Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
‘Desmond,’ Fashionably Fast hook up again in Bertrando
The last time Fashionably Fast and Desmond Doss met at a mile they were first and second in the Tiznow Stakes for statebreds at Santa Anita in February 2021.
The last time they met in any race, Desmond Doss was an easy winner of the Thor’s Echo Stakes for statebreds at six furlongs on May 28 at Santa Anita. Fashionably Fast set the pace and finished second.
Desmond Doss and Fashionably Fast have eight stakes wins between them. There is a good chance one will add another when they meet for the third time in Saturday’s $100,000 Bertrando Stakes for statebred milers at Los Alamitos.
The Bertrando Stakes is the last race on a nine-race program on the opening day of the track’s three-week Los Angeles County Fair meeting.
Fashionably Fast was a late addition to the Bertrando field, a $2,000 supplement when entries were taken Wednesday.
“It wasn’t on my radar,” trainer Dean Pederson said Thursday.
Since the loss in the Thor’s Echo, Fashionably Fast has had a light training schedule, with one half-mile workout in 49.60 seconds on June 18 at Santa Anita. Pederson is banking on the 7-year-old gelding’s long-term fitness to help his chances in the five-runner Bertrando.
“I backed off of him after that sprint,” Pederson said. “Maybe he doesn’t have to train near as much. It’s not like he’s unfit.
“When they ring the bell, he’ll know what his job is.”
Fashionably Fast drew the outside post and will be near the front. Pederson expects Fashionably Fast or Loud Mouth to set the pace. Loud Mouth won the E.B. Johnston Stakes for statebred milers at Los Alamitos last September, finishing second before being promoted to first when a rival was disqualified.
“If Loud Mouth goes, we can track him,” Pederson said. “If they decide to see what we’ll do, they can sit off of us.”
Fashionably Fast set a quick pace in the Thor’s Echo and held a narrow lead with a furlong remaining before he was overtaken by Desmond Doss.
“I was second best,” Pederson said. “Desmond, he ran huge.”
Desmond Doss, trained by Steve Miyadi and owned and bred by Nick Alexander, had his first start since October in the Thor’s Echo. Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Desmond Doss closed from third in a field of five to win by 2 1/4 lengths. Hernandez rides Desmond Doss in the Bertrando.
Saturday’s distance will be no issue for Desmond Doss, who won the 2021 Bertrando Stakes for his first stakes win.
Fashionably Fast, owned by Harris Farms, Per Antonsen, and John Nicoletti, is winless in four starts since the Harris Farms Stakes at six furlongs at the Big Fresno Fair last October. The Bertrando will be Fashionably Fast’s first start at a mile since he finished a well-beaten third in the Santana Mile against open company at Santa Anita in March 2021.
The other runners are Johnny Podres, a well-beaten second in an allowance race on turf June 17, and Irish Heatwave, who was third in the Crystal Water Stakes for statebred milers on turf May 28.
Miller returns as trainer
The nine-day Los Alamitos meeting runs through July 10 with first post time at 2 p.m. Pacific.
After this weekend, racing will be held on July 1-4 and July 8-10. The Del Mar summer meeting begins July 22. Los Alamitos will have two-week meetings in late September and mid-December.
At Los Alamitos, overnight purses are higher than the 2021 summer meeting, but slightly lower in some categories compared to the 2021 December meeting.
A maiden special weight race will be worth $50,000 compared to $45,000 last summer and $52,000 in December. A $20,000 claiming race for maidens is worth $23,000, an increase of $3,000 from last summer and the same as the December meeting.
The leading race of the meeting is the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes, a $200,000 race for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs on July 4. The $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby will be run at 1 1/8 miles on July 9.
Peter Miller, one of the leading trainers in Southern California, officially returns from a self-imposed hiatus of nearly seven months with a runner on Saturday’s card. Miller’s stable was operated by his longtime assistant Ruben Alvarado in recent months.
Miller stayed in contact with the barn and was even sanctioned by the California Horse Racing Board with a $10,000 fine and seven-day suspension earlier this month for engaging in “behavior consistent with the duties of a trainer” earlier this year regarding day-to-day activity of the stable.
Miller has been leading trainer in recent years at Del Mar and Santa Anita.