Bernard begins and closes 2021 with wins

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

San Luis Rey Training Center trainer Lisa Bernard began 2021 with a win and closed out her 2021 racing with a victory.

Toasted At Dawn won the fourth race Dec. 26 at Los Alamitos Race Course to provide Bernard with her third win of the calendar year. Reds Tribal Heart won her Jan. 1 race at Los Alamitos and Allwinedup broke her maiden Sept. 11 at Los Alamitos.

"I think that's good. It's very positive and I think that's a good sign for next year," Bernard said.

Three wins in 2021 wasn't disappointing for Bernard. "I didn't have a lot of horses running," she said. "Next year's going to be a better year."

Bernard currently has nine horses stabled at San Luis Rey. "We're doing pretty good," she said.

Some of those horses are being trained but not yet ready to race. "I also had a lot of rehabs I was working on, too," Bernard said. "I love doing my rehabs. It's rewarding in that aspect when you can get them to race."

Bernard had four wins in 2020 including three with Governor Goteven. Reds Tribal Heart provided her other victory, and that was at the Mountaineer Park course in West Virginia. After spending the early part of the fall in West Virginia and Ohio (where she had horses at the Thistledown track), she returned to San Diego County in November 2020.

Los Alamitos has mixed races for both thoroughbreds and quarter horses, and the races there include 1,000-yard contests which would equate to just over 4 1/2 furlongs. The Jan. 1 race Reds Tribal Heart won in 54.6 seconds was 1,000 yards. Bernard is also a part-owner of Reds Tribal Heart.

Michael John Ryan, who lives in San Clemente, is the owner of both Allwinedup and Toasted At Dawn. "Good owner. Loves his horses. Extremely supportive," Bernard said.

Ryan was also the breeder of both Allwinedup and Toasted At Dawn. Both were foaled at Loveacres Ranch in Warner Springs and sired by Stay Thirsty. Winemenow is Allwinedup's dam and Toasted At Dawn was foaled out of Solar Eclipse on Jan. 8, 2019.

Toasted At Dawn began his racing career July 5 at Los Alamitos and finished fifth. His next two races were at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, and he finished third July 25 and fourth Aug. 15. He was sixth in a Sept. 10 race at Los Alamitos.

Ryan and Bernard had Toasted At Dawn gelded, and his first race as a gelding was Dec. 4 at Los Alamitos. He finished seventh in that race.

The Dec. 26 race was the second for Toasted At Dawn after he was gelded. "It helped improve him. He's concentrating a lot more," Bernard said.

Eduard Rojas Fernandez rode Toasted At Dawn in the Dec. 26 competition. "Rojas always rides pretty good for me," Bernard said.

Rojas Fernandez rode Reds Tribal Heart for her Jan. 1 victory.

Toasted At Dawn won a 1,000-yard dirt race. Bernard gave minimal pre-race instructions to Rojas Fernandez. "At 4 1/2 you've got to get out of the gate and just keep on going," Bernard said.

Five horses were in the race for two-year-olds who had not previously won a race and Toasted At Dawn had the fifth post position. "He likes the outside. He's very happy and comfortable over there," Bernard said.

Toasted At Dawn broke second with B D R Baxter leaving the gate first. Toasted At Dawn soon took the lead. "He got out of the gate and his little wheels just kept spinning," Bernard said.

When he entered the stretch Toasted At Dawn had a 5 1/2-length lead over B D R Baxter. Toasted At Dawn won by a six-length margin and had a time of 54.7 seconds.

"I'm just very proud of him," Bernard said. "He ran a big race. He deserves to win. He's got heart."

Toasted At Dawn is no longer eligible for maiden races. Bernard is contemplating his next race. "I would like to put him on grass," she said.

The condition book will determine when the next suitable race for Toasted At Dawn will be, but he will not need a layup. "He came out of the race really good," Bernard said.