San Onofre sets sights on Kona Gold Stakes

CYPRESS, Calif. – San Onofre, the winner of the Grade 3 Los Angeles Stakes at Los Alamitos last Saturday, will start in the $200,000 Kona Gold Stakes at Santa Anita on May 21 in an attempt to win his third graded stakes of 2016, trainer Karen Headley said.

The Grade 2 Kona Gold Stakes, run at 6 1/2 furlongs, has special meaning for Headley. Her father, Bruce, whom she currently assists while also running her own stable, trained Kona Gold, the champion sprinter of 2000 and an 11-time stakes winner.

“I want to win the Kona Gold,” she said. “I wanted to win it last year.”

San Onofre was second to Masochistic in the 2015 Kona Gold. San Onofre began this year with a win in the Grade 3 Midnight Lute Stakes at Santa Anita in January but lost his next two starts – a fourth in the California Cup Sprint and a last-place finish in the Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes in March.

In the Los Angeles Stakes, San Onofre ($7.40) wore blinkers and won by a length over even-money favorite Wild Dude.

“He came back a little tired, which is good,” Headley said. “I can freshen him up.”

Owned by Karen’s mother, Aase, San Onofre, a 6-year-old gelding, has won 6 of 13 starts and earned $402,385.