Corona Jumpim Mrl in familiar spot

Corona Jumpim Mrl was good enough to win a division of the Champion of Champions trials on Nov. 15 at Los Alamitos, but not quick enough to earn a berth in last weekend’s $600,000 finale.

Corona Jumpim Mrl won the first of two 400-yard trials in 19.93 seconds. The second division was won by Zoomin for Spuds in 19.51. The first five finishers of the second trial ran in the Champion of Champions. Apollitical Pence was second in that trial and won the Champion of Champions.

The consolation for Corona Jumpim Mrl is Saturday’s $25,000 First Down Dash Handicap at 400 yards, the third

consecutive year the 6-year-old has started in the late-season stakes.

Trained by Jaime Gomez, Corona Jumpim Mrl was bred in Brazil and was a stakes winner in that country in 2018. Later that year, Corona Jumpim Mrl was sent to Los Alamitos, where he was initially trained by Paul Jones. Corona Jumpim Mrl was fifth in the 2018 First Down Dash Handicap.

Owned by Haras Portofino, Corona Jumpim Mrl was transferred to Chris O’Dell in the summer of 2019 and finished third in the 2019 First

Down Dash Handicap. Corona Jumpim Mrl’s best result for O’Dell was a second by a head to Bos Time Machine in the Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship in February, a race with an automatic berth to the Champion of Champions. Bos Time Machine finished last of 10 in the Champion of Champions after breaking through the gate before the start.

Following the Winter Championship, Corona Jumpim Mrl was winless in three subsequent starts before he was transferred to Gomez. The Champion of Champions trial, formally known as the Z. Wayne Griffin trials, was Corona Jumpim MRL’s first start for Gomez.

The First Down Dash Handicap drew a field of six and is the final race on Saturday evening’s eight-race program.

Red Hawk Cartel, the easy winner of an allowance race at 330 yards on Nov. 14, drew the outside post and appears to be the biggest threat to Corona Jumpim Mrl.

The Jones-trained Jess Macho Corona drew the rail in his first start since a fifthplace finish by a neck to Corona Jumpim Mrl in the Griffin trials. Jess Macho Corona was second in the Vessels Maturity in July, finishing a half-length behind Chocolatito in a race with an automatic berth to the Champion of Champions.

Chocolatito was fourth in the Champion of Champions.