LOS ALAMITOS : Develop A Plan Is Favored in Juvenile Stake

History is on Develop A Plan’s side in tonight’s $93,400 Breeders Juvenile Classic at Los Alamitos, one of eight stakes on the Quarter Horse Breeders Classics program.

Develop A Plan, a 2-year-old gelding, won the Firecracker Futurity at Delta Downs in Vinton, La., earlier this year. In 1990, Royal Bushwhacker used the Firecracker as a prep for the 1990 Juvenile.

The 10-horse Juvenile field features six stakes winners and four horses who have placed in stakes. Only Develop A Plan is undefeated, but his season hasn’t been without disappointment. He won a trial for the All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs, N.M., in mid-August, but his time wasn’t fast enough to qualify for the $1.9-million final.

Since then, the gelding, owned by Steve Van Bebber and trained by his wife, Janet, has been pointing for the Juvenile Classic, for which he is the 3-1 morning-line favorite.

“We’ve had some awful luck this year,” Janet Van Bebber said. “He’s our superstar. We thought we’d better save him for some better races. Horses like him don’t come around every day.”

The Juvenile will share the spotlight with the $120,500 Breeders Championship Classic, which features reigning world champion Refrigerator, Four Forty Blast and Rare Form. The three are the leading contenders for 1993 world champion honors.

Refrigerator, the 4-5 morning-line favorite, has won all three of his starts this year, including the Los Alamitos Championship in mid-September.

“Refrigerator has been training well,” Blane Schvaneveldt said. “I’ve never seen a more solid runner in all of my days. You can pretty well depend on what he’s going to do--he runs every time that gate opens.”