Little Red Feather’s big year could get even better

ARCADIA, Calif. – In a six-week span from mid-March to late April, the Little Red Feather racing partnership won eight races at Santa Anita with six horses.

Those runners earned a collective $388,280. In the next month, they could collect even more.

The six winners – Bobby Z Man, Chati’s On Top, Chaulk o Lattey, Midnight Storm, Rocko’s Wheel, and Sheer Pleasure – are all scheduled to race between Thursday and June 13. Four of them are bound for stakes, including three in six-figure races for California-breds at Santa Anita on Saturday.

The groundwork is in place for an outstanding stretch for the stable.

“This is what you plan for,” said Billy Koch, the managing director of Little Red Feather. “To have horses in the big races is what we want.”

Little Red Feather, which the 45-year-old Koch formed in 2002, is best known for winning the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Mile with Singletary. This year’s running of that race could be in the long-range plans for Midnight Storm, who won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby last August and is a candidate for the $400,000 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on June 13.

More immediately, Chaulk o Lattey runs in an optional claimer for California-breds in Thursday’s seventh race.

On Saturday, Rocko’s Wheel starts in the $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on turf, Sheer Pleasure runs in the $200,000 Melair Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles, and Chati’s On Top is part of what is expected to be a small field in the $125,000 Fran’s Valentine Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles.

“This is why you have Cal-breds,” Koch said. “We’ve got a chance to win with three nice horses.”

Sheer Pleasure represents the partnership’s best chance for a weekend stakes win. Co-owned with RM Racing, Sheer Pleasure won the Evening Jewel Stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs April 4. She closed from 11th in a field of 12 to win by three-quarters of a length.

The Melair Stakes will be her second start around two turns. By Birdonthewire, Sheer Pleasure was fourth in the California Cup Oaks at a mile on turf Jan. 24. Koch said Sheer Pleasure must prove she can handle the distance.

“I don’t think it will be a problem, but you don’t know,” Koch said. “People may think she’s a late-running sprinter, but her [half]-brother – Got Even – wanted two turns.”

Got Even, by Stephen Got Even, won the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes at seven furlongs in 2011. More recently, Got Even won a $50,000 claimer at a mile.

Sheer Pleasure is trained by Phil D’Amato, who has several of the 22 runners competing for Little Red Feather, including Midnight Storm and Rocko’s Wheel. Trainers Barry Abrams and Mike Puype also have runners with the stable. Puype trains Chati’s On Top.

Earlier this year, Little Red Feather bought 2-year-olds by Bellamy Road at sales in Florida. A Bellamy Road filly purchased for $175,000 is bound for D’Amato’s stable. A colt by Bellamy Road purchased for $415,000 in March is a New York-bred who will be based with Michelle Nevin in New York.

Little Red Feather has 10 to 20 partners in each horse, Koch said. Many of the horses also are partially owned by someone outside of Little Red Feather. Chati’s On Top, for example, is co-owned with Marsha Naify. Koch said partners invest at the start of a horse’s career and pay their share of training expenses in quarterly installments. Lately, the returns from prize money have offset those costs for many runners.

Koch said 60 to 80 people associated with Little Red Feather will be at the track Saturday. If the partnership has a winner, the winner’s circle will be very crowded.