LOS ALAMITOS : Heisajoy, Royal Bushwhacker Score Big Wins for Small Louisiana Cities

Quarter horse fans are still dancing in the streets of Evans and Opelousas in Louisiana.

Horses that began their careers in the Pelican State and are owned by residents of those small towns won the two richest races during the fourth Quarter Horse Breeders Classic Championship Day Saturday night at Los Alamitos.

Minutes after Heisajoy recorded a $15 upset in the featured $147,000 Classic, Royal Bushwhacker bushwhacked his rivals in the $110,100 Juvenile, returning $14.80.

Heisajoy, a 5-year-old gelding, is owned by Scott Jeane of Evans, just north of Vinton, near Delta Downs. Royal Bushwhacker, a 2-year-old gelding, is owned by John Soileau of Opelousas, near Lafayette, home of Evangeline Downs.

Heisajoy thrust himself into contention for world champion honors, which he will win if he is able to duplicate his performance in the $250,000-added Champion of Champions, also at 440 yards, here on Dec. 15.

Mississippi-born trainer H.L. Hooper, who spent several years in Louisiana before moving west, thinks Heisajoy has yet to run his best race.

“I’m still experimenting to find the right combination for his shoes,” Hooper said after the horse nipped Jazzing Hi and Tee Roy Reb in a three-horse photo finish. “He’s a big strong powerful horse and he lost his footing again. He always has trouble with the ground on that first jump, and he didn’t get a good start. I knew he’d be making up ground but I didn’t know if he could spot horses of this caliber a length and beat them.”

Heisajoy has won six stakes in nine outings the past two years since he was sent to Hooper from Louisiana at the end of his 3-year-old year. He was bred by Claude and Bessie Lea Jeane, parents of the owner.

“They’ve never been to California,” said Claude Bouette, a friend. “They’re afraid to fly.”

Hooper thanked Bouette’s son, Brad, for the horse’s big year.

“Brad (a veterinarian) took a flake out of one knee at the end of last year,” said Hooper. He returned better than ever in June.

Royal Bushwhacker nipped Vital Sign by a nose under Alvin Brossette, another newcomer this year from Louisiana. The gelding arrived here three weeks ago and had the benefit of only one workout for his California debut.

Soileau, who runs an offshore catering company, paid $53,000 for Royal Bushwhacker at the Heritage Place yearling sale in Oklahoma but initially thought he had invested in a lemon.

Through the work of Eddie Arsenault and Ken Roberts, the current trainer, Royal Bushwhacker developed into a standout, winning the Firecracker Futurity at Delta and finishing a nose behind eventual winner Refrigerator in an All-American Futurity Trial at Ruidoso Downs, N.M.

“We’ll just give him some time off and wait until next year,” said Roberts, a leading Louisiana trainer. “I always felt horses in Louisiana could compete in this, but it’s so far to travel and so hard on them.”

Veteran trainer Rodney Hart put on a memorable show for his identical twin sisters, Colleen Spencer and Corrine Sieverding, who made their annual trip from Yankton, S.D. Hart, 57, had entrants in two breeders’ races and won one for each of his sisters.

Sandys Love Bug was an easy 1 3/4-length winner in the $40,080 Sprint, shortly after Jacks Dash had posted a $26.60 surprise in the $15,690 Freshman.

Sandys Love Bug, a 4-year-old gelding, has designs on the Champion of Champions after an earlier victory in the Pomona Invitational Handicap and a second to Heisajoy by a head in the Inaugural Handicap.

“I bought him for $50,000 for L. Dean Harrington of Ontario before the Pomona race,” Hart said. “We knew he could run. He beat See Me Do It (defending world champion) at Ruidoso. He’s got a shoeing problem and hit his hock pretty bad in his last start. But it’s getting better.”

Hart, a former rider who began training here in 1960, won the Freshman for the second time in three years. He won with Zoro Jet in 1988.

Hart claimed Jacks Dash, a son of Dash for Cash, for $12,500 in July for Alvin Ely of Riverside.

Edward Allred, Los Alamitos president and CEO, was elated over an attendance figure of 12,175 and handle of $2,113,523. The handle was an all-time quarter horse record, eclipsing the $1,889,356 mark at Los Alamitos on Aug. 14, 1982. On-track alone, Saturday figures were 8,019 and $1,402,633, respectively.

“We’ve had bigger crowds,” Allred said. “But everybody in the industry around the country was here. Most of them were here two years ago, when the place was crummy, and they all recognized the improvement.”

Los Alamitos underwent ownership and management changes last fall.

Los Alamitos Notes

Jockey John Creager posted a double with Dashin Dee Dee in the $30,275 Pacific Classics Derby and Lil Bit Rusty in the $41,720 Distaff, his first Breeders Championship victories.

Owner-breeder Mac Murray, a car dealer from Salt Lake City, gave Dashin Dee Dee a kiss in the winner’s circle. Trainer Dennis Ekins is eagerly awaiting her half-sister. “Susie’s Girl Sally is unbeaten in five starts in Utah,” said Ekins. “She’ll be coming for the Golden State Futurity (Dec. 29).”

Texan R.C. Howell, who trains Lil Bit Rusty for Gordon Haslam of Winooski, Vt., is considering the Champion of Champions for the 4-year-old mare.

Trainer Blane Schvaneveldt scored a record seventh Breeders Championship victory with Tempered Glass in the $26,100 Sophomore.

Schvaneveldt also won the $111,096 California Sires Cup Futurity Friday with Blisterin, a 2-year-old Tolltac gelding who covered the 350 yards in a blistering 17.50 seconds. Blisterin, owned by Glenda and Everett List of Bellflower, was purchased last year through a magazine ad run by the horse’s breeder, Valeria Foresta of Solvang. He has won four of five starts.

Six Figures, who won the $20,020 Marathon by a neck over Baychaino, is owned by 77-year-old Eddie Tsuruta, a retired truck farmer from Huntington Beach. Trainer Elmer January claimed the 5-year-old gelding six months ago for Tsuruta for $8,000.

Defending World Champion See Me Do It, who finished fourth as the 4-5 favorite in the Classic, had an excuse and hopes to make amends in the Champion of Champions. “She bled worse this time than she ever has,” said trainer Bobby Turner. “A lot of horses bled that night that hadn’t before.” The 4-year-old filly ran with the diuretic Lasix but apparently bled through it.