LOS ALAMITOS : Battering Ram Guns for His Third Win of the Year

Robert and Loretta Staats’ Battering Ram, a strong victor last Saturday, will be gunning for his third win of the year when he takes on a talented field of seven in the $5,600 conditioned handicap pace feature Thursday night at Los Alamitos.

Pacers eligible for the main attraction are those classified as C-1. The C-1 horses Battering Ram, Endless Story, Grand Colonel and Bratsboy will score from posts one through four, with B-3 pacers No Rays, Totara Lad, Shannon Boy and Trusty Prince starting from posts five through eight. It is the eighth of 10 races Thursday.

Battering Ram has the edge after his win against a C-2 and C-1 handicap field last Saturday.

Grand Colonel leaves the claiming ranks to try the conditioned ranks and looks like the main threat, and Trusty Prince has a shot to score, despite his No. 8 post.

In post position order, the field lines up as follows: Battering Ram, Peter Wrenn in the sulky; Endless Story, Mickey Difranco Jr.; Grand Colonel, Jim Todd; Bratsboy, Gene Vallandingham; No Rays, Brian Allen; Totara Lad, Ross Croghan; Shannon Boy, Rick Kuebler, and Trusty Prince, Tim Maier.

Trained by Robert Gordon, Battering Ram, a California-bred son of Denali, showed nothing at Sportsman’s Park in Illinois, then returned to California and regained the form that has earned him more than $65,000.