Wynstock back in winner's circle with Los Alamitos Derby

CYPRESS, Calif. - Improvised race tactics put Wynstock in the winner’s circle for the first time this year in Saturday’s $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby at Los Alamitos.

The win gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a remarkable eighth consecutive victory in the Orange County track’s top Thoroughbred race for 3-year-olds.

Wynstock’s victory unfolded in a slightly unexpected manner.

Jockey Kyle Frey said he intended to put Wynstock on the lead, but when 7-10 favorite Tapalo cruised to an early advantage of two lengths on the first turn, and widened that lead on the backstretch, Frey kept Wynstock well off the pace.

“I knew if I tried to keep up, I’d be done at the head of the stretch,” Frey said.

Tapalo led by as many as seven lengths at the end of the backstretch at a point when Wynstock had faded to fourth. Frey, for one, did not give up on his mount.

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“I let him get his feet underneath him,” he said. “I thought he’ll make a run.”

Turning into the stretch, Wynstock still trailed Tapalo and Cornell, but Tapalo was visibly tiring. Wynstock began to close ground.

“When he straightened up, he pinned his ears and he was gone,” Frey said.

Tapalo led by a length with a furlong to go, but the lead was gone a few strides later. Cornell (3-1) led in the stretch, but was caught by Wynstock in the final strides. The margin between the two Baffert-trained runners was a nose.

“He finished well, but it helped with those horses stopping in front of him,” Frey said of Wynstock.

Wynstock ($10.80) ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.51 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 81.

When Wynstock rallied to catch Cornell, Baffert was briefly unaware of which runners was closing.

“I saw that horse flying, I thought, sonofagun,” Baffert said. “Oh, that’s my horse.”

Cornell finished five lengths clear of 6-1 Curlin’s Kaos, who finished a nose in front of Tapalo. Kamaina Cruiser was last throughout in the field of five and never a factor.

Tapalo was favored on the strength of a seven-length win in the Lazaro Barrera Stakes at seven furlongs for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on May 12.

Wynstock won the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity for Los Alamitos track owner Ed Allred and former track vice-president Jack Liebau last December, but was winless in three starts earlier this year.

A colt by Solomini, Wynstock was last of 11 in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park in February, sixth of eight in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in April and last of six in the Desert Code Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on May 19 in advance of Saturday’s win.

“It’s all mental with him,” Baffert said in the winner’s circle. “We know he has a lot of talent.”

Wynstock has won 3 of 8 starts and earned $243,740.

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