Not Just Another Fish in Sea

Three of the 14 races on the sixth California Champions Night at Los Alamitos on Saturday are Grade 1 stakes events.

The richest among them is the $411,000 Governor’s Cup Futurity, the richest race of any breed for horses bred in California. All of the Champions Night races are for Cal-breds.

Heading the field of 10 in the 350-yard Futurity is Finding Nemo. A son of Fishers Dash owned by James Azevedo and Charles Boyles and trained by Dennis Ekins, Finding Nemo has won four of six and was the fastest qualifier. In his two-length win in his trial heat on July 15, Finding Nemo completed 350 yards in 17.31 seconds.

If Finding Nemo is successful, he will enable Ekins to become the first trainer to win the race two years in a row. Ekins won last year with Ocean Runaway, who went on to become the 2-year-old champion. Hector Cuevas will be aboard Finding Nemo.

Two races before the Futurity, Be A Bono, the quarter horse world champion of 2004, will try to win the $160,750 Spencer L. Childers Breeders’ Championship Handicap for a second consecutive year. The 400-yard race is named for Be A Bono’s owner-breeder, Spencer L. Childers, who will turn 94 later this year.

Trained by Dan Francisco, Be A Bono will be seeking to add another Grade 1 to a resume that includes nine wins in 12 starts and more than $910,000 in earnings.

After finishing fourth in his first start of the year, on June 3, Be A Bono, a 4-year-old gelded son of Bono Jazz, won the Vessels Maturity, his fifth Grade 1 victory, by a nose over Brookstone Bay, who is in the Childers field.

The seven-horse lineup also includes Catchmeinyourdreams, a multiple stakes winner for owner Kirk Goodfellow and trainer Christopher O’Dell. The gray has won nine of 37 and banked $616,160.

The other Grade 1 on the marathon card is the $130,500 Governor’s Cup Derby, a 400-yard race for 3-year-olds.

The fastest qualifier for the Derby was Apollitical Time, a 3-year-old daughter of the thoroughbred sire Apollo who has won six in a row after beginning her career with nine losses in 10 starts. She is trained by Juan Aleman for owners Juan Alberto Tirado Lizarraga.

Leading trainer Paul Jones, who has never won the Governor’s Cup Derby, will have two starters, as will Jaime Gomez. Jones will be represented by First Down Toll and Looking For Chicks and Gomez will start Beau Brummel SA and Jumpn.

Besides the three Grade 1s, the Champions Night program includes four other graded stakes: the $26,650 Sprint Stakes at 350 yards, the $53,150 Matron for older fillies and mares at 400 yards, the $26,800 Marathon at 870 yards and the $27,900 Jens L. List Jr. Memorial at 400 yards.