Zia Park Distaff win earns Alliford Bay another racing season

A step up in class is on the horizon for Alliford Bay after she won her fifth consecutive race – all stakes – in the $100,000 Zia Park Distaff on Nov. 21.

The win came following victories at Hastings, Emerald Downs, and the California State Fair in Sacramento.

“We’re certainly looking for a graded sprint stakes for her,” said Blaine Wright, who trains Alliford Bay for Peter Redekop.

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Alliford Bay had been scheduled to sell at auction at Keeneland in January, but Redekop has changed those plans, said Wright.

“We’ll pull her out and keep her for another year,” he said. “It’s super for our stable.”

Alliford Bay is a 4-year-old by City Zip and a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Venus Valentine. She rallied for a three-length win in the Zia Distaff, covering six furlongs in 1:08.05. The race was Alliford Bay’s first since July 21, when she captured the $54,000 California Governor’s Cup on the front end at Sacramento. For her effort at Zia, Alliford Bay earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 88.

“She hadn’t been out in a long time,” Wright said. “We thought we had her pretty fit.

“I wasn’t surprised to see her sit behind the pace. I know that she’s rateable.”

Wright said Alliford Bay is back at her Golden Gate base, and has returned to the track. He said nothing pressing would be on her calendar for the next few months.

Alliford Bay was one of two winners on the card at Zia for Wright, Redekop, and jockey Juan J. Hernandez. The men also teamed to win the $100,000 Zia Park Sprint with Anyportinastorm. He covered six furlongs in a blazing 1:07.92.

“We’ve been waiting for him to run that race,” said Wright. “To see him put that race together first time on dirt was very exciting for us. He loves the synthetic track out here on Golden Gate.”

Anyportinastorm was winning his first stakes and his second straight race behind an allowance at Golden Gate. Wright said there is no rush to run him back. Anyportinastorm is a 4-year-old by City Zip.

“We’ll let him come around and pick his spot,” Wright said. “There are races on our radar further on down the road. We may try to stretch out to a mile. There’s very good races at a mile, a mile and a sixteenth between Washington state and Hastings. We might look at a spring, summer campaign for him in the Northwest.”

Wright has had three starters at Zia and won with all three – all in stakes. All of those horses, including 2014 Zia Derby winner Alert Bay, have been owned by the Canada-based Redekop.

“We’ll be back,” said Wright.