Kanderel must run down Cotopaxi in Siren Lure Stakes

Whether the race is held in early spring or late spring, the Siren Lure Stakes for turf sprinters at Santa Anita is a good fit for Kanderel, the 5-year-old gelding trained by Richard Mandella.

Last June, Kanderel won his 2021 stakes debut in the Siren Lure at 6 1/2 furlongs in what turned out to be his final start of the year. Sunday at Santa Anita, Kanderel will have his first race since the 2021 Siren Lure in the 2022 Siren Lure.

Mandella expects Kanderel to extend a two-race winning streak that began in an allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf last May.

“He looks as good or as better than he ever did,” Mandella said.

Kanderel, who races for Gerard and Alain Wertheimer, is part of an intriguing field of five in the $75,000 Siren Lure, the first of two stakes on a 10-race program Sunday. The field includes Indian Peak, a stakes winner in a turf sprint for California-breds last fall, and Cotopaxi, who is unbeaten in three starts in turf sprints since being claimed for $50,000 in January.

The other runners are Bran, who was second in an allowance race on the hillside turf course March 25, and Delaware, seventh as a longshot in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf March 5.

Indian Peak, a closer trained by Ruben Alvarado, has been second in his last two starts on the hillside turf course, finishing behind Barraza in the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes on Feb. 20 and behind Brickyard Ride in the Sensational Star Stakes on March 20.

Kanderel, who will be ridden by Juan Hernandez, races from off the pace and will be in pursuit of Cotopaxi, who was supplemented to the Siren Lure for $1,500 when entries were taken Thursday.

The fee may turn out to be a bargain. Cotopaxi has earned $89,400 since being claimed. The winning streak includes two starter allowances and one allowance race.

“These waters are a lot deeper than what he’s been in,” trainer Doug O’Neill said.

Apprentice jockey Diego Herrera has the mount on Cotopaxi in search of his first Thoroughbred stakes win. Herrera, who has won stakes on Quarter Horses at Los Alamitos this year, has been aboard Cotopaxi for his last three starts.

“He’s one of those free-running horses,” O’Neill said. “He’s fast enough that that’s where he’s going to be.”