Alert Bay prepped and ready for Bertrando Stakes
CYPRESS, Calif. – For a racetrack and racehorses, it is time to start over.
The short summer Thoroughbred meet begins Thursday at Los Alamitos, where Grade 2 winner Alert Bay and horse-for-course Soi Phet restart campaigns in the $100,000 Bertrando Stakes.
Ten California-breds were entered in the one-mile race as Los Alamitos opens a two-week stand that bridges Santa Anita and opening day at Del Mar on July 16.
For Alert Bay and Soi Phet, the Bertrando is an ideal spot to return to form, though Alert Bay is already just about there.
The field includes likely pacesetter Spirit Rules, stretch-out sprinter Raised a Secret, late runners Solid Wager and Rousing Sermon, and recent California-bred allowance winner Old Man Lake. Other entrants are China Prince, Magic Mark, and Ambitious Brew.
Alert Bay’s trainer, Blaine Wright, figured the gelding was due for a rest after winning his fifth straight stakes in January.
“At some point, you have to give a horse a break,” Wright said.
The streak included a Grade 2 turf mile and the $250,000 California Cup Classic. Wright chose a turf sprint at Golden Gate Fields, where Alert Bay is based, for a comeback June 13. He finished fourth with a disastrous trip.
“It was kind of a bad go for us,” Wright said.
Alert Bay steadied on the turn, steadied while blocked into the lane, and steadied again in midstretch.
“He only got to run about five strides,” Wright said.
Alert Bay has trained well since. He shipped Monday to Los Alamitos and is reunited with jockey Tyler Baze. The class of the field, Alert Bay drew post 10 and is the most likely winner in his first start at Los Alamitos.
Soi Phet loves Los Alamitos; his two starts here produced two stakes wins. But his recent form is murky. He tailed off in the fall, was shipped to Japan in December for a last-place finish, then finished next-to-last in his May 23 comeback at Santa Anita.
“He might have needed the race,” trainer Leonard Powell said.
Notwithstanding four straight off-the-board finishes, Soi Phet is a success. Since Powell claimed him in 2013 for $16,000, he has earned $438,146. A return to Los Alamitos with a comeback under his belt should lead to an improved run from Soi Phet.
The Bertrando is race 7 of 8.
KEY CONTENDERS
Alert Bay (Last 3 Beyers: 82-94-92)
◗ After winning the Cal Cup in January, Alert Bay was given 40 days off. He then swam for 30 days at Premier Equine Center in central California before he resumed training at Golden Gate.
◗ The outside post is problematic. In one-mile races at Los Alamitos, post 10 is 0 for 4.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 10 Alert Bay. Holds a lifetime record of 9-7-1-1 in route races, regardless of surface, and is 6-1-3-0 in sprints. – Mike Hogan
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Soi Phet (Last 3 Beyers: 69-91-83)
◗ Powell worked the Santa Anita-based Soi Phet twice recently on turf. “I thought the main track was a little too fast,” he said.
Last summer, Soi Phet worked twice on turf at Del Mar to prepare for the $200,000 Los Alamitos Mile, which he won by more than seven lengths.
Spirit Rules (Last 3 Beyers: 88-80-92)
◗ From the rail, Spirit Rules is expected to set the pace. Though he may prefer to sprint, Spirit Rules finished second last out in a fast-tempo stakes at one mile, and he was second to Soi Phet in the 2014 Bertrando Stakes.
◗ Iggy Puglisi rides for trainer Paul Aguirre.
Rousing Sermon (Last 3 Beyers: 83-75-84)
◗ A closer, his $821,322 in earnings tops the field.
◗ Rousing Sermon, who finished eighth, is the only runner from the 2012 Kentucky Derby who is currently racing.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 China Prince. Trainer Craig Dollase is 5-2-1-1 with a $1.76 ROI over the past five years going turf to dirt in routes at Los Alamitos and 19-0-4-4 at other tracks. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 9 Raised a Secret. Trainer Mark Glatt is 5-4-0-0 with a $5.80 ROI over the past five years going sprint to route on dirt with last-out winners. – Mike Hogan