Ed McNelis’ Scoops Dynasty became the eight horse to win the Grade 1 Go Man Go Handicap more than once following his upset victory at 17-1 over six-time AQHA Champion Empressum in the 400-yard race on Sunday at Los Alamitos.
Scoops Dynasty and Empressum have dominated the last four runnings of the Go Man Go with Empressum winning in 2022 and 2024 and Scoops Dynasty posting victories in 2023 and 2025. A half-length winner over Empresum in 2023, Scoops Dynasty scored a hard-fought nose victory in the 2025 running over that same rival. With two victories over Empressum in this race, Scoops Dynasty joins Apollitical Pence as the only horses to have beaten the 2022 AQHA World Champion more than once at Los Alamitos.
Ridden by Jacob Enriquez for trainer Ramiro Castillo, Scoops Dynasty trailed Parsons Ranch’s Kevins Wise Corona at the beginning of the Go Man Go. Kevins Wise Corona continued to lead the race past the midway point before Scoops Dynasty and Empressum began to close in on the leader. Scoops Dynasty surged ahead as he neared the wire, while never allowing Empressum to take over the lead. Returning $37 for the win, the six-year-old son of FDD Dynasty covered the distance in :19.694 while earning $41,250 for the win. For his career, Scoops Dynasty has won 10 of 29 starts with earnings of $675,261.
The Go Man Go was also Scoops Dynasty’s first win at Los Alamitos since the 2023 Go Man Go, a local dry spell consisting of nine consecutive races at the Orange County track. Looking to right the ship, Scoops Dynasty was sent to Phoenix, Arizona to race in the AQHA Turf Paradise Challenge Championship on April 15. Diego Cervantes saddled Scoops Dynasty in the Challenge with Enriquez taking the reins for the first time. He also didn’t use the flipping halter at Turf Paradise with all the changes amounting his best effort in quite some time, a nose victory in the Challenge over 2021 All American Futurity winner KJ Desperado, the sport’s all-time leader in earnings with $3,367,447.
Enriquez retained the mount aboard Scoops Dynasty, leading the McNelis-homebred to his seventh career stakes win.
“He’s been well behaved in the races I’ve ridden him,” Enriquez said. “He’s had a good temperament, very noble, very docile. He’s run great for him twice and I’m thankful and blessed to have had these winning opportunities. He warmed up very calmly tonight. He wasn’t anxious, everything went well. We went in the gate, he never moved, and he did his job. I felt he broke ahead (of Empressum). At the halfway point he started catching up (Kevins Wise Corona) and at the end he was able to beat him, barely, but it was his turn to win. It was a close race, we were all right there, Empressum was coming on but at the wire I felt we had won.”
Castillo has now saddled the winners of two Grade 1 races for older horses. Prior to the Go Man Go, Castillo won the Vessels Maturity with Stanley Cartel, who was not part of this race and instead will race in the Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship in October. Castillo has also been around Scoops Dynasty for the horse’s entire racing career.
“He came back really good (from Turf Paradise),” he said. “I think he liked it over there. It took him a few weeks to get back on his feet here, but he had training really good and eating great. He showed me that he was feeling great. He got really good (in 2022-23) and was running his best race, but I think he got a little tired. We freshened him up and he’s come back really good. He got along really good (with Enriquez) so we tried to keep things the same for him here.”
Castillo said that a trip to New Mexico for the AQHA Challenge Championship in October might be the next step for Scoops Dynasty.
“He’ll probably go to the Challenge and then we’ll try to go in the Champion of Champions,” Castillo added.
Owned and trained by Steve Holt and Jeff Jones, Empressum earned $16,875 in the Go Man Go to take his career earnings to $2,475,748. With this runner-up effort, Empressum has finished in the top two in 33 of his 37 career starts. This was Empressum’s first start of 2025 and also his first outing for trainer Elena Andrade. Rodrigo Sigala Vallejo piloted the 7-year-old by Apollitical Jess.
With Henry Reynoso Lopez up for trainer Paul Jones, Kevins Wise Corona earned $9,375 for his third-place finish. He won the Kaweah Bar Handicap earlier this year. Cattail Cove, Shakers No Secret, Edberg Verde, Unrelentless, Boardwalk, Rs Shere Khan and Yippee Ki Yey completed the field.
In addition to Empressum and Scoops Dynasty, the other two-time Go Man Go winners are Heza Dasha Fire (2017-18), Jess You And I (2008-09), Whosleavingwho (2002 and 2005), Charger Bar (1971 and 1974), Go Derussa Go (1968-69) and Duplicate Copy (1966-67).
