Candy Boy to skip Belmont, head to Los Alamitos

Candy Boy, 13th in the Kentucky Derby on May 3, will skip the Belmont Stakes on June 7 in favor of the $500,000 Los Alamitos Derby on July 5, trainer John Sadler said Monday.

“We’re skipping it,” Sadler said of the Belmont.

Sadler said a lucrative local race, and a chance to avoid Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner California Chrome, were factors in the decision. Candy Boy was third to California Chrome in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 5.

“If we ran our best race, we would have been second,” Sadler said.

The Grade 2 Los Alamitos Derby is run over 1 1/8 miles and is part of the track’s July Thoroughbred meeting. The race was formerly run as the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park, which closed for development last December.

Sadler said the Los Alamitos Derby could lead to a start in a leading stakes for 3-year-olds in New Jersey or New York for Candy Boy later this summer.

“There is a lot of good stuff,” Sadler said.

Candy Boy races for Lee and Susan Searing. By Candy Ride, Candy Boy has won 2 of 8 starts and $425,600.