Soi Phet, 10, makes 60th start of career in Harry Brubaker Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – The 10-year-old Soi Phet is enjoying the final weeks of his summer at Del Mar.

A few days ago, trainer Leonard Powell ponied Soi Phet on the training track and found the gelding to be acting half his age – for the right reasons.

“He was full of himself,” Powell said.

Soi Phet will have his 60th career start in Wednesday’s $75,000 Harry Brubaker Stakes at a mile at Del Mar. Soi Phet has won his last two starts, both in stakes for California-breds – the Crystal Water Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita on May 20, and the Bertrando Stakes at a mile at Los Alamitos on July 4.

The Brubaker will be Soi Phet’s first start against open company since a fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at Santa Anita in April.

The Brubaker drew a field of six, but Mubtaahij may be scratched because of a recent illness, trainer Bob Baffert said over the weekend. Mubtaahij won the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes last September and was third in the $10 million Dubai World Cup in March.

Other runners in the Brubaker are Dabster, Grecian Fire, Ike Walker and Isotherm. Dabster was third in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on July 21, finishing well behind Accelerate, who returned to win Saturday’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic. Grecian Fire was third in the Bertrando Stakes on July 4 and second in the California Dreamin’ Stakes for statebreds on turf on July 28.

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KEY CONTENDERS

Soi Phet, by Tizbud
Last 3 Beyers: 94-92-80

◗ Soi Phet has won eight stakes for owners Gerald Benowitz, Paul Viskovich, and Mathilde Powell, including the 2016 Brubaker. Soi Phet was third in the 2017 Brubaker.

◗ In his recent wins, Soi Phet has stalked the pace and won by a head and a nose. Jockey Alonso Quinonez is expected to have Soi Phet near the front on Wednesday.

◗ Powell considered giving Soi Phet a start in the California Dreamin’, but said the gelding showed reduced enthusiasm after arriving at Del Mar in mid-July.

“He has a high energy,” Powell said. “It’s better than earlier at the meeting.

“I’m glad I skipped the turf race. He had run two hard races. He needed longer to adapt.”

◗ Soi Phet will carry 123 pounds under the allowance conditions of the Brubaker. Powell playfully argued that Soi Phet should receive a senior citizen’s discount.

“They should have a weight allowance for 9-year-olds and up,” he said.

Grecian Fire, by Unusual Heat
Last 3 Beyers: 99-92-98

◗ Grecian Fire won the Alcatraz Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf at Golden Gate Fields in May 2017 and an optional claimer at Golden Gate in March, but is winless in his last seven starts in stakes.

◗ In the California Dreamin’, Grecian Fire closed from fifth in the final quarter-mile along the rail to finish a length behind Fly to Mars, who ran 1 1/16 miles on turf in a course-record time of 1:39.50. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer later questioned how Grecian Fire would have fared racing on the outside of the track.

“We were on the inside and he didn’t look like he liked it down there,” Hollendorfer said.