LOS ALAMITOS, CA—JANAURY 27, 2012—Even though there are plenty of big names like champions Jess You And I, Noconi, Little Bit Of Baja and major Grade 1 winners El Aguila Real and Snitcher in the trials to Los Alamitos Winter Championship trials, it is the lightly raced Senor Toby who is the most intriguing runner in Sunday’s qualifying races.

What makes him such an attraction in Sunday’s trials is the his perfect six for six record in 2011, plus the fact that he dominated his last three races by winning by ¾ lengths or more. Can the Jaime Gomez-trained runner take the next step up to stardom? How will he fare in open trials that feature champions and a slew of stakes winners? Can he keep up his winning streak and make it a heavenly seven?

Owned by Brad Lohr and Daniel Reynoso, Senor Toby will also enter the third trial to the February 19 Winter Championship dreaming of his first trip ever to a Grade 1 final. The gelded son of Mighty Invictus came narrowly close to achieving Grade 1 status last season when he barely missed qualifying to the Champion of Champions.

“Every race that he won last year was a mind blowing experience for us,” said the 65-year-old Reynoso, who has raced at least one Quarter Horse at Los Alamitos each year since 1995. “We hope he keeps winning and we hope for more good things from him this season. If he continues his development, he should do just fine at this level. He likes running with pressure. He doesn’t shy away from a challenge. He likes to run against company. If a horse is right there running with him, he relishes the challenge. I think he’ll do just fine at this level.”

It’s hard to believe at one point right before he began his undefeated sophomore campaign, his connections considered retiring him from racing and turning him into a trail horse.

“He finished third in his first two starts and Brad was looking for horse to ride,” Reynoso said. “Hopefully we kept him in training and gave him a chance to develop. We knew that he was born to run because I owned his half brother Fire Is On, who came close to making the 2010 Champion of Champions. Brad, Jaime and I stuck with the horse and we’re so glad that we did. Brad hasn’t owned too many racehorses so this has been a great thrill for him and his family. How many people get to enjoy this type of success in one of their first ventures into racing. I am so happy for Brad”

Winning all six races in 2011 made Senior Toby the first Quarter Horse to go undefeated with that many victories during a single season at Los Alamitos since three-time distance champion Sign Of Lanty went seven for seven during 2000 campaign. Senor Toby is also the first Quarter Horse to go undefeated over the straightaway with six wins during a single season here since World Champion Dashing Folly went a perfect eight for eight in 1996. The legendary champion Corona Chick is the only other horse with at least six wins to enjoy a perfect meet at Los Alamitos since 1991. Senor Toby also became only the 10th Quarter Horse over the past 21 years to complete an unblemished campaign with a minimum of four starts at Los Alamitos.

Among his six wins, Senor Toby won the A Ransom Handicap, a division to the Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trial, the John Deere Stakes and Sgt Pepper Feature Handicap. He was named the Los Alamitos 3-year-old gelding of the year by the racing media and was honored as the meet’s most improved horse by the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association. Reynoso summed it all up with a couple of words.

“He was magnificent,” he said. “It was a great surprise. We love the horse so much. He is talented, but also very docile and well mannered. He is a very mature horse. He has a great mind and is very focused on his business. There’s no doubt that our goal this season is to get him into the Champion of Champions.”

Making that race has been Reynoso’s Holy Grail.

“Fire Is On gave me a lot of satisfaction and he barely missed making the Champion of Champions. He threw a horseshoe in the Z. Wayne and only missed qualifying by 2/100ths of a second, while Senor Toby missed it by 7/100ths. They were both the 11th horse in a race for 10. Making the Champion of Champions would be great after coming so close two years in a row.”

And what of Lohr’s need for a trail horse?

“We made a deal to keep Senor Toby running and I let him use one of my other horses for the trail,” Reynoso said. “We’re happy with how things have turned out.”

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com