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A 10-1 upset by Practical Move in the Grade II, $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity and a sixth consecutive win in the Grade I Starlet for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert were among the highlights of the six-day Winter Thoroughbred meet, which concluded Sunday.
A son of Practical Joke and the Afleet Alex mare Ack Naughty owned by Pierre Jean Amestoy, Leslie Amestoy and Roger Beasley and trained by Tim Yakteen, Practical Move took on a powerful trio from the Baffert stable – headed by prohibitive favorite Arabian Lion – and dominated, winning the Dec. 17 Futurity by 3 ¼ lengths under jockey Ramon Vazquez.
A week earlier in the Starlet, heavily-favored Faiza won for the second time in as many starts, gamely prevailing over 12-1 outsider Pride of the Nile by a head after a stretch long battle. The win continued a streak for Baffert that has seen him win the prestigious race for 2-year-old fillies six of the nine years it has been offered at Los Alamitos.
The two other stakes were for 2-year-olds bred or sired in California. Vazquez and teamed to take the $100,000 Soviet Problem with owner George Krikorian’s homebred Cast Member, who is now 3-for-3 while 3-5 favorite Giver Not a Taker defeated 47-1 shot Crypto Ride by a head to win the $101,500 King Glorious for owner-breeders Kirk and Judy Robison and trainer Peter Miller.
Milton Pineda topped the trainer standings with five victories, two more than Baffert, Leandro Mora and Peter Miller. It was the first training crown for the 38-year-old Pineda.
Pineda, Baffert and Miller had the most wins (10) for the year at Los Alamitos, combining the Winter meet with the September (Sept. 16-25) and Los Angeles County Fair seasons (June 25-July 9).
Vazquez won the riding title, completing a sweep of the three meets. He finished the Winter with 10 wins, four more than Juan Hernandez and apprentice Armando Aguilar.
A 38-year-old native of Puerto Rico, Vazquez finished 2022 at Los Alamitos with 35 wins, 20 more than runner-up Hernandez. Kyle Frey was third with 13 victories.
Field size for the 2022 Winter meet increased over last year. The average field size was 7.37 starters per race compared to 6.77 in 2021.
Daytime thoroughbred racing will return to Los Alamitos in 2023. The first of three meets is scheduled to begin Friday, June 23 and continue through Sunday, July 9.
Favored Giver Not a Taker rallies to win King Glorious on closing day
Heavily-favored Giver Not a Taker rallied along the rail in the stretch to get up in the final strides to defeat 47-1 shot Crypto Ride by a head in the $101,500 King Glorious Stakes Sunday, the final day of the Winter meet at Los Alamitos.
Ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat, the 2-year-old homebred for owners J. Kirk and Judy Robison earned his third win in five starts in his first venture beyond seven furlongs, completing the mile in 1:38.16 in a race restricted to juveniles bred or sired in California.
The race was marred early on the backside when Please Focus, who was on the lead, ducked out and unseated jockey Mario Gutierrez. A homebred for owner J. Paul Reddam’s Reddam Racing LLC, Please Focus, a gelded son of Mrazek, ran loose afterwards, but was uninjured. Gutierrez also escaped unscathed and walked back to the jockey’s room.
A Danzing Candy gelding out of the Kitten’s Joy mare Kittens Trip trained by Peter Miller, Giver Not a Taker increased his bankroll to $214,750. He paid $3.20, $2.40 and $2.10.
“I wasn’t really bothered right then (when Please Focus unseated Gutierrez), but on the last turn I wanted to go on and ask him to run, but the jockey (Tiago Pereira) on the horse (Geezer) in front of me was worried about the loose horse and he didn’t know where he was going to go,’’ said Prat after his second stakes win – he also took the Grade I Starlet Dec. 10 with Faiza – of the meet. “(Crypto Ride) got the jump on us, but my horse got brave and regrouped and made a good run down the lane.’’
Crypto Ride, who had defeated $50,000 maidens going six furlongs in his Los Alamitos debut nine days earlier, opened a 1 ½ length lead with an eighth of a mile to run, but couldn’t quite last for the upset. He returned $17 and $6 while finishing five lengths clear of 7-2 second choice Geezer, who had a three race win streak ended. The show price on Geezer was $2.60.
Merit Song, Amigo G A, Tom and Jazzy, Belly Up and Please Focus completed the order of finish.
