Fan favorite Soi Phet retired at age 11

CYPRESS, Calif. – Soi Phet, the popular 11-year-old multiple stakes winner, had his 64th and final start in the $100,351 Bertrando Stakes at Los Alamitos on Saturday.

There was not much for Soi Phet’s supporters to cheer. The gelding raced at the back of the field of six throughout the one-mile race and was never a factor, finishing last.

“Someone must have told him he was retired,” trainer Leonard Powell said after the race.

Soi Phet returned to the unsaddling area to a warm reception.

“I think the fans were happy to see him one more time,” Powell said.

Co-owned by Gerald Benowitz, Paul Viskovich and Powell’s wife Mathilde, Soi Phet was the 5-1 third choice in the Bertrando, and some of that was certainly sentimental money. The Bertrando Stakes was Soi Phet’s third start of the year. He finished seventh in the Crystal Water Stakes at Santa Anita on April 27 and sixth in an allowance race with a $62,500 claiming option there on May 24.

Powell contemplated retiring Soi Phet after the May race, but opted for an additional start after watching the veteran train through June. In the Bertrando, Soi Phet was expected to be close to the pace, Powell said, but was quickly in last.

“He had a moment of hesitation when the gate opened and he went to the back of the field,” Powell said.

“I didn’t want to have any regrets. He was always very sound. I thought maybe he could do it one more time. I think age caught up with him.”

Soi Phet won 15 races and earned $1,023,917. He was claimed for $16,000 at Hollywood Park in 2013 and earned $985,837 for his current owners. Soi Phet won eight stakes after he was claimed.

Soi Phet was 10 when he the Crystal Water Stakes for statebred turf-milers in a 47-1 upset at Santa Anita in May 2018 and is believed to be the oldest stakes winner in that track’s history.

“The thing that is really nice is everyone on the backside is so happy for the horse,” Powell said at the time. “It’s very rare that everyone is genuinely happy that one horse has won.”

Later this summer, Soi Phet is scheduled to be sent to the Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Kentucky. As he walked back to the Los Alamitos stable area, Powell described Soi Phet’s departure as a “little sad.”

There is a certain coalition of the Powell household that would prefer the veteran remain in Southern California – the trainer’s three daughters Blanche, Jeanne and Louise.

“They wanted to put him in the backyard,” Leonard Powell said. “It’s not big enough.”