Preview Racing


Moonist Set For Launch In Grade 1 Vessels' On Sunday
Champion Moonist will head the Grade 1, $145,500 Vessels Maturity on Sunday at Los Alamitos.

© Scott Martinez
Moonist Set For Launch In Grade 1 Vessels' On Sunday

LOS ALAMITOS, CA— JULY 2, 2015—Ron Hartley’s Moonist, the premier older horse in the nation, will highlight the running of the Grade 1, $145,500 Vessels Maturity on Sunday at Los Alamitos. On the line will be a berth to the $600,000 Champion of Champions to be held on December 12.

Named the champion 3-year-old gelding last year, Moonist has scored 12 wins from his last 13 starts. To be ridden by Cesar De Alba for trainer John Cooper, Moonist will enter after posting an impressive 400-yard trial win to the Vessels in the fastest qualifying time of :19.554. For his career, Moonist has won 17 of 25 career starts with earnings of $521,234.

“He’s ready for the Vessels,” said Cooper, the fourth all-time leading Quarter Horse trainer at Los Alamitos. ‘He’s as good as any horse I’ve ever trained. He’s an iron horse. Separatist was almost the same way, but not quite. In that regard, Moonist is in a league of his own. This horse has been at the track since his 2-year-old year, but he seems to thrive here at the track. When you ask him to do something he does it. I know that one day it will change because horses only have so many races, but he’s doing great and just keeps on going.

“He’s been up longer than most horses,” Cooper continued. “He’s never left his stall, but by being around him I can see that he likes it here. He’s missed (the Southern California Derby trials) because of a minor foot issue and we still watch over that foot. We spend a lot of time on it. We do something to take care of his foot every single day. Fortunately he’s doing great. Everything is good with Moonist.”

The Vessels Maturity will feature a full field of 10 that will also include Tom Atwood and John Wells’ Far Niente, the winner of the 2014 Vessels Maturity. To be ridden by Eduardo Nicasio for trainer Jose Hernandez, the FDD Dynasty gelding won his trial race on June 14 by an impressive 1¼-lengths in a time of :19.841, and his great showing in last year’s Vessels final makes him a key figure in this event.

Other talented runners include champions Last To Fire and Jake Gold BR and second fastest qualifier Seperate Interest.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.