When trainer Leonard Powell put in a claim for Soi Phet five summers ago at Hollywood Park, he had no idea the new owners' $16,000 investment would turn out as lucrative as it has.
When Soi Phet, a 10-year-old gelding who still runs like a youngster, won the $100,000 Bertrando Stakes at Los Alamitos on Wednesday, he cracked the $1 million mark in earnings.
Not bad for a horse who, when claimed, had only a $20,000 maiden claiming victory to his credit.
It's highly unlikely the Tizbud gelding's owners, Benowitz Family Trust, Mathilde Powell (Leonard's wife), and Paul Viskovich, envisioned the success Soi Phet has enjoyed since.
You'd never know Soi Phet is 10 unless you looked at his papers. He's believed to have become the oldest horse to win a stakes race at Santa Anita when he won the Crystal Water Stakes on May 20. Then he comes back to win the Bertrando six weeks later, the first time he's scored back-to-back victories since he was 8.
He wins some races convincingly, and he also makes his owners sweat it out at times. He won the Crystal Water by a head and then scored by the narrowest of noses in the Bertrando. It was so close, even Powell didn't know if Soi Phet had gotten up for the victory.
Soi Phet can be a handful at times around the barn.
Powell says it took him a while to learn some of Soi Phet's quirks. For instance, he doesn't like to run during the winter.
"I think he's a horse that's very seasonal," the 41-year-old French native said. "He does very well during the summer months. As soon as the days get shorter he doesn't have the same will to run, and this is why we have been giving him a break every year during the winter.
So now plans call for perhaps three more races for Soi Phet in 2018 before another break. Powell said there are two races at Del Mar they are considering — the California Dreamin' Stakes on July 28 and the Harry F. Brubaker on Aug. 22.
Just as they expect he'll let his connections know when he's finished with racing.
"We're definitely going to give him a break in December like we did last year, and then we expect to bring him back next year and do the same thing," Powell said.
The trainer has perhaps had more talented horses during his career, but none who have captured his heart like Soi Phet.
That was the day they bought a horse who has won on dirt, synthetics and turf. It doesn't get much better than that.
He's a trainer's dream when it comes to versatility.
Soi Phet has now won 15 races in 59 starts, with seven seconds and six thirds.
He's a money-making machine and aging like a fine wine.