Long Hot Summer targets return

Sunday’s $200,000 Soviet Problem Stakes for California-bred 2-year-old fillies at Los Alamitos is missing one of the division’s top runners. Long Hot Summer, the undefeated stakes winner, is being prepared for a comeback at Santa Anita this winter.

Trainer Phil D’Amato said Long Hot Summer was plagued by a minor hind-foot injury following her win Aug. 27 in the Generous Portion Stakes at Del Mar. In that race over six furlongs, Long Hot Summer finished three-quarters of a length in front of My Fiona, the favorite for the Soviet Problem.

D’Amato said Long Hot Summer will breeze a quarter-mile Sunday at Santa Anita. She has not had a timed workout since early October.

“She’s been in light training for a couple of months,” he said. “I’ve been overly cautious. I brought her back too quickly, and I had a relapse of her previous ailment. I jogged her for a month.”

Long Hot Summer races for Anthony Fanticola and Joe Scardino.