George Duarte gives his professional insite on who he would wager to win this year's edition of the Champion of Champkons.

© Los Alamitos

By George Duarte, Los Alamitos Night Lines Analyst

LOS ALAMITOS, CA–DECEMBER 12, 2025–This year's edition of the Champion of Champions is headlined by the defending and two time champion Empressum, the latest runner who has bested him in Jeriko and an up and comer who beat both of them in Stanley Cartel. Others who merit consideration are the All American winner Fdd Dreams who has hit the board in all five tries at the distance and the fast improving Norco who showed his potential in the Super Derby to qualify to this race.

Who Benefited Most and Least from the Post Position Selections
For me the big winners of the post draw are Jeriko and Norco. Jeriko who tends to break mid pack at best draws inside of Norco who breaks either out or straight and outside of Scoops Dynasty who primarily either breaks slow or inward. Norco also won the draw due to him ensuring a clean trip from this post and he won from an outside post on debut to show he can more than handle not breaking outward too much from this post and his gate speed should give him a nice wide path.

At the other end of the spectrum, this is a tough draw for Fdd Dreams who breaks inside of the fast breaker Re Corona King, who has broke inward in three of his last five starts. Also Empressum has a challenging draw in my opinion after getting the rail for the last race of the day/night doubleheader program. Empressum also draws inside a very fast breaker who has broken inward in two of her last four starts.

Contender I'm Taking A Stand Against
Stanley Cartel has done nothing wrong this year, but is having to switch riders with his main rider, Armando Cervantes, on the mend. Stanley Cartel is a tricky horse to ride and had his worst effort when having a former champion jockey hop aboard in last year's Super Derby. This rider is very accomplished but the lack of experience on him makes me hesitant to take him at 7/2 odds.

Suggested wagers on a $50 bankroll
I think Jeriko is the deserving favorite, draws well and has every chance to run his race and I will try to create some value by getting Norco in the number while not using Stanley Cartel in the top three spots:

.50 cent Superfecta 9/1,6,8,10/1,6,8,10/1,2,3,4,6,7,8,10 = $36

$1 Trifecta 6,8,10/9/1,2,6,8,10 = $12