01/03/2023
Congratulations to our customer Heath Taylor and his team for this great race !!
Empressum, a homebred 4-year-old son of Apollitical Jess owned by Jeff D. Jones and Steve A. Holt and last year's champion 3-year-old, led at every call en route to a convincing 1 1/4-length victory in Saturday's 440-yard, $750,000 Champion of Champions (G1) at Los Alamitos Racecourse.
Ridden by Rodrigo Vallejo for trainer Heath Taylor, Empressum covered his quarter-mile trip in :21.089 while earning a 111 speed index and pocketing the $375,000 winner's share of the purse. The Oklahoma-bred sorrel gelding also was recording his sixth Grade 1 win.
"When the gates opened, I wasn't looking for any other horse," Vallejo said. "I just wanted my horse to break well, and that's what happened. He ran a perfect race."
Empressum was making his first start since October 8, when he ran second, three-quarters of a length behind winner Apollitical Pence, in the 440-yard, $125,000 Robert L. Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship (G1).
"That was a big low from the standpoint that he had been so dominant in the Vessels and the Go Man Go," Taylor said of Empressum's runner-up effort in the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship. "The horse who won the race that night, I gave him all the credit in the world. He ran a tremendous race. I thought that I didn't do a very good job (preparing Empressum), and that's putting it on me and not taking anything away from the winner. The winner beat him on the square.
"I thought that (Empressum) had gotten a little soft," the trainer added. "I thought he had gotten a little fat and maybe not quite as sharp on conditioning. I had been super busy with the Rainbow and All American, and that's certainly no excuse. But the reality is that that was a prep race to get him ready for this race. I didn't want the horse to get beat but if he was going to get beat, I'd much rather see him get beat for $125,000 than $750,000. We worked the horse. We gave the horse some time. We did some stuff with the horse. We did his teeth, dewormed him, and his coat started improving and his energy level got high."
Campaigned in four states, Empressum has won 17 of 23 races -- including six of 10 at the classic 440-yard trip -- and he has earned $1,620,025. He has won a total of seven stakes -- all graded -- and his four wins in five outs at Los Alamitos include the 400-yard, $156,000 Vessels Maturity (G1) on July 3, and the 400-yard, $100,000 Go Man Go Stakes (G1) on August 28.
Holt indicated that Empressum would remain in California for his 5-year-old season.
"We had a lot of thoughts coming into tonight, and a lot depended on tonight's race," Holt said. "To me, this horse doesn't owe us anything. He can tell us what we'll do with him. Probably, and this is just a guess because it's Heath's idea, but I made the Los Alamitos Winter Championship payment. I don't see (Empressum) leaving Los Alamitos anytime soon. Heath made me make the Winter Championship payment, and I'm going to make the Vessels Maturity payment as well. He may not leave California, but it'll be Heath's call."
Reigning world champion Danjer finished second and was followed by Apollitical Pence, Bomb Cyclone, A Pollitical Candy V, Cattail Cove, Powerful Favorite, Pattys Saint, Sweet Dasha Fire, and Jessapolliticalgirl.
For a more detailed recap of the Champion of Champions, go here - https://losalamitos.com/News.aspx?id=6311.
Photo by William Zuazo
