Santa Anita: LaPenta acquires share in Jeranimo; horse will move to Chad Brown’s barn

ARCADIA, Calif. – Six-time stakes winner Jeranimo was partially sold by owner B.J. Wright to Robert LaPenta earlier this week and will be transferred to trainer Chad Brown in the East this spring.

Where Jeranimo starts in the interim was unclear as of Thursday, Wright said.

The winner of the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes on turf at Santa Anita in his last start Jan. 13, Jeranimo, 7, is being considered for races such as the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on dirt March 2 or the $5 million Dubai Duty Free over about 1 1/8 miles on turf at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on March 30.

“At this moment, I don’t have a specific race in mind,” Wright said. “The Big Cap is a possibility. I think we need to try him on the dirt, and I don’t think we have anything to lose.”

Jeranimo is currently with trainer Mike Pender in California. Wright said that Pender will continue to train Jeranimo until “mid-spring,” when the horse will be sent to Brown.

LaPenta “likes Chad Brown and I like Chad Brown,” Wright said. “I think Pender is the most underrated trainer around. We feel we will be covered with these two top trainers.”

The terms of the deal were not announced. According to a statement released by a publicist on behalf of Wright, LaPenta acquired a “significant share.”

In a brief statement that he read Thursday, Pender said, “B.J. Wright has been very instrumental to help build a [stable] of Grade 1 winners for me. What priorities are in his best interest, I fully support.”

Jeranimo won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Betfair Hollywood Park last June. A 7-year-old by Congaree, Jeranimo was sold as a racing and stallion prospect. He has won 9 of 32 starts and $1,197,400.

Wright said the 2013 season could be Jeranimo’s last on the racetrack, pending a conversation with LaPenta.

“When the year is up, we’ll see if we want to keep racing,” he said.