Cole Man 47 returns from injury in allowance

The ultra-consistent Cole Man 47 will have his first start since September in a 350-yard allowance race Friday at Los Alamitos.

If the 4-year-old gelding performs to expectation, Cole Man 47 will be pointed to the time trials of the Vessels Maturity on June 14. The 400-yard Vessels Maturity will be run July 5 and is the top race for older horses of the summer at Los Alamitos.

Cole Man 47 has not started since he won a division of the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Breeders’ Derby time trials at Los Alamitos last September. Injury prevented a start in the $140,000 final last October.

“He had a minor injury in that race,” trainer Paul Jones said of the time-trial win. “We decided not to run him back.”

The setback ended a remarkable 12-month span that included a win in the $365,000 PCQHRA Breeders’ Futurity in October 2018 and a second in the $195,000 Governor’s Cup Derby at Los Alamitos last July.

Cole Man 47, who races for Jones’s wife, Marin, and Steve McIntyre, has won 5 of 16 starts and earned $245,438. He has finished second eight times.

Friday, Cole Man 47 drew the inside post in a field of six.

“It’s not my choice of places, if I had a pick,” Jones said. “He hasn’t run on the rail much.”

Jones said horses with an inside post in a straightaway race can sometimes drift toward the rail, yielding valuable ground in a 350-yard race.

“Most tend to lug in toward the fence,” Jones said. “If they cross the wire next to the rail, they’ve lost a half-length by lugging in.

“It’s not really noticeable watching the race. You see it on the head-on.”

Cole Man 47 last started on the rail in a division of the Los Alamitos Winter Derby trials in January 2019, finishing second by a half-length.

Cole Man 47 worked 350 yards in 17.80 seconds on April 14 in preparation for Friday’s race.

“He had a good workout,” Jones said

Friday’s race is the California debut of the 4-year-old colt Santander, who won the $186,925 Firecracker Derby at Delta Downs last July. Now trained by Jose Flores, Santander has not started since he finished a troubled eighth in a division of the Dash for Cash Derby trials at Lone Star Park last September.

The allowance race is the ninth and final race on a program that begins at 9 p.m. Eastern, or 6 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.