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AQHA Racing National Poll Ranked Horses Set for Showdown in Champion of Champions
Some ranked horses in the AQHA Racing National Polls are set to compete in major Grade 1 races over the weekend.

AQHA Racing National Poll Ranked Horses Set for Showdown in Champion of Champions

AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE ASSOCIATION—DECEMBER 12, 2018—One of the biggest racing weekends of the year is on tap, which means there is the possibility of some major movement in the AQHA Racing Polls before the end of the year.

Saturday's $600,000 Champion of Champions (G1) at Los Alamitos is expected to feature seven of the top 10 horses in the older-horse rankings, topped by No. 3-ranked BH Lisas Boy, who is coming off a victory in the Bank of America Challenge Championship (G1) at the Southern California track. The past two winners of the Champion of Champions, No. 7 Zoomin For Spuds (2016) and No. 8 Heza Dasha Fire (2015), will be joined by No. 4 Bodacious Eagle, No. 5 Jesstacartel, No. 6 He Looks Hot and No. 10 Tarzanito.

No. 1-ranked poll horse Jessies First Down, who has held the top spot virtually the entire year, is being pointed to the $350,000 Championship at Sunland Park (G1) on December 30. He looks for his fourth stakes win and third Grade 1 win of the year.

On Sunday at Los Alamitos, the sport's second-richest race, the $1,878,425 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity (G1), will be contested with a field that includes No. 3-ranked Flash And Roll.

Apocalyptical Jess, winner of the $3 million All American Futurity (G1) on Labor Day, continues to hold the No. 1 position in the poll for 2-year-olds.

NATIONAL RANKINGS, 3-YEAR-OLDS AND OLDER

  1. JESSIES FIRST DOWN (90)
  2. HOTSTEPPER (86)
  3. BH LISAS BOY (70)
  4. BODACIOUS EAGLE (64)
  5. JESSTACARTEL (49)
  6. HE LOOKS HOT (40)
  7. ZOOMIN FOR SPUDS (39)
  8. HEZA DASHA FIRE (31)
  9. HOLD AIR HOSTAGE (24)
  10. TARZANITO (19)

MAJOR BITES (18), JESS MOVE YOU (7), KVN CORONA (5), SF HOT PASS (3), JESS RAVIN (2), ONE SWEET RACY (2), THIS IS A DEAL TOO (1).

NATIONAL RANKINGS, 2-YEAR-OLDS

  1. APOCALYPTICAL JESS (95)
  2. MM FOURINTHEMORNING (88)
  3. FLASH AND ROLL (70)
  4. FLYING COWBOY 123 (64)
  5. BLUE CORAZON (47)
  6. WAVE HER DOWN (38)
  7. IM JESS SPECIAL V (32)
  8. SUZE RETURNS (27)
  9. LONG WAGON HO (23)
  10. LYNNDER 16 (18)

JEST FAMOUS (10), POWERFUL FAVORITE (8), DANJER (7), WICKED AFFAIR (7), PAINT ME A SINNER (6), JESS FIRE CHICK (5), KR HI FIVE (2), COLE MAN 47 (1), EAGLE COAST (1).

The integrity of American Quarter Horse racing is of utmost importance to AQHA. As part of a multifaceted effort to ensure integrity, AQHA has instituted a policy concerning awards and publicity that makes horses with racing medication positives and horses trained by trainers with racing medication positives ineligible for the AQHA Racing National Polls. CLICK HERE to read the complete policy.

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AQHA News and information is a service of the American Quarter Horse Association. For more news and information, follow @AQHARacing on Twitter, watch the AQHA Racing Newscast and visit aqha.com/racing.