Frankie Shoots
4-Year-Old Horse
(Dashin Bye - Shake N Shoot by Tolltac)

Qualified by winning the Vessels Maturity

Lifetime Record: 18-9-3-1, $256,504 2008 Record: 8-3-1-1, $127,919

Powered by a rally that would have made former World Champion and Vessels Maturity winner Be A Bono proud, Frankie Shoots flew in the final 220 yards to win the $150,000 Vessels Maturity in nearly stakes record time and earn the third guaranteed berth to the $750,000 Champion of Champions. Frankie Shoots, who earned $63,000 for the victory, has now bankrolled $256,504. He has won nine of 18 starts, including this year's 350-yard Kaweah Bar Handicap in a sizzling time of :17.21, the 2007 Grade 2 PCQHRA Breeders Derby and Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials, and the 2006 Corona Chick Handicap as a 2-year-old.

Bred by John Andreini and Blane Schvaneveldt, Frankie Shoots is named after its former owner Francisco Gonsalez, who also consigned the horse to the 2005 Los Alamitos Equine Sale. "I remember looking at this horse at the Equine Sale," owner Jose Santos said. "He was dark and handsome. He had a great looking chest and an all-around nice body. When the bidding started, he was going for about $2,000 and that's when I decided to jump in. I went to about $5,000, then $6,000, and then I just kept quiet. No one else bid and I was thrilled to get him for that price Even if he didn't run a lick, I figured that I could still use him as a 'charro' horse," Santos added. "That's why we never gelded him. You want an unaltered horse if you're doing a charro." A popular a term referring to a traditional horseman or cowboy of Mexico, a charro participates in charreadas, a type of rodeo that is the national sport in Mexico. "I do about 10 charreadas a year," Santos added. Winning June's Vessels Maturity as the 1-2 favorite courtesy of a half-length decision over 37-1 longshot Don Juan Bryan SA. The 4-year-old son of Dashin Bye covered the 400 yards in :19.41, only 2/100ths of a second off the track record set by Five Bar Molly last year. Frankie Shoots completed the final 220 yards in :09.32, one of the fastest closing times ever at Los Alamitos.

Six-time and defending AQHA champion trainer Paul Jones, who has won four Champion of Champions in his career, is once again the nation's leading Quarter Horse trainer. Jones' horses have won over $6 million to rank first in the nation in that category. This is the fourth straight year that Jones has gone over the $6 million mark. He's also trying to break his own record for money earned of $6,528,188, which he set last year. In fact, he could own the record by the time the Champion of Champions is run, as he will saddle Foose and Winners Version in the $2,038,250 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on December 12.

The winner of the "Deuce" will earn over $800,000, so the $7 million mark in earnings is a legitimate possibility for Jones. The trainer has also won over 200 races this year, 50 more than second leading trainer Heath Taylor. In his career, Jones has won over 2,600 races from approximately 13,900 starters. His horses have earned about $44 million since he began training in 1991.

"Ever since I was a boy in Mexico my dream was to have a horse in the Champion of Champions," said owner Jose Santos. He has made the dream a reality many times over, first with champion Buccaneer Beach and now with the talented Grade 1 winner Frankie Shoots. Santos had horses with (trainer) Jesse Maldonado in the early 1990s until the owner's health declined suddenly. "I became seriously ill and I had to give up my horses," he said.

He returned to owning horses about five years ago and making it to the Champion of Champions was his goal. Santos admits to coming to the United States illegally in 1967, but he is proud of what he has accomplished in this country since then. "I crossed the border in '67 but I always worked hard here. I became a citizen and now I own companies and I have many people working for my companies." Santos' businesses include Memo's Scaffold Inc., a rental business that extends from northern Mexico up to Sacramento. He also owns a check cashing locale, liquor store and nursery. Santos' biggest racing success story was Buccaneer Beach, which he claimed for $8,000 on July 18, 2003 on the way to watching the horse become a two-time Champion of Champions finalist. "That was special with Buccaneer Beach but (Frankie Shoots) has its own unique taste as well," Santos said. "Paul always told me that Frankie Shoots would give some good times and this horse has come through."