Ten Oclock Scholar
4-Year-Old Gelding
(Bono Jazz - Dollars Chick by Chicks Beduino)

Qualified by winning the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship

Lifetime Record: 19-8-3-4, $397,527 2008 Record: 3-2-0-0, $188,342

In winning the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship, Ten Oclock Scholar earned a berth to the $750,000 Champion of Champions. Ridden by Alex Bautista for trainer Dan Francisco, Ten Oclock Scholar covered the 440 yards in :21.30 while finished a half-length ahead of J. Garvan Kelly and Nancy Yearsley's Value The Man. "The last time I won this race was with Charger Bar," said co-owner Ed Allred, referring to the legendary mare he campaigned along with Kenneth Wright. "That's a long time ago. I had a chance to win it with a horse named Private Practice (who ran third to Denim N Diamonds and Town Policy in 1981). I had a couple of other chances but other than that this is it." Now a winner of $397,527, Ten Oclock Scholar has been involved in nine stakes races in his career, beginning with the Ed Burke Million Futurity as a 2-year-old. During his sophomore season last year, Ten Oclock Scholar was second in the PCQHRA Breeders Derby and was third when flying late in the Los Alamitos Super Derby. He also ran in the Town Policy Handicap and Governor's Cup Derby. As an aged horse, he has won the Spencer Childers California Breeders Championship Handicap and finished fifth in the Go Man Go Handicap to go along with this, his biggest and most important victory to date. He is a full brother to Golden State Derby winner Diller A Dollar.

In 1974 Dan Francisco trained Don Guerro to win the third-ever running of the Champion of Champions. Back then, the Champion of Champions had a $50,000 purse. Ten Oclock Scholar will now compete for a purse of $750,000. Francisco enjoyed a tremendous run of victories thanks to another gelded son of Bono Jazz - World Champion Be A Bono. Francisco and Be A Bono joined forces to win the Golden State Million, Los Alamitos Super Derby and Vessels Maturity. Be A Bono also ran second twice in the Champion of Champions, both time with Francisco saddling him. "The Champion of Champions is the toughest race in the country for older horses," said Francisco. "Every year you have 10 great horses that are part of the field, so you need a lot of luck to win it. To be honest I still have a bitter taste in my mouth from finishing fifth with Ten Oclock Scholar in the Go Man Go," Francisco added. "He got away so bad in that race. He turned his head right when they kicked it and he got left. There were probably people that thought that maybe he was a flash in the pan. I'm glad that he showed them that he is for real."

In 2003 Francisco became one of 16 trainers to saddle 500 quarter horse winners at Los Alamitos Race Course. Francisco retired briefly from training to work as an electrician for about three years in the early 1990s but has since reestablished himself as a leading trainer at Los Alamitos. Since his return to training, he has formed powerful partnerships with owners Martha "Mimi" Wells and Spencer Childers. One of his most memorable moment is not a stakes win, though. Instead, it's Griswold's heart-breaking loss to Thoroughbred archrival Valiant Pete in their famous match race at Santa Anita in 1991.

When Hall of Fame owner and breeder Ed Allred, now the owner of Los Alamitos Race Course, made his first trip to Los Al in 1959 his good friend Tom Seibly accompanied him. When Allred bought his first Quarter Horse it was Seibly who was one of his partners on the deal. And when Allred won the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship - his first in this race since 1974 - he proudly shared the victory with co-owner Tom Seibly. "Until Ten Oclock Scholar came along, we had not had a horse together in 45 years," said Seibly, a retired judge from North San Joaquin County, referring to the powerfully gray that won the $200,000 Los Alamitos Championship on October 25th. "The first thing that came to my mind when Ten Oclock Scholar won the race was the Champion of Champions. That's a great reward. We're going to bring all the family on the night of the Champion of Champions. We'll have to rent a piece of the grandstand to sit them all." In the 1960s, Allred and Seibly and four other friends invested $400 each to buy a couple of racehorses. Allred would soon be drafted to go to Vietnam. Upon his return, Allred started buying horses on his own and Seibly and the rest could not keep up but Seibly remained involved from the standpoint of watching Allred's vast interests in Quarter Horse ownership and breeding. The 2008 season has proved to be fruitful on the racetrack, as his horses have won the Ed Burke Million Futurity, La Primera Del Ano Derby, El Primero Del Ano Derby, Governor's Cup Derby, Debutante Stakes and with Ten Oclock Scholar and Seibly the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship and Spencer Childers California Breeders Championship Handicap.

Allred, a nine-time champion breeder and six-time champion owner, is one of the most influential people in Quarter Horse racing history. Allred was also part of the original ownership group that operated Zia Park in Hobbs, New Mexico. Allred runs, in partnership with Vessels Stallion Farm, the Los Alamitos Equine Sale, which is California's premier Quarter Horse Yearling and Mixed Stock Sale. "I think I am a fairly eclectic Quarter Horse guy," said Allred, winner of the 1973 Champion of Champions. "I am involved in breeding on a large scale and in racing my own horses. I like trying to raise good horses. I love racing in general and Quarter Horse racing in particular is my real love. The modern Quarter Horse is my ideal and the people in this game have been just wonderful. I have made so made so many great friends. I love the people in this sport. Los Alamitos is the end of my contribution and the biggest I could ever hope to make." 009.