November 7-9 Stakes Recap

Following is a recap of all official American Quarter Horse stakes and trials for the week of November 7-9. For recaps of most graded stakes, AQHA Racing Challenge stakes and trials, and most stakes with purses of $100,000 or more, see the individual recaps in the Racing News section. This page will be updated throughout the week.

Los Alamitos
What a season it has been for Abel Flores and James Sills’ Shaken Goin On at Los Alamitos. The Oklahoma-bred filly by Freighttrain B scored her fourth win in five starts at the Cypress track this year after winning the $30,000 Justanold Love Stakes for sophomore fillies on Saturday night.

This was Shaken Goin On’s third stakes win at Los Alamitos after previously winning the Grade 1, $430,000 Los Alamito Oaks, the meet’s richest race for sophomore fillies, followed by a win over aged mares in the Grade 2, $50,000 Miss Princess Handicap on May 4. Ridden by Justine Klaiber for trainer Eddie Willis, Shaken Goin On flew from post number two, took a ¾ length lead early on then cruised home to win by a ½ length over Gentry Farms’ talented Ohana Spirit.

“(Shaken Goin On) can really leave the gate,” Willis said. “When she gets that type of a start, she’s hard to beat.”  

Shaken Goin On’s only blemish at Los Alamitos this season is a third-place finish against the Willis-trained 3-year-old filly Hott Temptation in the Grade 1 Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap on September 13. Hott Temptation could also pick up a stakes win this weekend, as she’s one of the top contenders in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Super Derby to be held on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, Saturday night belonged to Shaken Goin On, who covered the 350 yards in :17.549 while adding $16,500 to her bankroll. Bred by Flores and Sills, Shaken Goin On has now earned $341,206 in her 15-race career. She’s won eight of those outings, including two at the start of her juvenile campaign at Remington Park and two at Will Rogers Downs late last year.   

“I try to keep Shaken Goin On and Hott Temptation separated,” Willis said. “They’re both good ones and I also have 4-year-old mare (I Am Candy) who is a really nice mare. I knew that if (Shaken Goin On) left the gate like that, and 99 percent of the time that’s what she does, that she would be just fine. She’s good in the gate, she’s good away from the gate, she’s fast away from there and can hold her speed the whole way. I felt confident that she could win this race and that it would set her up for the Southern California Derby trials (on November 30). That’s why I ran her in the (Justanold Love).”

With Martin Arriaga up for trainer Juan Aleman, Ohana Spirit earned $6,750 for running second. David Hinkins’ VGK Zigfield Follies earned $3,750 for running third. Call Her Perfect, Beach Walk, Heartlande, Brown Kat, Competent, Fairlea Flyin and Quick She Is completed the field.

Astronomical 123, a gelding by the outstanding sire Flying Cowboy 123 and out of the five-times stakes winner Singles Cruise, scored his first stakes victory while also giving Jo Rae Burns her first stakes win as a sole owner after taking the $30,000 Town Policy Handicap for 3-year-olds on Saturday.

Burns, who is the wife of AQHA champion breeder Dr. Steve Burns, has celebrated many victories in Grade 1 stakes with her husband, and she’s also enjoyed success campaigning horses in partnerships. Along with Lila Kessinger, Burns was the winning owner of the 2021 Cypress Handicap courtesy of the Seperate Interest horse Stolen Lives. With her brother, trainer Mike Casselman, she raced the Separatist mare Dawn Of A New Day, who ran second at odds of 58-1 to Scoop Of Sunshine in the 2013 Governor’s Cup Derby.

Joe Rae Burns has enjoyed victories with many other horses, including the hard-knocking $25,000 earner Good Will Hunting and with the eventual five-time winner SJM Fowler First, but Astronomical 123 is the first stakes winner of her own.

Bred by Barry and Janice Sather and purchased for $122,000 at the 2023 Heritage Place September Yearling Sale, Astronomical 123 has developed into a standout performer. Lightly raced as a 2-year-old – he won once in four starts – Astronomical 123 has now picked up two wins this year, while also posting a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Golden State Derby and a second-place finish to the Grade 1 stakes placed runner Devils Tower in a trial to the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Super Derby. Ridden by Ruben Lozano for trainer Mike Casselman, Astronomical 123 won the Town Policy in wire-to-wire fashion while covering the 400 yards in :19.880. Astronomical 123 finished a head in front of Clareets Boy to pick up his third career win in 10 starts. He earned $16,500 for the win to take his career earnings to $45,799.

Astronomical 123 will make his next start in the trials to the Grade 2 Southern California Derby on Sunday, November 30.

Edward Meltzer Revocable Trust’s Clareets Boy earned $6,750 for running second. He was also second to Lethal Cowboy 123 in the Sgt Pepper Feature Handicap earlier this year. Billy Smith, Downtime Enterprises, Paul Blanchard and Dean Frey’s Autamatic was fifth during the early stages of this race but finished nicely to earn third place money of $3,750. Cowboy Bolt, Gimy A Reason, Fourstreakingeagle, and Nationalist completed the field.

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