London Toby Defends His Spencer Childers Title

LOS ALAMITOS, CA–JULY 27, 2024–Ed Allred's London Toby became the first Quarter Horse to win consecutive runnings of the Spencer Childers California Breeders Championship Handicap since Be A Bono scored a threepeat in this event from 2004 to 2006.

Ridden by Gabriel Lara for trainer Scott Willoughby, London Toby was sensational in successfully defending his Spencer Childers title, as he went to sixth place in the early going to second by the midway point before rocketing to the lead in route to a ¾ length victory over Link Newcomb's ageless Cattail Cove in the Spencer Childers.

After trailing early on, London Toby rushed into contention while chasing George and Ruben Villalobos' Required First and matching strides with Cattail Cove. The 5-year-old gelding by Favorite Cartel turned the tables in the blink of an eye, as he hit the turbo button and immediately pulled away from his rivals.

"He is so strong at the end of races," Lara said. "I was letting him run, just letting him, letting him do his thing. I was confident that he would turn it up and that he would catch them. He always runs his race and I just stayed patient. I know the horse well now. We understand each other and fortunately everything went great for us."

London Toby won the Spencer Childers at 400 yards in a time of :19.707 while earning $55,000. He also improved his record to eight wins from 19 starts and took his career bankroll to $281,806.

This season London Toby has won three of his five starts and his record includes winning the Grade 1 Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship. That effort earned him a provisional berth to the Grade 1, $700,000 Champion of Champions to be held on December 14.

As for his connections, Allred has now won the Spencer Childers 10 times including the last four runnings. This was Willoughby's seventh win in the Spencer Childers and 25th stakes victory on California Breeders Champions Night.

Trained by Juan Aleman, Cattail Cove earned $22,500 for his runner-up effort. The 7-year-old gelding, who has raced at the highest level his entire career, has hit the board in 31 of his 47 career starts.

Required First, You Can Run, Terrific Phoenix and Always A Chance completed the field.

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