King Abner gets shot at redemption in Soi Phet Stakes

A rejuvenated gelding in a renamed stakes race will try to repair history Saturday at Los Alamitos.

King Abner, an odds-on flop in the Bertrando Stakes last year, is back at age 6 to try again in the same California-bred mile. The race has been renamed the Soi Phet and honors the retired five-time Los Alamitos stakes winner who won the Bertrando twice and ran in all six editions. It’s a fun piece of racing lore, but trainer Phil D’Amato prefers looking toward the future with King Abner, next-to-last in the $100,000 race a year ago.

“I had a tired horse on my hands, and he told me that in that last race,” D’Amato said. “I’m bringing him in this time as a fresh horse, second off the bench and ready to fire.”

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Eight were entered in the Soi Phet, and King Abner is no sure thing. Galilean is a route stakes winner stretching out as the potential pacesetter; Take the One O One is a two-time stakes winner in peak form; and Grinning Tiger scored a 92-1 upset last out in a turf mile. Brandothebartender, Lymebyrd, Three Ay Em, and Loud Mouth also were entered.

Favorites are 0 for 6 in the Bertrando/Soi Phet, and only two hit the board. Track linemaker Ed Burgart tabbed King Abner the 5-2 favorite; Take the One O One is 3-1.

While the Los Alamitos surface generally plays fair, forwardly placed runners hold the advantage at a mile. At the corresponding meet last summer, 17 of 22 races at one mile were won by horses positioned in the top three after a half-mile. Six led wire to wire.

A speed-friendly profile would benefit pace-presser King Abner, whose Bertrando flop a year ago was the final start of a prolonged 16-month campaign. D’Amato gave him a break, and he returned to form in late 2019, winning a fast allowance at Del Mar and finishing second in a Grade 2 at Santa Anita.

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King Abner’s recent fourth in the Crystal Water Stakes on turf was only a prep. It was his first start in four months.

“I thought I needed a race to get him 100 percent tight for this race, which is on his preferred surface – dirt,” D’Amato said. “Dirt is where he excels.”

Los Alamitos-based King Abner figures for a forwardly placed trip with Galilean and Take the One O One as his early rivals. Abel Cedillo rides King Abner.

Grinning Tiger upset the Crystal Water at 92-1 last out for trainer Anthony Saavedra, and on Saturday will try to emulate the veteran for whom the Saturday stakes race is named. Soi Phet won the 2018 Crystal Water at 47-1, and three weeks later won the Bertrando.