LOS ALAMITOS : Dash For Speed Is Healthy Again, Wins

Co-owner Bobby Blakeman credited a powder to correct a thyroid deficiency as a major factor in Dash For Speed’s victory in the $250,000 Champion of Champions quarter horse race Saturday night at Los Alamitos Race Course.

Dash For Speed, a 5-year-old mare, enhanced her chances to be named 1990 World Champion with a half-length victory over Tee Roy Reb in 21.32 seconds for the 440 yards. Apprehend finished third, another nose back, in the 10-horse field.

“She didn’t break well and ran flat in her last two races here (finishing sixth and a fourth),” Blakeman said. “She had no energy and her metabolism was down. We took a blood test after her last race, discovered the thyroid problem and gave her a powder, similar to a pill for humans, to correct the condition.”

Dash For Speed responded by leading all the way from post seven under Kip Didericksen with the third-fastest time in the 19-year history of the race. Trainer Blane Schvaneveldt won the race for an unprecedented fifth time. The winner paid $17.40.

Dash For Speed, a daughter of Dash For Cash, scored her 22nd victory in 30 starts and increased her earnings to $1,220,536 for Blakeman, of Ft. Worth, and Tom Bradbury of Byers, Colo.

See Me Do It, the defending champion, finished fifth from the rail but was disqualified for interference and placed eighth. Heisajoy, the 3-1 favorite, was bothered by the chain-reaction interference, finished sixth and was moved up to fifth.