LOS ALAMITOS : Schvaneveldt’s Reign May End

The Rams will lose, the Angels will lose more and Blane Schvaneveldt will be the leading trainer at Los Alamitos.

Those have been inevitabilities in Orange County in recent years, but there might be a change this year and it has nothing to do with football or baseball.

Paul Jones, 28, might end Schvaneveldt’s domination. With more than half of the 142-day meeting gone, Jones holds the edge over Schvaneveldt, who, remarkably, has won 35 of the last 45 titles at Los Alamitos, the last five in succession.

Jones can become only the sixth quarter horse trainer to win a Los Alamitos title in the last 20 years. Besides Schvaneveldt, the others are Wayne Lukas, Caesar Dominguez, Bob Baffert and John Cooper.

The son of Paul Jones Sr., who trained at Los Alamitos for 16 years, Jones started training six years ago and has come a long way. When he started, he had only four horses in his stable.

“I almost had to train for free to get owners to bring me horses,” Jones said. “I had to work real hard to turn the horses that I had into winners. Fortunately, the success I had just snowballed.

“Last season, we started out with only 25 horses and I didn’t make it to the top-10 list of trainers until two months after the meet started. This season, we began with 70 horses, most of which we acquired through claims last meet, and they all have the talent to win on any given night.

“I thought I would do well this meet. But, realistically, I never expected to be the leading trainer. As far as I’m concerned, just being in the company of Schvaneveldt is an honor.”

One horse in Jones’ stable, Avisome, is a promising 2-year-old who won the Moon Deck Handicap earlier in the meeting. Jones bought the horse for $9,500 as a yearling from Schvaneveldt.

“After the Moon Deck, (Schvaneveldt) told me what a nice race he had run,” said Jones. “That was the first time he ever said anything to me, and it really made me feel good that he complimented one of my horses.”

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Taking advantage of a dream trip, Foggy Meadow beat Raise A Secret, who was victimized by a wide journey after breaking from the outside post, in winning the $62,000 Gold Rush Derby last Saturday.

Ridden by John Creager and trained by Daryn Charlton, Foggy Meadow covered the 870 yards in 45.98 seconds for his second consecutive victory and returned $8. He had earned the second-fastest qualifying time--behind Raise A Secret--in the Gold Rush trials on Aug. 19.

“I loved the post (No. 4) we drew,” said Charlton. “We knew (Foggy Meadow) could run. He proved that last year in some 300-yard races and all he needed tonight was a clean break.”

Oh Oh The Signature was third in the Gold Rush, then came Citation Five, Tis A Little Doll, Skippa Dashing Star, Chicks Response and L.C. Tern.

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When SH Wiktorie was disqualified in last Friday’s third race, jockey Richard Pfau made a bit of history.

The disqualification made Chardora the official winner and made Pfau the first jockey to win 100 Arabian races at Los Alamitos.

“It feels good to be recognized,” Pfau said. “But that is a strange way to get your 100th win. The way (Jerry Lambert, who also has had a lot of success with Arabians) has been riding lately, I’ll take a win any way I can get it.”

Pfau led the standings last season with 42 Arabian victories.

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Totally Illegal, the top qualifier, heads the field scheduled to go in Friday’s $85,000 Governor’s Cup Derby for California-bred 3-year-olds at 400 yards.

Trained by Schvaneveldt, Totally Illegal qualified for the Derby in 19.85 seconds in winning for the fourth consecutive time, The rest of the field includes Artesias Special Gal, The Money Crunch, Dash For Debbie, Follow The Sign, Daily Triple, Dream A Secret, Movados, Rainbow Sun and Ramblin Kind.

Los Alamitos Notes

Because of the special Labor Day program, there will be no racing tonight at Los Alamitos. Racing will resume Friday evening. . . . Los Alamitos was the place to bet All-American Futurity winner Noblesse Six. The upset winner of the $1.6-million Futurity paid $34 locally, compared to $14.40 at Ruidoso Downs. Noblesse Six’s trainer, Richard Fry, is a former calf roper and math teacher from Gatesville, Tex.