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Last Minute Detail, a seemingly overmatched colt who hadn't won since January, was the longshot winner of the $60,000 Foothill Stakes at Fairplex Park.
Ridden by Omar Figueroa, the 3-year-old colt finished 1 1/4 lengths in front of favorite Pt's Grey Eagle in the 6 1/2 furlong Foothill and paid $22.40, $6.80 and $4.40.
"Everyone said it was surprising, but it wasn't surprising to us," said David Meah, assistant to Last Minute Detail's trainer Don Chatlos Jr. "Ten-to-one was a great price and we all had a bet. He went on the turf two tries back and it didn't work. He tried to go a mile last time out and couldn't go the distance. If you look back all his good races are six or seven furlongs, so we expected this."
Last Minute Detail lay sixth in the early going as Pt's Grey Eagle and and Stone Rain dueled for the early lead. He took the lead on the inside at the top of the stretch and held on under Figueroa's urging. The winning time was 1:16.45.
Pt's Grey Eagle was ridden by Martin Pedroza and paid $3 and $2.40. Trish's Diamond, ridden by Garrett Gomez, paid $3.80. All three colts carried 122 pounds.
It was Last Minute Detail's third win in eight lifetime starts. He earned $33,000 for the win, pushing his lifetime total to $96,886. He is owned by J Paul Reddam.
The longshot winner helped prompt a pick six carryover of $31,196 that will be in play on Saturday's Fairplex race card.
Pedroza, who has won five-straight Fairplex riding titles, wasted no time in starting his title defense Friday as he rode four winners. He has eight mounts on Saturday's card and might have the meet title wrapped up before the weekend is over.
Pedroza will ride Verkade, the 5-2 morning line second choice in Saturday's feature race, the $60,000 Phil D. Shepherd Stakes, a 1 1/16 mile contest for 3-year-olds and up. Trainer Craig Dollase's Anziyan Royalty is the 2-1 morning line favorite.
The full field for the Shepherd, in post-position order: Verkade, Pedroza, 119 pounds; Slew City Citadel, Joe Steiner, 117; Sigfreto, Figueroa, 117; Stratus, Gomez, 117; Anziyan Royalty, David Nuesch 119; American Fury, Octavio Vergara, 117; Six Numbers, Goncalino Almeida, 117; Night Patrol, John, 117; Manhattan Express, Alex Bisono, 117; Sanger, Matt Garcia, 117.
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