Jess You And I
4-Year-Old Gelding
(Feature Mr Jess - Gold Daze by Tolltac)

Qualified by winning the Go Man Go Handicap

Lifetime Record: 17-9-3-2, $797,967 2008 Record: 4-2-1-0, $66,490

The outstanding 2-year-old crop of 2006 continues to make headlines at Los Alamitos after three of its top graduates swept the top spots in the star-studded running of the Grade 1 $110,350 Go Man Go Handicap on Saturday at Los Alamitos. Double Bar S Ranch's Jess You And I, the champion 2-year-old gelding in '06, scored his biggest victory since winning the Golden State Million Futurity when he outdueled by a neck millionaire No Secrets Here, the winner of the 2006 All American Futurity, while another member of that great class, Little Bit Of Baja, finished third. All three will meet again in the Champion of Champions.

Jess You And I won only two of seven starts during a sophomore campaign that included a second place finish in the Vandy's Flash Handicap and a third in the Southern California Derby and Sgt Pepper Feature Handicap. "You can't give up on the champions," Gomez said. "After the trials to the Los Alamitos Winter Championship (in February) we gave him a break. He was off for three months then he came back with a pretty good race. He then ran a real good race (on August 24). This was his third race off the layoff. We just want him to keep doing well. This horse beat Blues Girl Too fair and square when they were 2-year-olds, so that shows you how good he can be. We've never operated on him." Gomez explained that Jess You And I's biggest challenge might come in the recovery process after running a big race. "He gives you all he's got all of the time that it takes him a while to come back after a race. After he runs a big race, he's spent and begins to lose weight. That's the main worry with him. He likes to run fresh." "I knew this would be our night," said Dawn List of Double Bar S Ranch, referring to his victory in the Go Man Go Handicap. "I just had a feeling that Jess You And I was going to do it tonight. He's been a hard luck case for us. He doesn't like to be at the track. He's had a couple of problems so we take him to the ranch and lay him up. We swim him and he seems to relax better at the ranch. He keeps his weight a lot better at the ranch."

Ridden by Alejandro Luna, Jess You And I posted the fastest clocking in the 48-year history of Go Man Go Handicap after covering the 400 yards in :19.34. The 4-year-old bay gelding by Feature Mr Jess, also improved his record to nine wins from 17 starts while his Go Man Go earnings of $55,175 take his career earnings to $797,967. He gained entrance into this race after the defection of Diamond Tres Seis, the winner of the Grade I Refrigerator Handicap from Lone Star Park earlier this season.

It was Gavilan Canyon that gave trainer Jaime Gomez his first win ever back in 1992. Since then, Gomez has earned the reputation of being the king of the futurities at Los Alamitos thanks an outstanding record that includes six Kindergarten Futurity wins since 1996, three Golden State Futurities, two Ed Burke Million Futurities, four PCQHRA Breeders Futurities, while also saddling the dead-heat winners of the 2006 Governor's Cup Futurity. Gomez also saddled the outstanding Corona Cartel, now one of the sport's leading stallions, to victory in the 1996 Los Alamitos Million Futurity.

Gomez's top clients include Dutch Masters III and Double Bar S Ranch. For Dutch Masters III, Gomez has trained the likes of Higher Fire, Sassy Smith and Secret Card and current star Sixish. For Double Bar S Ranch, Gomez trained champion Carters Cartel, who will stand at stud at Lazy E Ranch in 2009, and the talented Jess You And I. Jaime's biggest training influence was his father, who trained horses for match races in Mexico. Gomez saddled Like Frankie And Me to a runner-up finish to Ocean Runaway in the 2005 Champion of Champions.

In June of 1989, the late Jens L. List, Jr. purchased 153 acres that is now Double Bar S Ranch in Moreno Valley, California. Since the passing of Jens in November of 1996, his wife Sharon and daughters Rhonda and Dawn run Double Bar S Ranch. In 2000, Jens L. List bred the earners of close to $1 million while finishing among the top three in the breeder standings in wins. The previous year, he bred earners of $1.24 million with his top money earner for 1999 being Tailor Fit. The Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association has since honored List on California Breeders Champions Night with the running of the Jens L List Jr Memorial California Breeders Stakes for 3-year-olds. While Jens' name has been replaced by the business name of Double Bar S Ranch in the breeder standings, his family is doing a superior job of carrying on the legacy. The champion owners in 2006, Double Bar S Ranch was represented by champion Jess You And I and multiple stakes winner Tac It Like A Man.

The Ranch, under the watchful eye of ranch manager Jerry Young, can accommodate 750 animals but usually carries an average animal population of 350 horses. Approximately 150 mares, 100 yearlings and 100 to 125 racehorses in training can be found on the grounds the majority of the time. There are also several stallions that stand at Double Bar S Ranch, including Jumpn and Tac It Like A Man. Double Bar S Ranch was the home of the premier stallion Strawfly Special, who sired two-time World Champion Tailor Fit and All-American Futurity winners Streakin Flyer and Ausual Suspect, and stakes winners Sum Special Strawfly, Mrstrawflytoyou, and Strawflyin Buds before his passing. Strawfly Special was presented the 2001 Three Bars Award as California's outstanding stallion by the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association.