Los Alamitos Summer Thoroughbred Festival Wraps Up

An impressive stakes debut for Uncle Chuck, a successful return to California for Sneaking Out  and a two-turn tally for Cezanne highlighted the Summer Thoroughbred Festival at Los Alamitos in Cypress, Calif.

The brief seven-day season concluded Sunday.

A son of Uncle Mo and the Unbridled's Song mare Forest Music, Uncle Chuck toyed with three rivals in the Grade 3, $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby July 4 in his first start since a seven-length debut score June 6.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert for owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, Uncle Chuck, who was purchased for $250,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September sale, could make his next start in either the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes Aug. 1 at Del Mar or the Grade 1, $1 million Travers a week later at Saratoga.

The Los Alamitos Derby win – which was worth 20 points for Uncle Chuck towards a berth in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby – was the fourth in a row for Baffert and his fifth in the seven years the race – formerly the Swaps Stakes when offered at Hollywood Park (1974-2013) – has been run at Los Alamitos. Besides Uncle Chuck, he's also won with Game Winner (2019), Once On Whiskey (2018), West Coast (2017) and Gimme Da Lute (2015).

A 4-year-old daughter of Indian Evening owned by breeders KMN Racing LLC and trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, Sneaking Out scored a 7-1 upset over heavily-favored Bellafina in the $201,000, Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes July 4.

The win was the fifth in 11 starts for the California bred and pushed her earnings to $431,441. It was the second win in the Great Lady M. for Hollendofer, who captured the inaugural running in 2014 with another Cal bred – Doinghardtimeagain for owner-breeder Tommy Town Thoroughbreds.

A 3-year-old son of Curlin purchased for $3.65 million in March, 2019, Cezanne is 2-for-2 for Baffert and owners Michael Tabor, Michael B. Smith, Mrs. John Magnier and co-breeder St. Elias Stable after his win going a mile July 2. A stakes race could be next for the Kentucky Derby prospect.

Baffert topped the trainer standings with four wins, the 11th time he has either led or shared the title at Los Alamitos since thoroughbred racing returned in July, 2014.

Juan Hernandez, the leading jockey at the recently-concluded Golden Gate Fields meet who decided to move to Southern California at the end of last month, and Edwin Maldonado shared the riding title. Both won six races.

The wealth was spread during the two weeks of racing as 43 different trainers and 52 different owner/partnerships won the 57 races offered.

“I've always said some owners and trainers enjoy more success at Los Alamitos than either Santa Anita or Del Mar,'' said F. Jack Liebau, vice president of the Los Alamitos Racing Association. “I think this is important for the overall financial health of Southern California racing. Although some might disagree, I see it as a positive so many different connections were able to win races during these seven days.

“We also ran a pair of graded stakes during the two weeks and saw a couple of serious Kentucky Derby contenders in Uncle Chuck and Cezanne.''

According to Liebau, all sources handle for the meet, which was spectator-less due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was up approximately 25% over comparable dates in 2019.

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Galilean, Grinning Tiger Among Nominees For Race Honoring Soi Phet

Galilean and Grinning Tiger, a combined 4-for-4 at Los Alamitos, are among 12 nominees to the $100,000-guaranteed Soi Phet Stakes, a one-mile race for 3-year-olds & up bred or sired in California.

The seventh renewal of the race formerly known as the Bertrando will be  run Saturday, June 27, the second day of the Summer Thoroughbred Festival at Los Alamitos in Cypress, Calif.

The race honors Soi Phet, a gelded son of Tizbud trained by Leonard Powell for the Benowitz Family Trust, Mathilde Powell and Paul Viskovich who won five stakes races at Los Alamitos before his retirement at age 11 in 2019. The first of his local victories came in the inaugural Bertrando in 2014 and he won the race again in 2018.

Owned by a partnership that includes West Point Thoroughbreds and trained by John Sadler, Galilean, a 4-year-old son of Uncle Mo, scored in his career debut at Los Alamitos Sept. 22, 2018, then captured the King Glorious Stakes by nine lengths nearly three months later. Both of those victories came for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

Grinning Tiger, who scored a pair of 7-1 upsets in sprints in 2019 in his first two races at Los Alamitos, comes off a shocking gate-to-wire win in the Crystal Water Stakes on the Santa Anita grass June 6.

Owned by Tyree Wolesensky and trained by Anthony Saavedra, the 92-1 stunner was the eighth win in 27 starts for the 5-year-old son of Smiling Tiger.

Other nominees include Brandothebartender, Cono, 4-year-old fillies D's Lovely Sophia and Silk From Heaven, King Abner, fifth in this race a year ago, Lieutenant Dan, Loud Mouth, Lymebyrd, Take the One O One and Three Ay Em.

Entries for the Soi Phet Stakes will be taken Wednesday, June 24.

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