Breeders Crown : Forrest Skipper’s 13th Straight Win Is Easy

Apparently the only complaint about Forrest Skipper is that he’s a finicky eater.

Forrest Skipper won’t touch his oats unless they are boiled for about four hours in the morning. All year long, Forrest Skipper has been gobbling up the opposition and he continued the feast Friday night at Los Alamitos, winning the $301,350 Breeders Crown Aged Horse Pace by an easy two lengths and all but wrapping up the vote for Harness Horse of the Year in 1986.

The win, which was Forrest Skipper’s 13th in as many starts this year, came in a time of 1:53 4/5. That missed the track record by two-fifths of a second, but the time did equal the fastest ever raced by a four-year-old pacer at Los Alamitos.

In winning the richest race in California harness history, Forrest Skipper earned $150,675, boosting his earnings to almost $1 million.

Driven by Lucien Fontaine, Forrest Skipper paid $2.60, $2.40 and $2.10 before a crowd of 4,937.

Broadway Express paid $7.40 and $2.10 for finishing second as part of a betting entry with Whats Next. Broadway Express finished three-fourths of a length ahead of Lustras Big Guy, who paid $2.10 to show.

The rest of the nine-horse field finished in this order: Armbro Dallas, Dignatarian, Staff Director, Armbro Cadet, Whats Next and Chairmanoftheboard.