LOS ALAMITOS : Dash Master Miss Makes Field for Champion of Champions

A month ago, Gus Barakis Jr. shipped Dash Master Miss to California with a specific goal--qualify for the Champion of Champions.

The 4-year-old filly, who ran seventh in the 1992 Champion of Champions, didn’t have an automatic berth in the finals or trials, but Barakis had a plan. He ran the filly in the Breeders Distaff Classic, a Grade I race for fillies and mares in early November. When Dash Master Miss finished second behind Chicks Got Pazazz in the Distaff, she earned a berth to the Champion of Champions trials, and Barakis was halfway to his goal.

On Saturday, Dash Master Miss made Barakis’ decision to come to California look even better. She won the second of two Champion of Champions trials and is one of the fastest qualifiers for the $250,000 final on Dec. 11, the nation’s richest race for older quarter horses.

Now comes the hard part, racing against a well-rested gelding named Refrigerator, who is seeking his second consecutive horse of the year title. Dash Master Miss has never beaten Refrigerator, who is on a five-race winning streak dating back to the 1992 Champion of Champions.

Barakis would settle for second. Over the summer, Dash Master Miss ran poorly at Ruidoso, N.M., and it has only been in the last two months that she has regained the form that made her one of the nation’s leading 3-year-old fillies last year. Barakis says hoof problems that plagued Dash Master Miss earlier this year are no longer a factor.

“We took her home (to Weatherford, Tex.) after Ruidoso and identified the problem,” he said. “We started working on it and she’s rounding into top form. I really think she’s running better this year than last year. She hasn’t been worse than second in her last five starts.

‘I can say running second or third to (Refrigerator) is quite an accomplishment and second-place is good money.”

Refrigerator is such a favorite that only 10 horses started in two trials on Saturday. Reign Of Terror was also entered but was scratched earlier in the day. Several leading contenders, such as the 3-year-old gelding Four Forty Blast and the older mare Sound Dash, have already been sent home for the winter.

Either eight or nine horses from the trials will advance to the finals, depending on whether Deceptively, who has an automatic berth, decides to run. The 3-year-old filly has been plagued with leg problems and last week trainer Bruce Bell said she wouldn’t start, but Los Alamitos officials have not been notified. If Bell decides to enter her three days before the race, but doesn’t start her, she will still be awarded 10th-place money of $2,500.

The fastest qualifier from Saturday’s trials was Down With Debt, a 3-year-old filly, who is a two-time stakes winner at Los Alamitos this year. She upset Rare Form and Six To Five, who were second and third, respectively, behind Refrigerator in the Breeders Championship Classic in early November. Other definite finalists include Elie Rey Beduino, Childish, Sir Goldminer, and Mongoose First. Those Were The Days will also start if Deceptively doesn’t enter.

Down With Debt, who is owned by George Haddad of Costa Mesa, and trained by Charlie Bloomquist, was fourth in the Breeders Championship Classic, but ran a much improved race on Saturday.

“She has run 440 yards in 21.50 and 21.52 (seconds) this meet, so I figure that’s how fast she can go,” Bloomquist said. “If Fridge keeps running those 21.45-second races, it’s going to be tough to beat him. Fridge may have to be a bit slower because we may not be able to go any faster.”

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Few trainers could match the events in Bret Layne’s life in November.

The highlights included a second-place finish with The Money Crunch in the California Futurity on Nov. 12, Reign Of Terror’s victory in the Breeders Sprint Classic on Nov. 13 and Second Time Away’s victory in the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Assn. Derby on Nov. 14.

Surrounding those three happy days in the middle of the month were two frightening accidents involving full brothers--My Escalon and Undisclosed.

On Nov. 5, prior to the start of a $4,000 claiming race, Undisclosed broke through the front of the starting gate, dumped jockey Jim Lewis and ran down the track. In mid-stretch, he jumped over the inside rail and ran around the infield before a score of track officials and horsemen, including Layne, caught him. Aside from a few bumps and bruises, the 4-year-old gelding was unharmed.

On Nov. 18, My Escalon was racing with the leaders of a $16,000 claiming race when, 100 yards from the wire, the 5-year-old gelding jumped a set of hoof tracks in the middle of the course. He lost his stride, bucked off jockey Steve Treasure and jumped the inside rail at almost the same spot as Undisclosed.

Instead of clearing it, My Escalon tumbled over the rail and fell heavily on the infield grass. After a few moments, he, too, was caught and was vanned to the backstretch as a precaution. His owners, Margaret and Barney Leard of Campbell, Calif., watched the entire episode from a Bay Area off-track betting site.

Fearing the worst, the Leards expected Layne to tell them the horse was lost, but Layne and veterinarians stayed at the track until 3 a.m. tending to a cut on My Escalon’s thigh.

“He was born a rogue and he’ll die a rogue,” Layne said of My Escalon. “You could run over him with a Mack truck and you couldn’t hurt him. He’s a tough hombre. Steve and I couldn’t figure out what had happened until we saw the replay. You can see plain as day that he jumped tracks.”

Layne said My Escalon suffered no muscle damage in the mishap and will be sent to the Leards’ farm for the winter. He said the gelding will race again in 1994.

“Full brothers jumping the rails in a week. What a thing to be known for,” Layne said. “(General Manager) Brad (McKinzie) said if it happens again, he’s going to start charging me grazing fees.”

Before the Nov. 18 incident, My Escalon was best known as the 31-1 longshot who finished first in the 1992 Los Alamitos Derby only to be disqualified for lugging outward and interfering with a majority of the field. That incident wasn’t necessarily My Escalon’s fault--one of the gelding’s reins broke, leaving Lewis with little control. No horses or riders were injured, but the race left a lasting impression on the Leards.

Next year, Layne can look forward to training a full brother to My Escalon, Undisclosed and The Money Crunch. He’s likely to make his first start at Los Alamitos late in the spring.

“If his brothers and sisters are any indication, he’ll be a runner,” Layne said.

The soon-to-be 2-year-old’s name? Broken Rein.

Los Alamitos Notes

Before Saturday’s $75,000 Marathon Handicap, Mr Diddy Wa Diddy was having his best year. The 5-year-old gelding had won two of 11 starts and earned more than $32,000. On Saturday, he more than doubled his 1993 earnings. Mr Diddy Wa Diddy pulled an upset in the 870-yard race, winning by 1 1/4 lengths and paying $16.80 to win. It was the second stakes victory of the fall for Mr Diddy Wa Diddy and his connections--owner Gladys DeWolf, trainer Charles Treece and jockey Jose Badilla Jr. The big surprise was the poor performance of Griswold, the 4-5 favorite, who finished last in the eight-horse field.

Three was a good reason why jockey Henry Garcia, currently fifth in the quarter horse jockey standings, wasn’t riding at Los Alamitos on Sunday. He had a better offer. Garcia was at Trinity Meadows, near Ft. Worth, where he won the $851,000 Texas Classic Futurity aboard Heza Fast Man. Garcia’s share of the winning purse was more than $37,000.