Zestful much the best in Los Alamitos Special

Zestful, who ran in an $8,000 claimer in February, won his stakes debut in his 24th start Saturday’s $100,000 Los Alamitos Special at 1 1/4 miles as the second betting choice in a field of five.

Ridden confidently by Joe Talamo, Zestful ($5) was always near the front, yielded the lead briefly with a half-mile remaining and won by six lengths over 6-5 favorite Acker.

Zestful ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.53. A 4-year-old gelding by Ghostzapper, Zestful won his sixth consecutive race in the Los Alamitos Special, a streak that began in a starter allowance at Golden Gate Fields in April.

The Los Alamitos Special was restricted to horses that had not won a stakes worth $50,000 to the winner at a mile or over.

Zestful was claimed by his current owners – Danny Haramoto, Shelden Kawahara, Steven Sobol, and trainer Mark Glatt – for $40,000 at Pleasanton on July 4. He won his first start for the current owners in a starter allowance on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 8.

Zestful earned $18,000 from the Aug. 8 race and $60,000 from Sunday’s race.

“We’ve put some maintenance works in him and kept him happy,” Glatt said.

Sunday, Zestful set a modest pace of 24 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 49.04 for a half-mile, leading by a length. With a half-mile remaining, Soul Beam (11-1) led briefly along the rail, but could not sustain the advantage.

“I wasn’t worried about it,” Glatt said. “It was very premature with this long stretch.”

Zestful regained the lead and had a one-length advantage with a quarter-mile remaining.

“He doesn’t have to have the lead, Glatt said. “It gave the horse a break for his kick home.”

Acker finished second, a nose in front of Meistermind, who was followed by Soul Beam and French Getaway in the small field.

Zestful has won 9 of 24 starts and earned $209,941. The winning streak includes includes four starter allowance races, the $40,000 claimer at Pleasanton, and Sunday’s stakes.