LOS ALAMITOS : Sound Dash’s Victory Brightens a Bleak Year

Sound Dash, former champion aged mare, apparently isn’t slowing with age. The 6-year-old won the $66,150 Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap at Los Alamitos last Friday night.

Until then, however, 1995 had been a relatively lean year for the mare, who scored her only two victories in stakes trials. She raced in three major stakes in Oklahoma and New Mexico, never finishing better than fourth. And when she was shipped back to Los Alamitos, Sound Dash, racing against the top older horses in the country, ran third in the Go Man Go Handicap.

But in the 400-yard Vessels, Sound Dash, ridden by Alex Baldillez, broke well from the sixth post, overcame early leader The Money Crunch and won by half a length.

“When Sound Dash races as well as she did tonight, there are very few horses that can beat her at 400 yards,” Baldillez said Friday.

The Money Crunch and Mongoose Effort finished in a dead heat for second.

Sound Dash earned $39,150 and regained the respect of those who thought she had seen better days.

“She has more heart than any horse I’ve ever trained,” said trainer Jaime Gomez, who earned his first Grade I stakes victory. “It doesn’t matter who she’s facing, she always gives you all she’s got. That’s what Sound Dash is all about.”

Absent from the Mildred Vessels Handicap was Down With Debt, the world champion who will race in the AQHA California Challenge Championship on Friday night.

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Los Alamitos mistakenly paid out about $4,000 last weekend when the wrong winning numbers were posted after a simulcast race from Mexico City. Bettors cashed tickets for about a minute before the error was corrected. According to track stewards, the incorrect information came from Mexico City officials.

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Champion Ah Sigh has left Los Alamitos and is taking some time off at trainer Charlie Bloomquist’s ranch. Ah Sigh’s last race, the Governor’s Cup Derby, resulted in a disappointing eighth-place effort. The filly, already qualified for the Champion of Champions, is expected back later this season.

Los Alamitos Notes

The California Horse Racing Board has approved a fall harness meeting at Cal-Expo in Sacramento. The 16-night meet will run from Oct. 14 through Dec. 10. . . . World champion Down With Debt’s first product endorsement has been announced by Paul Feller of Pro Sports International. According to Feller, Down With Debt’s image will be used to promote FoalAlert, a system used to monitor pregnant mares.

Fifteen horses are nominated for Saturday night’s $20,000-added Chicado V Handicap. Among the possible starters are Avison, currently the nation’s leading quarter horse, Femmes Frolic, My Debut, Pies Royal Request, Pritzi Dash, Refrigerator and Seals.