EL DICTATOR OUTDUELS NOTORYOUS TO WIN AH SIGH STAKES
Travis and Wendy Saxton’s El Dictator dominated the final stages of the $30,000 Ah Sigh Stakes to win the race for juveniles by a nose over Golden State Million trial winner Notoryous on Saturday at Los Alamitos.
With Armando Cervantes up for trainer Ramiro Castillo, El Dictator picked up his first stakes victory while also earning fourth victory in five starts. The only time that the Favorite Cartel gelding out of This Boogie Fires did not finish in the winner’s circle was a second-place finish to Mayor Humdinger in the Governor’s Cup Futurity on July 26. Otherwise, the Jaime Gomez-bred runner has scored wins that include the fastest qualifying time to the Governor’s Cup and an impressive daylight trial win to the Golden State Million.
A half-brother to three-time major futurity winner J Fire Up, El Dictator covered the 400 yards in :19.814 while earning $16,500 for the win. He’s career earnings now stand at $70,400.
“It took us many years to win down here so this is very sweet,” Travis Saxton said.
On this night, Saxton was wearing a blue blazer featuring a uniquely designed inner lining featuring full color images of horses the Saxtons have owned as well as photos of the couple at various racetracks.
“It’s horses we’ve bought through the years, and we’ve been running,” he said.
“We’ve bought some here at Los Alamitos,” Wendy added.
“It’s a lot of history. El Dictator is in there. Mike Dawkins is in Montana where I have a furniture store. He did the custom job for me (on the blazer). It’s very nice.”
The Saxtons are multiple-grade stakes winning owners with 35 wins with their Quarter Horses for earnings of over $332,000. El Dictator is currently their second richest earner and their first stakes winner at Los Alamitos.
“We bought (El Dictator) in Oklahoma and we brought him along slowly,” she added. “He’s figured it out. We’re excited.”
LA Racing Stables’ Notoryous earned $6,750 for running second. AJ Remember Me, third in the Ruidoso Futurity, finished third here. Jarvis V, Hell On Wheels V, French Valley, Bandita, Barbed Wire and Anonymity completed the field.
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