LOS ALAMITOS : Sires Program Pays Off for Owner

Owner Ron Zumbrun has spent the last six years as volunteer president of the California Sires Stakes Program and is now reaping part of the lucrative benefits with Exclusive Miss, his stakes-winning 3-year-old trotter.

Zumbrun and his wife, Ann, own the filly who has won three consecutive races, including last Thursday’s $20,000 California Sires Stakes Final for 3-year-old trotting fillies at Los Alamitos. Zumbrun, who bought his first horse in 1982, was attracted to Exclusive Miss because of her breeding.

The filly was bred by Steve and Vickie Desomer, who also drive and train her. “The Desomers bred Exclusive Miss and I had an opportunity to pick a horse out of their breeding stock, and I picked her because of the mare,” said Zumbrun, a lawyer who lives in Carmichael, Calif.

In the mid-1980s, Zumbrun owned Baroque, who raced against Exclusive Miss’ dam, Ms. Exclusive, in stakes races on the West Coast. “It’s kind of fun (that the mares are related),” he said. “I put on an old tape of a race, and there’s Ms. Exclusive. I’ve got photos of Baroque with Ms. Exclusive in them.”

Her stakes success in the last month represents a form reversal for Exclusive Miss. She lost her first five races in 1991 before the winning streak. “She’s just coming into form,” Steve Desomer said. “She didn’t pan out early. In the last month and a half, she’s started eating good. Springtime came around, and she did, too.”

Exclusive Miss trotted the mile in 2:03, her best mark, which is all the more impressive since she raced with a hind-leg quarter crack. “It bothered her more than I thought it would, “ Desomer said. “The time was a surprise because she wasn’t 100% because of the infection.”

Vicki Desomer said Exclusive Miss will get a week off but continue in the California Sires Stakes Program throughout the Los Alamitos summer meeting.

Zumbrun is equally high on the mare and the stakes program and doesn’t think either has peaked. “She seems to be getting better each week and runs a different race each week,” he said. “She’s had races where she was blocked until the 16th pole and just exploded. That (ability) is good to have for the future; flexibility is nice to have.”

Zumbrun said the stakes program for California horses is expanding and could offer higher purses in the future. Program funds are derived from a portion of the race track handle as well as horsemen’s nomination fees. In 1991, the races will pay $1.5 million in purses, which does not include an additional $1 million in breeders’ awards.

“The success of the program relates to having ample racing opportunities,” Zumbrun said. “I think that racing is such that our program could jump to $2 million by 1992; and by ‘94, $3 million. . . . And I think that is conservative.”

The program offers races for 2- and 3-year-olds, but Zumbrun said that could be expanded in the near future.

Since coming to the United States from New Zealand two months ago, the pacing mare Jiffy’s Girl has won two of three Invitational Handicaps, running her best race last Friday night against an impressive field. Driver Ross Croghan, who played a large part in the mare’s relocation, estimates that she weighs about 650 pounds, or 200 pounds lighter than the regular-sized horses.

“I’m too big for her and I don’t eat too much because of her,” Croghan said. “I try not to hit her, she’s so tiny.”

Trainer Bob Johnson will keep the mare at Los Alamitos until May 1, when she’ll travel to Freehold Raceway in New Jersey for the Guys and Dolls Pace. “It’s a half-mile track, and she’ll love it,” said Johnson, who trains her for Paul Bielec of City of Industry. “Horses this small aren’t supposed to pace this fast.”

Jiffy’s Girl defeated a talented field that included Fayes Chance and Cool Charm Girl. Fayes Chance has not been worse than second in five starts at this meeting. Cool Charm Girl fell in a March 29 Invitational after breaking a blood vessel in the nose. She finished sixth Friday but completed the course. Johnson said Jiffy’s Girl will return to Los Alamitos after her trip to New Jersey.

Two racing series will begin this weekend and continue each Friday and Saturday night until May 10-11.

The first of three legs of the Coming Out Series for fillies and mares is Friday; the May 10 final will have a $20,000 purse. Nominations include Bag a Few, Brennas Choice, Idle Talk, Panti Ho and Royal Jinna.

The first leg of the New Beginnings Series for colts and geldings is Saturday, and will conclude on May 11 with a $20,000 final. Chill Factor Zero, El Camino Real, My Palikari, Papa Red and Sherman are among the nominees.

Driver Abe Stoltzfus sent out three of his stable’s stars in Saturday’s qualifiers and came away with two victories and a second-place finish. Till We Meet Again, the 2-year-old champion pacer of 1989, is approaching a race after winning his second consecutive qualifier. The colt has career earnings of $820,791 and paced the mile in 1:56 2/5. “I’m going to start him here a few times in Invitational Handicaps, probably next weekend,” said Stoltzfus, who added that Till We Meet Again is eligible for six stakes on the East Coast this year.

“I wanted him to go (in the qualifier) in 1:56,” he said. “Where he has to go, those invitationals go in (1 minute) 54 (seconds). I need him to be tight.”

Lexie will also go East, to New York. The 3-year-old filly was undefeated in 10 starts last year and was second in a qualifier Saturday to Mr. Gourmet. Stoltzfus said her first stakes appearance would be the filly division of the Miller Memorial in June at Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland.

Good Girls Don’t will be joining Lexie at Rosecroft. She was second last year to Miss Easy, the 1990 champion 2-year-old filly pacer, in a division of the Lady Baltimore Stakes. “I’ll probably get a start in her (in the next couple of weeks),” Stoltzfus said. “She’ll get one race and the others, will get two.”