Frey executes Oak Tree Sprint plan perfectly with Summersimage

Summersimage sat behind pacesetting Touched by Autism just as trainer Ricardo Perez wanted and then wore down the pacesetter late to win the $65,500 Oak Tree Sprint at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton on Thursday.

“Honestly, I did what the trainer told me to do – break clean, grab him because he'll want to go, sit outside and get the horse to relax,” said winning rider Kyle Frey.

Frey placed Summersimage a length behind Touched by Autism and stayed wide down the backstretch and around the turn. He even allowed the 5-year-old Slew's Tiznow horse to go wide into the lane.

“At the head of the stretch, I knew it was over,” said Frey.

Summersimage closed strongly and had Touched by Autism measured. He won the six-furlong race by a half-length in 1:10.88 and paid $4.80. Touch of Autism was 3 3/4 lengths in front of third-place finisher Tribal Storm, who was last early but finished well as he easily claimed third.

Perez said Frey gave the William L. Hedrick homebred a “perfect ride.”

“I told Kyle ‘He'll do what you tell him to do, so just do what I tell you,’ ” said Perez. “If you push him a little early, he won't finish as well.”

Perez also was pleased that Frey kept Summersimage wide.

“I told him the rail was not good, and I didn't want him to go inside,” he said.

The stakes win was the second for Summersimage, who won the Robert Dupret Derby on the turf as a 3-year-old. He earned $40,400 for his seventh win in 19 starts to lift his career earnings to $231,143.