Soi Phet coming around for E.B. Johnston
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – The last time Motown Men and Soi Phet met, in May at Santa Anita, it was not even close. Motown Men won the $150,000 stakes as Soi Phet finished more than 10 lengths back in ninth place.
Times changed. Motown Men maintained form all summer, but Soi Phet needed a series of races to make it back. Soi Phet is back, and when he meets Motown Men again Saturday in the $75,000 E.B. Johnston Stakes at Los Alamitos, the race figures to be a lot closer.
Eight California-breds race one mile in the E.B. Johnston, and it’s more than just a two-horse race. The stakes-placed Ambitious Brew is fresh and training well, and the consistent Old Man Lake will be grinding late.
Soi Phet has won two of three starts at Los Alamitos, but his early-season campaign was a disaster. Soi Phet had been off five months following a December start in Japan and returned from the layoff by finishing next to last in two straight.
“I think it just took him longer than expected to get his groove back after Japan,” trainer Leonard Powell said. “It just took him time to blossom.”
In his last two starts, both on turf, the gelding began to look like the Soi Phet of old. A two-time stakes winner, he finished a close fourth in a strong allowance, followed by a third in a similar allowance.
“I was very happy with his two races on grass,” Powell said.
Soi Phet has speed to make the lead from the rail, but Ambitious Brew will be in close pursuit. The question for Ambitious Brew is distance. He finished first or second in nine of this first 10 starts, all sprints. In three starts around two turns, he has one second.
“He’s kind of bred to get the trip and always acted like he would get the trip,” trainer Marty Jones said.
The runner-up finish by Ambitious Brew on July 2 in the one-mile Bertrando Stakes at Los Alamitos gives Jones reason for optimism.
“He’s got no excuse coming into it; he should run good,” Jones said. “If he cannot get the mile, we’ll look at the [California Flag] at Santa Anita down the hill.”
KEY CONTENDERS
Soi Phet
(Last 3 Beyers: 89-90-73)
◗ Alonso Quinonez replaces jockey Kent Desormeaux, who rides Saturday at Kentucky Downs. “I’ve been lucky with Alonso,” Powell said. “He’s a good rider.”
◗ Soi Phet may have a tactical edge. “I think we’ll go for the lead,” Powell said. “If somebody else wants it, we’ll sit second.”
◗ Soi Phet won the $200,000 Los Alamitos Mile last fall by more than seven lengths; he won the $100,000 Bertrando Stakes in July at Los Alamitos by nearly four lengths.
Ambitious Brew
(Last 3 Beyers: 90-91-85)
◗ Jones said Ambitious Brew should benefit from the shorter distance. He finished fifth by a length last out going 1 1/16 miles on turf in the California Dreamin’. “Last out might have been stretching it distance-wise,” Jones said.
◗ Mike Smith, who rode Ambitious Brew to a runner-up finish in the Bertrando, is back aboard.
◗ Ambitious Brew should be forwardly placed, setting or pressing the pace outside of Soi Phet.
Motown Men
(Last 3 Beyers: 94-96-63)
◗ Ted H. West trains Motown Men, third as the favorite last out. He ran well, missing by a half-length in the Harry F. Brubaker Stakes.
◗ Since being claimed for $40,000 in March, Motown Men has won three races and more than $220,000 from six starts.