STAKES RECORDS FALL ON GREAT NIGHT OF RACING AT LOS ALAMITOS   

Half of the six races that make up the Bank of America Challenge Championships have new stakes record following a sensational night of American Quarter Horse racing on Saturday at Los Alamitos. In what was the 8th time that the famed oval built by the Vessels family hosted the Bank of America Challenge, and the beautiful speed of the fastest horses in the world delivered great performance after great performance the entire night.

Saturday Nite Fever wins the $200,000 Bayer Legend

New stakes records were posted by Fighter On Fire in the $350,000 Bank of America Challenge Championship, the marquee event on the evening's racing program, as well as new records by Saturday Nite Fever in the $200,000 Bayer Legend Derby Challenge, and by Stylish Jess Br in the $125,000 Merial Distaff Challenge. The showdown between greats Gone To The Mountain and Snowbound Superstar also lived up to expectations, as Gone To The Mountain ran a tremendous race to win the $125,000 Red Cell Distance Challenge, while Snowbound Superstar battled proudly the entire 870-yard race to finish in second place. Gone To The Mountain's winning time of :44.43 equaled the fastest time posted at Los Alamitos this year.

Also winning on Bank of America Challenge Championships night were Hoist Mission in the $150,000 John Deere Juvenile Challenge and the 10-year-old Santispac in the $75,000 Fort Dodge Starter Allowance Challenge. The 11-race program, which also featured six simulcast races from Lone Star Park and four simulcast races from Evangeline Downs, handled $1,856,618, the highest this season at the Orange County oval.

FIGHTER ON FIRE EARNS ELUSIVE CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS BERTH

Owned by Rancho El Alacran of Joaquin Vega and his sons, Joaquin Jr. and Gilberto, Fighter On Fire beat 2007 AQHA divisional champion Little Bit Of Baja by a nose in the Grade 1 $350,000 Bank of America Challenge Championship at 440 yards. The victory gives the son of First Down Dash a berth into the $750,000 Champion of Champions, joining defending winner Jess You And I, the nation's number one ranked Quarter Horse Freaky, All American Derby winner Inseperable, Terrific Energy, Separate Bet, and Streakin Cherry in the December 12 quarter of a mile classic.

Fighter On Fire enters the winner's circle 

The Champion of Champions will be Fighter On Fire's final race of his career, as he will then stand at stud at Burns Ranch in Menifee, California. For the connections of Fighter On Fire, a berth to the Champion of Champions has been a dream for the past two years. 

"We tried hard last year to get him in the Champion of Champions," said Gilberto Vega of Rancho El Alacran, which located in the northern part of Sinaloa, Mexico. "We also almost started his stallion career last year, but Dr. Steve Burns advised us to run him in 2009 to try to earn a berth to the Champion of Champions. Our goals were to try and make a millionaire and of course get him in the big race. It was not an easy decision to make, but in the end we decided to give him a chance to make the Champion of Champions once again. He had surgery and the road to this point was not an easy one. We've had some peaks and valleys with the horse, which makes it sweet now that we've been qualified to the Champion of Champions."

Fighter On Fire earned $161,000 for winning the Bank of America Championship. Trained by Adan Farias and ridden by Francisco Rubio, Fighter On Fire has won 11 of 26 starts for earnings of $619,038. His 440-yard winning time of :21.12 broke the previous stakes record set by 2002 Co-World Champion Streakin Sin Tacha of :21.27.  

"Rancho El Alacran is a large breeder in Mexico," Vega added. "We've made a strong commitment with horses like Fighter On Fire and My Lady First to compete in the United States with the hope of making an impact here as well."

Rancho El Alacran acquired Fighter On Fire and My Lady First as part of a package purchased from the estate of Shultz Ranch. In Mexico, Rancho El Alacran stands stallions Simply Silver Sage and Vivid Velocity.

First Down Dash sired the first and second place finishers in this 440-yard race. Also sired by the legendary stallion, Los Bustardos' Little Bit Of Baja has now made $835,204 in his racing career after picking up a $70,000 check for finishing in second place. Also trained by Farias, Little Bit Of Baja had the lead in the early going before Fighter On Fire caught him at the end. Little Bit Of Baja was looking for a third outing in the Champion of Champions, having finished second each of the past two years.

The Arizona-bred Rylees Boy ran a strong race to finish in third place. Racing for Gerardo Ochoa, Rylees Boy saw his five-race win streak snapped, but he certainly improved his status as one of the top older horses in the nation with this third place finish.

Snip N Dale, Head Bud, Bannow Bay, Trisk, Mayo First, Easy Dashin Sixes, Captains Road, and Brindis For Cayenne completed the field.

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