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials receive the last two berths. The winner of the
Go Man Go Handicap qualifies as the first alternate if one of the qualifying race winners does not compete.
The Champion of Champion was not held in 2014 due to concerns over the widespread use of
clenbuterol, a drug not permitted at Los Alamitos.
Records
Speed record:
* :20.939 -
Apollitical Jess (2010)
Most wins by a
jockey
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...
:
* 4 -
Jerry Nicodemus (1976, 1977, 1980, 1981)
* 4 -
Bruce Pilkenton (1983, 1988, 1983, 1984)
Most wins by a
trainer:
* 9 -
Blane Schvaneveldt (1978, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995)
Most wins by a
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
:
* 3 -
Refrigerator
A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so th ...
(1992, 1993, 1994)
* 2 -
Dash For Cash
Dash For Cash (April 17, 1973May 20, 1996) was an American Quarter Horse racehorse and an influential sire in the Quarter Horse breed.
Racing career
Dash For Cash won $507,688 during his career and was the Racing World Champion in 1976 and 1 ...
(1976, 1977)
* 2 -
SLM Big Daddy (1997, 1998)
* 2 -
Tailor Fit (1999, 2001)
* 2 - Apollitical Pence (2020, 2021)
Winners of the Champion of Champions
Notes
In 2010, Apollitical Jess set a new track record with a time of :20.939. Prior in 2008, Jess You and I set a new track record, becoming the first to break the 21 second barrier in the race when he recorded a time of :20.94. The second-place finisher,
Little Bit of Baja, also eclipsed the old world record turning in a time of :20.97. In 2009, Freaky ran in 21.06 and in 2013 Last to Fire's time was :21.09. The previous record of :21.13 had been established in the 2007 running won by World Champion Blues Girl Too, which broke Dash For Cash's 1976 track record of :21.17.
2007's victory by Blues Girl Too made her the sport's all-time leading female earner.
[http://www.losalamitos.com/laqhr/stakes/results.cfm?id=662]
2005's renewal saw the first time the first four finishers of the Champion of Champions were three-year-olds.
1993 saw Refrigerator become the sport's all-time leading money earner with his victory.
During the summer of 1986, eight-year-old Sgt Pepper Feature was claimed for $12,500 and immediately retired. The superstar gelding ran fifth in his 62nd race, retiring with just over $900,000 in career earnings. The group who claimed him includes
Bob Baffert and
Mike Pegram.
1983's running was the first running to feature Grade I status.
1979 saw Mr Doty Bars win at 22-1.
2017 saw Mr PYC To You win at 60-1.
References
{{reflist
External links
List of Champion of Champions winners* https://web.archive.org/web/20080828030723/http://www.losalamitos.com/laqhr/cofc2006/history.html
Horse races in California