Soi Phet, defying time at age 9, will race next year

CYPRESS, Calif. – The longevity of the 9-year-old stakes winner Soi Phet can be partially attributed to annual winter vacations. Another such rest will begin in the not-too-distant future.

After Soi Phet won Saturday’s $75,000 E.B. Johnston Stakes for California-bred milers at Los Alamitos, trainer Leonard Powell said the gelding may have one more start at the Santa Anita autumn meeting before he is given a break in advance of a campaign in 2018 as a 10-year-old.

“I’ll bring him back next year,” Powell said. “You have to give them a break before they need it.”

Soi Phet won his first stakes in a year in the Johnston Stakes, racing near the front under jockey Kent Desormeaux before prevailing by a half-length over He Will. Soi Phet has won 13 of 55 starts in his career and two of five starts this year. He won an optional claimer at a mile at Santa Anita in May when eligible to be claimed for $62,500.

Last year, Soi Phet won the Johnston Stakes at Los Alamitos and had two starts at the Santa Anita autumn meeting, finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes behind Horse of the Year California Chrome and sixth in the minor Big Bear Stakes in early November.

Powell said on Saturday that he does not envision as active of a campaign for Soi Phet this fall and has not ruled out a start in the Awesome Again on Sept. 30, depending on the strength and size of the field.

“If it’s a light field, why not?” he said. “I don’t think it will be a small field.”

Soi Phet races for Mathilde Powell, Paul Viskovich, and Gerald Benowitz. He was claimed for $16,000 by Powell at Hollywood Park in May 2013 and has since earned a staggering $839,090.

The magnitude of Soi Phet’s accomplishments are not lost on Powell. Asked what the horse means to his stable, he replied, “Mostly everything.”

“You need a stellar horse in the barn, and he’s been it for the last few years,” he said. “It will be sad when he‘s not here.”

• Fatale Bere, a stakes-placed filly in France this month, is scheduled to arrive at Powell’s stable at Santa Anita this week, Powell said on Sunday.

Fatale Bere has won 2 of 3 starts and was third in the minor Criterium de l’Ouest at about a mile at Craon, France, on Sept. 2. By Pedro the Great, Fatale Bere could make her American debut in the $100,000 Surfer Girl Stakes at a mile on turf for 2-year-old fillies at Santa Anita on Oct. 9, Powell said.