LOS ALAMITOS, CA—NOVEMBER 18, 2017—The field for the $750,000 Champion of Champions is set after five horses earned the final berths to the December 16 running of the sport’s most prestigious race for older horses following the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials on Sunday at Los Alamitos.

Five berths to the Champion of Champions were on the line in the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials with Grade 1 Charger Bar Handicap winner Jess Good Reason and the millionaire He Looks Hot earning berths from the first Directors Trial, while the lightly-raced Da One Two Special, defending Champion of Champions winner Zoomin For Spuds, and Ruidoso Derby finalist Firing Tools earned berths in the second and final Directors Trials.

The second trial also featured the triumphant return of Bill Hoburg’s BH Lisas Boy, who won this heat by a nose over Da One Two Special in what was his first start since having minor knee surgery on July 8. BH Lisas Boy had already earned his berth to the Champion of Champions after wins in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Championship in February and Vessels Maturity in July. This start was purely to prepare him to race in the Champion of Champions four weeks from now.

With Jess Good Reason, He Looks Hot, Da One Two Special, Zoomin For Spuds, Firing Tools qualifying on Sunday through the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials all 10 starting berths are now accounted for the Champion of Champions. The five qualifiers will join the aforementioned BH Lisas Boy plus 2015 AQHA World Champion and Champion of Champions winner Heza Dasha Fire, Los Alamitos Super Derby winner Chazaq, Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap winner Time For Jess, and Bank of America Championship Challenge winner The Fiscal Cliff in the 45th running of the Champion of Champions. The 10 starters in the upcoming Champion of Champions have combined to win 87 of 189 starts while earning $6,374,527.

The honor of having the fastest time on the night of the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials went to John and Cina Sperry’s Jess Good Reason, a 4-year-old mare by Good Reason SA who was picking up her first victory since taking the Charger Bar on January 8. Ridden by Oscar Peinado for trainer Paul Jones, Jess Good Reason led from start to finish in this trial while covering the 400 yards in :19.686. She won at odds of 11-1. Her previous effort was a second-place finish to Time For Jess in the Mildred Vessels on September 24.

"She’s been training a lot better," said Jones. "She came into this race a lot better. She usually gets out that good out of the gate, she doesn’t get beat. She had a good, clean trip. She’s back to good form. She’s sharp. She’s blossomed towards the end of this year. We had a couple of little issues with her early on. She’s over them now. She’s back to form. She’s always shown she’s a nice horse. We’re really proud of her. We’re happy for (owner) John Sperry."

After the Charger Bar, the Preston and Karen Cloud-bred mare finished seventh in back-to-back starts – first in a trial to the Vessels Maturity on June 11 and then in the Merial California Distaff Challenge on August 12.

"She had like a hematoma on her hip," said Jones about the cause of her mid-year struggles. "We drained it and it got infected. We just had some problems with it. It made her sick. She got kind of down from it. It’s all healed up and she looks like a different horse right now. She’s training great now.

"Everything has kind of come together at the right time," the trainer added. "We’re happy because she’s our only horse in the Champion of Champions. I think she’ll relish the 440 yards. I’m really pleased. She reminds me a lot of her sire, Good Reason SA, who won the Champion of Champions. She looks so much like him in everything she does."

Jess Good Reason earned $8,250 for winning the Z. Wayne Griffin Trial to take her career earnings to $368,234.

Owned by Ed Allred, He Looks Hot’s amazing career continues after he qualified to his second straight Champion of Champions after his runner-up effort in the first trial in a time of :19.767. The Scott Willoughby-trainee spoiled Heza Dasha Fire’s hopes of a perfect season in 2014 when he defeated the champion to win the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. He Looks Hot then missed the entire 2015 campaign because of the first of his two colic surgeries. He returned in 2016 to win the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity and made the field to the Champion of Champions.

Earlier this year, He Looks Hot beat Heza Dasha Fire again, this time in the Spencer Childers California Breeders Championship Handicap. He later became the first millionaire campaigned by Allred, the sport’s all-time leading owner and breeder. He Looks Hot has beaten Heza Dasha Fire twice before in stakes races and the Champion of Champions would be another gold star on his record. Rodrigo Aceves piloted the son of Walk Thru Fire in the opening Directors Trial. He Looks Hot has earned $1,079,489 in his career.

Owned, bred and trained by Bill Hoburg, BH Lisas Boy remained undefeated in 2017 after winning the second trial by a nose over Da One Two Special. Now a winner of six races this year, BH Lisas Boy had not raced since winning the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity on July 2.

"This has been very trying the last five months," Hoburg said. "When you set a horse up for a race you go from beginning to finish. On July 8 we operated on this horse and on July 9 I set out an itinerary for him from this race and then (working) backwards. I put on the calendar target dates that I wanted him to meet. He exceeded every one by a week to 10 days. This horse just shows so much heart and courage. He amazes me. He’s an amazing horse."

Cesar De Alba piloted the 5-year-old gelding by Mighty Invictus to victory in a time of :19.697. BH Lisas Boy improved his record to 16 wins in 26 career starts and raised his lifetime bankroll to $414,948.

"To run in the Champion of Champions, I felt I couldn’t compete at that level on works only," Hoburg continued. "I had this (the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials) as one of the rungs on the ladder to get him back to that level. I didn’t care if he won tonight. I just wanted a good clean race. I really thought he probably run second or third with the 18 week layoff and 220 works under him. I’m just really proud of him. He didn’t want to lose."

Jesus Daniel Padilla’s Da One Two Special, a 4-year-old gelding by Two Corona Special, made his career four months ago when winning a maiden race here on July 16. He then finished second in an allowance race before winning at the allowance level in his third career start on October 8. He showed enough in that race for his connections to pay the $5,000 supplemental fee to make him eligible to this trial. The gamble paid off as he’s now in the Champion of Champions. Jose Nicasio piloted the Hector Padilla-bred runner for trainer Felix Gonzalez. Da One Two Special covered the distance in :19.706.

Owner Jim Walker and trainer Monty Arrossa hope that history repeats itself after Zoomin For Spuds qualified to the Champion of Champion via the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials for the second consecutive year. Last year, the son of Zoomin For Bux upset Heza Dasha Fire to win the Champion of Champions. He’ll be looking to do it all over again as Heza Dasha Fire once again looks like the horse to beat in the 440-yard classic.

Zoomin For Spuds will look to become the first horse to win back-to-back runnings of the Champion of Champions since SLM Big Daddy in 1997-98. Cody Jensen piloted the Idaho-bred. Jensen qualified Chazaq to the Champion of Champions last weekend when he piloted the son of Corona Cartel to victory in the Los Alamitos Super Derby. Zoomin For Spuds covered the distance in a time of :19.764.

Beth and Michael Harper’s Firing Tools earned the final berth to the Champion of Champions after running fourth to BH Lisas Boy in a time of :19.790. Ridden by Carlos Huerta for trainer Mike Robbins, the 3-year-old son of Walk Thru Fire was also a $5,000 supplement to the trials.

His top efforts in 2017 included a second-place finish to Zoomin For Spuds in an allowance race in his Los Alamitos debut on November 4 and a fourth place finish in the Grade 1, $1,000,000 Ruidoso Derby on June 10.

Firing Tools qualified to the Grade 1, $1,000,000 Texas Classic Futurity last year. Bred by Silver Racing Farm LLC, Firing Tools’ dam is No Tools Required, a four-time stakes winner of the TQHA Sires' Cup Futurity and Derby in 2001-02. She’s the dam of Tools Of Fire, a 2009 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity finalist, and Required Fire, winner of the Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes and Go Josie Go Handicap.

No Tools Required has produced horses that have done well in Orange County. As for Robbins, the trainer has one of the best records in the history of the Champion of Champions. Robbins has saddled three Champion of Champions winners in the form of Sgt Pepper Feature in 1982, Dashs Dream in 1984, and Special Leader in 1990.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.