BE A BONO TO MAKE 2006 STAKES DEBUT IN VESSELS MATURITY (G1)

June 20, 2006 – Six-time graded stakes winner and 2004 AQHA Racing World Champion Be A Bono will make his 2006 stakes debut in the Vessels Maturity (G1) Friday night at Los Alamitos.  He’ll face a closely matched field of talented rivals with a range of qualifying times separated by less than two one-hundredths of a second, all vying for a berth in the Grade 1, $600,000 Champion of Champions set for December 9.

Be A Bono (Bono Jazz – Be Peacefull by Raise A Secret), bred and owned by AQHA Hall of Fame inductee Spencer Childers, set the sixth-fastest qualifying time, finishing third in his trial behind Aladim Bryan SA and Lindas Dasher, who set the third and fourth-best qualifying marks, respectively.

Lester Family Racing Stable’s Apollos Favorite (Apollo (TB) – Marys Flashy Chick by Chicks Beduino) edged out Joel Pierce’s Gold Medal Jess by a nose in the first trial to set the fastest time of :19.675.  An earner of $204,548, Apollos Favorite comes off a fourth-place finish in the Miss Princess Handicap (G3) on April 7.  Just prior to that, she was second behind Gold Medal Jess in the Los Alamitos Winter Championship (G1) on February 25.

Gold Medal Jess (Mr Jess Perry – Gold Medal Dash by First Down Dash) made his first start of the year in his Vessels Maturity trial, finishing second and going the 400 yards in :19.685 for the second-fastest qualifying time.  The 4-year-old Bret Vickery-trainee won the Los Alamitos Winter Championship (G1), coming off an impressive sophomore campaign in 2005 with stakes victories at Los Alamitos in the Super Bowl Handicap, Dillingham Handicap, A Ransom Handicap and Paul B. Ford Memorial Handicap.

Another qualifier that favors the Orange County track is Aladim Bryan SA (Blazen Bryan – Merritara SA by Merridoc), owned by Dr. Gianni Franco Samaja of Sao Paulo, Brazil.  The 5-year-old stallion has lit the board in seven of only 11 career starts, all at Los Alamitos, with victories in the PCQHRA Stakes, the Bellflower Overnight Handicap and the Kaweah Bar Handicap (G1).  He won the second of two Vessels Maturity heats with a time of :19.700.

Christian and Ru Anna Singletary’s Lindas Dasher (Chicks Beduino – Million Dollar Dash by First Down Dash) was just a neck behind the Brazilian-bred Aladim Bryan SA in the second trial, setting the fourth fastest mark of :19.735.  Lindas Dasher, a stakes winner of $268,851 who has raced exclusively at Los Alamitos, was second in three Grade 1 events as a freshman – the Governor’s Cup Futurity, the Ed Burke Memorial Futurity and the PCQHRA Breeders’ Futurity.  Conditioned by Donna McArthur, the 4-year-old mare was runner up in the Governor’s Cup Derby (G1) and a finalist in three more graded derbies last season.

For results of this and all official American Quarter Horse racing events, visit aqharacing.com.

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