Powell points pair toward Wickerr

Aside from Anisette’s win in Monday’s Grade 1 Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares, trainer Leonard Powell had mixed results with his turf milers last weekend at Santa Anita.

While Flashiest won an allowance race on May 26, Air Force Red was only eighth in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on Monday.

Air Force Red and Flashiest are both candidates for the $100,000 Wickerr Stakes at a mile on turf at Del Mar on July 21. The Wickerr is restricted to non-winners of a first-place purse of $50,000 in a stakes at a mile or over since Oct. 1. The race is a prep for the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 31.

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Flashiest, a 6-year-old gelding, ended a 21-race losing streak with the win on May 26. Ridden by Frankie Dettori, Flashiest closed from sixth in a field of seven to win by a half-length at 8-1.

Air Force Red finished eighth of 11 at 19-1 in the Shoemaker Mile. He typically races near the front, but was no closer than sixth by slightly less than three lengths on the turn.

“He didn’t like being inside of horses,” Powell said. “He’s a free-running horse. He doesn’t extend the same way.”

A 6-year-old ridgling, Air Force Red is winless in eight starts since the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita in December 2022. Earlier this spring, Air Force Red set the pace in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile on turf at Golden Gate Fields before finishing second by a head to Lammas.

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