LOS ALAMITOS : Hall Must Look for Other Stars

Life without All American Futurity winner A Classic Dash has begun for trainer Connie Hall.

A Classic Dash was retired last week after failing to fully recover from ankle surgery last month. A Classic Dash won the All American Futurity on Labor Day at Ruidoso Downs, N.M., giving Hall, jockey Eddie Garcia and owner Abigail Kawananakoa their first winner in quarter horse racing’s richest race. He was the first Southland-based horse to win it since Eastex in 1984.

A few weeks after the All American, A Classic Dash underwent surgery to remove a bone chip. Last week, Kawananakoa announced that A Classic Dash had not sufficiently recovered from surgery and would not race again.

Instead, he will stand at stud at Vessels Stallion Farm in Bonsall, Calif., next year alongside his sire, First Down Dash, who was recently syndicated.

The 2-year-old colt won seven of eight races over the spring and summer, including the Dash For Cash Futurity at Los Alamitos in July. He earned more than $1,078,000.

“I’d love to have him back (next year),” Hall said. “Trainers never like to lose a fast horse. We discussed it at the (Vessels/Schvaneveldt) Sale (last Tuesday), and, with the syndication of First Down Dash, it appeared to be a good time to make a decision.”

Hall must now look to other horses in her stable for stakes victories, including Avison, the fastest qualifier to the $90,500 Southern California Derby on Friday. Avison, a 3-year-old gelding, has not won a stakes race but has qualified for several important races.

The Southern California Derby, run over 400 yards, has a strong field, including stakes winners This Jet Is Royal, Brotherly, Mega Dash and Dash Over Often. Hall purchased Avison last January for $30,500 on behalf of William Thompson of La Mesa at a sale in Oklahoma City. He was part of the White Oaks Ranch dispersal.

“I watched him as a 2-year-old, and he qualified for several futurities,” Hall said. “You like to find those solid horses that mature with age. He’s not faster than these horses, but he’s consistent, and he tries hard. He’s inching up, and he might be coming up to the time when a lot of horses have had enough and he’s still game.”

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The California Horse Racing Board awarded racing dates for most of the 1994 racing season at Los Alamitos in its monthly meeting Friday in Arcadia.

The Board approved quarter horse dates from April 14 to Dec. 18, a full eight months of racing. The quarter horse meeting will actually look more like a fair meeting, with Arabians, thoroughbreds and Appaloosas also racing.

The Board did not resolve the issue of harness racing dates for Los Alamitos or Cal Expo in Sacramento in 1994. A group of harness owners and breeders have contacted Los Alamitos Race Course majority owner Edward Allred, but the two groups have not conducted formal meetings. The group reportedly wants to race longer than 13 weeks from mid-December to mid-March, but Allred wants to open the track for quarter horse training by March 15.

Quarter horse racing ends on Dec. 12, and a harness meeting could begin less than a week later. Any potential leaseholder would need CHRB approval at the board’s next meeting in November, which would put harness racing on a tight schedule for a mid-December opening.

“I anticipate it would be most unlikely that a harness meet will be conducted (this winter),” Allred said. “Although the door does remain open should a viable group come forward.”

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In a year without a standout 3-year-old filly, Down With Debt is compiling a record worthy of a champion.

The filly has won three consecutive races, including two stakes--the California Derby on Oct. 8 and the $50,000 Anne Burnett Handicap on Sunday.

“I could get used to this,” winning owner George Haddad of Costa Mesa said after the Anne Burnett. “This is her best race. She showed a lot of ability, and that’s a great field she beat tonight.”

The Anne Burnett is the leading quarter horse race in the nation for fillies and mares. The victory was Down With Debt’s most impressive race of the year, coming at the expense of second-place finisher Sound Dash, a leading contender for the champion aged mare title. Haddad and trainer Charlie Bloomquist have several options for Down With Debt in the coming weeks, including Breeders Classics Night on Nov. 13, the Golden State Derby trials on Nov. 24 or the Champion of Champions trials on Nov. 28.

Los Alamitos Notes

Sir Goldminer, a 4-year-old gelding who has lived in the shadow of stablemate Refrigerator, won the $20,000 Z. Wayne Griffin Director’s Handicap on Saturday, his first California stakes victory. Sir Goldminer is owned by Jim Helzer of Arlington, Tex., trained by Blane Schvanevelt and ridden by Roman Figueroa.

Mike Burgess won three consecutive races with three different breeds on Saturday. Burgess was aboard the Appaloosa J.J. Can, quarter horse Sizzlin Dash and Arabian MG Tuts Mirage in the fourth through sixth races. It was his first Arabian victory of the year. Burgess has also won a thoroughbred race this year. Only Guillermo Gutierrez and Brian Green have also won races with all four breeds.

The Southern California Derby is the only stakes race scheduled for the weekend. Between Nov. 12-14, 10 stakes will be run, including the Quarter Horse Breeders Classics, the closest thing quarter horse racing has to a Breeders’ Cup. The feature that night will be the $100,000-added Breeders Championship Classic, which is expected to include Refrigerator, Four Forty Blast and Rare Form.