Santa Anita: Bonde has more on mind than Dream of Summer Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jeff Bonde is a horse trainer and a father – not always in that order.

Bonde trains the front-runner Unusual Way, favored Sunday at Santa Anita in the $100,000 Dream of Summer Stakes. Under normal circumstances, the race for California-bred fillies and mares would be the trainer’s top priority.

But this week has been anything but normal for Bonde. The father of five has spent most of the week at a Northern California hospital, where his son, Max, is recovering from injuries sustained Wednesday in a motorcycle accident close to their home in Livermore.

Max Bonde, 20, sustained multiple injuries, including a leg that was broken in four places. He was airlifted from the accident scene to a nearby trauma center and, as of early Friday, already had undergone two surgeries to remove debris from his wounds.

“It’s going to be a long haul,” Jeff Bonde said. “His lower leg was mangled. He will have more surgeries, but he has been fully conscious and everything.”

Bonde acknowledged that the accident has caused reflection. “Life is precious,” he said. “You have to enjoy every minute of it.”

Bonde hopes to enjoy Sunday, and a return to his role as Unusual Way’s trainer at Santa Anita.

“I’m hoping to be there,” he said Friday. “We’ve waited for this particular race, she is training very well, and we like to support the California-bred program.”

Unusual Way is one of five fillies and mares entered in the one-mile Dream of Summer and appears to be the lone speed. Her main rivals are the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained stakes winners Halo Dolly and Curvy Cat. Allowance winners Warren’s Rosebud and Could Be Trouble also were entered.

Unusual Way’s runner-up finish Jan. 25 in a Sam Houston stakes race made her the leading female in earnings sired by Unusual Heat. A 4-year-old, Unusual Way has won five races and $665,960 from 15 starts. She is fourth on the career list of Unusual Heat’s progeny, behind millionaire males Acclamation, The Usual Q. T., and Unusual Suspect.

Edwin Maldonado rides Unusual Way, whose front-running style should play well against four rivals with come-from-behind styles. With a pace advantage, sharp works, and a drop to statebred company, Unusual Way is a deserving favorite.

Halo Dolly has won 17 races from 36 starts. A multisurface mare, Halo Dolly has won twice on dirt, four times on synthetic, and 11 times on grass. The highest purse earner in the field with $922,316, the 6-year-old mare will be ridden by Corey Nakatani.

Curvy Cat has won 9 of 25, also on a variety of surfaces – two on dirt, six on synthetic, and one on turf. Tyler Baze rides the 5-year-old, who enters the Sunday stakes off two allowance wins at Golden Gate.

The apparent domination of Unusual Way is one reason the Dream of Summer was positioned early on the card as race 3, prior to the pick six, which covers races 4-9.