King of Speed to switch surfaces for Los Alamitos Futurity

King of Speed, a multiple stakes winner on turf in recent months, is switching surfaces for Saturday’s Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity.

Trainer Jeff Bonde said over the weekend that King of Speed will run in the $300,000 Los Alamitos Futurity and will be ridden for the first time by Kent Desormeaux in the 1 1/16-mile race. Desormeaux replaces Gary Stevens, who retired in November because of a neck injury.

Desormeaux takes the mount on a colt who finished 12th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on a yielding turf course at Churchill Downs on Nov. 2.

“He couldn’t handle the racetrack at Churchill Downs,” Bonde said. “He was nowhere to be found.”

Owned by David and John Del Secco, King of Speed won consecutive starts in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf on Sept. 2 and the Zuma Beach Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 8.

The Los Alamitos Futurity is led by Mucho Gusto, the winner of the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 17, and Improbable, who won the Street Sense Stakes at a mile by 7 1/4 lengths at Churchill Downs on Nov. 2. Mucho Gusto and Improbable are trained by Bob Baffert.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said he is considering the race for Dueling and Gunmetal Gray. Dueling and Gunmetal Gray both worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 on Sunday at Santa Anita.

The Los Alamitos Futurity is run on the same program as the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes, a $300,000 race for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles.

Baffert has two intended starters in the Starlet – Mother Mother, who won the Rags to Riches Stakes at Churchill Downs on Oct. 28, and Chasing Yesterday, who won the Desi Arnaz Stakes at Del Mar on Nov. 12. Other probable runners are Enaya Alrabb, Oxy Lady, Sold It, and Vibrance.

The Los Alamitos two-week winter meeting begins Thursday and continues through Dec. 16.