A to the Z -- Rags to Riches

BONSALL, Calif. (Jan. 23, 2005) – After following a victory in the Cal Cup Mile with a half-length loss at 41-1 odds to Bobby Frankel-trained Leroidesanimaux in the Grade I Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park, A to the Z figures among the favorites in the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Turf.

The race will be contested at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita Park on Jan. 29.

“I’ve never won a graded stakes, but his second in the Citation was bigger than any race any of my horses has ever won,” said Paula Capestro, who trains A to the Z and also owns him in partnership with her attorney-husband Andy.

A to the Z is a 5-year-old gelded son of Benchmark, out of Green Again, by Replant, bred in California by Ken Spencer’s Sentinel Thoroughbreds. His first win came in a $12,500 maiden claimer at Bay Meadows, but picked up $80,000 for finishing second in the $400,000 Citation.

“For him to run that well against a Frankel grass horse told us he was a very good horse,” Capestro said.

With only one out-of-the-money finish in five tries on turf, A to the Z is 4-5-1 in 19 overall trips to the post and goes into the Sunshine Millions with earnings of $329,283.

A to the Z made his first grass start last June when he ran third in the Dallas Turf Cup at Lone Star Park. Then trained by Burl McBride, A to the Z finished just behind Star Over the Bay, who eventually won three grades stakes and set the early pace in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Star Over the Bay is scheduled to meet A to the Z again in the Sunshine Millions Turf.

After the Dallas Turf Cup, A to the Z finished a creditable sixth in the Grade II Bowling Green Handicap at Belmont Park. The winner was Kicken Kris, who later won the Arlington Million on a disqualification. The Bowling Green runner-up was eventual Breeders’ Cup Turf champion Better Talk Now.

Capestro’s star wasn’t brought up to run on grass. He ran at tracks like Sunland Park and Albuquerque, which don’t have turf courses. Most of his training is done at San Luis Rey Downs in Bonsall, where there also is no turf course.

“That doesn’t matter, because he’s a good work horse on dirt,” Capestro said. “I love training him away from the tracks because it’s much quieter and there’s less traffic down there and the dirt track is in wonderful condition. Nearly all 40 horses I train are young horses, and it’s much easier on young horses and makes them not as nervous when they can train in a quiet environment.”

Capestro will be quite content if A to the Z turns out to be the second-best horse to train at San Luis Rey Downs during his racing career.
“The sign out front at San Luis Rey still reads ‘Home of Azeri, 2002 Horse of the Year’,” Capestro said. “A good horse can come out of anywhere.”

And sometimes can cost very little. Spencer, A to the Z’s breeder and owner of Sentinel Farm, sold him to Jim Hernandez and Efrem Rivera at the American Equine Sales Company’s Wine Country Yearling Sale in 2001. A to the Z, a half-brother to California Cup Starter Handicap winner Fade to Blue, was purchased privately by Susan and Dennis Ray, who own a carpet business in Ruidoso, N.M.

“They wanted to take A to the Z to Mountaineer Park in West Virginia,” said Capestro, who got into the picture when the Rays asked her to get the horse sold.

“I pointed out to them that this was a Cal-bred, and with the money Cal-breds can run for here, this horse should be running in California. That’s when my husband and I decided to buy the horse.”

The Capestros won’t disclose how much they paid for A to the Z. But they have grand plans for the gelding.

“We’re looking at the $2 million Dubai Turf Cup in April,” Capestro said. “Never in our wildest dreams did we ever think we’d be running in a race like that.”
--Larry Bortstein