The Down Side Pulls Surprise

The most lightly raced quarter horse in the field proved to be the fastest Saturday night at Los Alamitos, where The Down Side, a 15-1 shot, won the $500,000 Champion of Champions by 1 1/2 lengths in near-record time.

Ridden by Ramon Sanchez and trained by Paul Jones, The Down Side completed 440 yards in 21.19 seconds, just missing the track record of 21.17, set by Dash For Cash when he won the Champion of Champions in 1976.

Catchmeinyourdreams, who finished second, was followed under the wire by Buccaneer Beach and Whosleavingwho, who won the race last year. The filly AB What A Runner, the 9-5 favorite, never threatened.

The Down Side, owned by R.D. Hubbard, Johnny Jones and the country music star Toby Keith, paid $33.80 to win and helped set up $1 payoffs of $99.70 for the exacta and $475.70 for the trifecta.

Injured last year while running last in the All American Futurity, The Down Side returned this year after a layoff of almost 13 months. He won an allowance race at Los Alamitos in October, then his owners supplemented him, for $10,000, for the Champion of Champions. The 3-year-old colt’s win in the Champion of Champion trials, on Nov. 21, was his third victory in five starts.

The Champion of Champions win gave Jones a sweep of the two biggest stakes at Los Alamitos. On Friday night, after the disqualification of the first-place finisher, Corona For Me, Jones won the $1.3-million Los Alamitos Million Futurity with A Regal Choice, who was moved up by the stewards.

Hubbard won the Champion of Champions with Denim N Diamonds in 1981.

“This makes up for all the bad luck [The Down Side] has had,” Hubbard said. “Our horse had a perfect break, and after the first 100 yards, it was all over.”

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-- Bill Christine