Owner James Sills has had a nice string of successes at Los Alamitos over the last 18 months. The longtime owner from Texas has shared many of those triumphs longtime partner Abel Flores, as they’ve co-owned Cedar Hill, the winner of the 2024 Grade 2 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity, and Shaken Going On, the winner of the 2025 Grade 1 Los Alamitos Oaks.
Sills and Flores also co-owned A Toss Up, who won the Grade 1 Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Invitational Championship in 2014.
Sills most recent Los Alamitos winner is a horse he campaigns on his own, the Kiss My Hocks colt Hockrodd. Bred by Shane or Avery Bradley, Hockrodd provided Sills with another nice moment at Los Alamitos, as the Oklahoma-bred won the second of two trials to the John Deere California Juvenile Regional Challenge while posting the fastest qualifying time on Saturday night.
Ridden by Eduardo Nicasio for trainer Albert Valles, Hockrodd broke sharply from post number one, lugged out at the midway point of the 350-yard race but was still racing powerfully as he approached the wire, winning the race by a length. His winning time of :17.990 was 1/1000ths of a second faster than Keith Nellesen’s Hi Octane, the winner of the first trial in a time of :17.991.
“This is my first time riding Hockrodd but I’ve galloped this colt a couple of times before,” Nicasio said. “He’s been very easy to gallop. He broke real straight but past 50 yards he was lugging out and the more I pulled on him the more he was lugging out. I started thinking that hopefully no one would be close to him otherwise I would be in trouble. Fortunately, he had a good lead. He did it very easily and in the end he was perfect. I think he had plenty left at the end. He’ll be good in the final.”
Hockrodd was supplemented to the AQHA Racing Challenge program, and the investment was certainly worth it. He’ll now headline the field for the California Juvenile final to be held here on Saturday, August 9. Purchased for $120,000 at the Heritage Place September Yearling Sale in 2024, Hockrodd has won two of four career starts.
As for Sills, the longtime horse owner bought his first Quarter Horse in 1980 and since then his horses have won nearly 200 races for around $5 million. From Cedar Hill, Texas, Sills is also the owner of No Mas Tequila, the Texas Thoroughbred Association’s 2022 Texas Horse of the Year. No Mas Tequila was also the Champion Aged Mare in Texas in 2022.
Owner Keith Nellesen will be strongly represented in the California Juvenile final thanks to the Kristen Watanabe-trained pair of Hi Octane and Trident IOT. Hi Octane won the other trial by a neck with jockey Rodrigo Sigala Vallejo in the irons. The Utah-bred gelding by Apollitical Jess has now won his last two starts while finishing in the top three in all four of his career outings. Bred by Lance and Tammy Finlinson, Hi Octane was purchased for $60,000 at the Ruidoso Yearling Sale last year.
Bred by McColee Land & Livestock, Trident IOT finishes second Hockrodd in the later trial. Trident IOT came into this race after running sixth in the Grade 2 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity.
Five of the six fastest qualifiers came out of the opening trial. After Hi Octane crossed the wire first, Legacy Ranch’s Candy Covered Nite had the third fastest time of :18.021 while Error Code, Blow Your Whistle and Rr Sweet Memories followed as the fourth, fifth and sixth fastest qualifiers, respectively. Here is the complete list of juveniles that will race in the final: Hockrodd (:17.990), Hi Octane (:17.991), Candy Covered Nite (:18.021), Error Code (:18.047), Blow Your Whistle (:18.059), Rr Sweet Memories (:18.11), Trident IOT (:18.179), Run Dont Walk (:18.190), Kevins Trending (:18.203), and Birdee Pruitt (:18.216).
David Hinkins will be presented by two runners in the final in Blow Your Whistle and Kevins Trending, while Bobby and Catherine Simmons will also have two in the final in Error Code and Birdee Pruitt.
