LOS ALAMITOS : Brookfield, a Former Surfing Champion, Is Trying to Make Some Waves as Trainer, Too

With his tanned face, sun-streaked blond hair and youthful appearance, Ward Brookfield looks as if he would be much more at home on the beaches of Malibu than on the backside at Los Alamitos.

Whereas most pickup trucks in the Los Alamitos barn area carry decals for smokeless tobacco, Brookfield’s is decorated with a sticker for the Ocean Pacific swimwear company.

And whereas many who work with the horses in the Los Alamitos stable area prefer to listen to the Oak Ridge Boys, Brookfield is definitely more at home with the Beach Boys.

A former national surfing champion, the 30-year-old Brookfield is one of a host of young hopefuls trying to carve out a spot in the ranks of Los Alamitos trainers.

Although the names Schvaneveldt, Baffert and Dominguez have dominated the scene for years, young trainers such as Brookfield are starting to creep up the trainer standings.

Brookfield started training last year, after earlier career stops as a jockey and an exercise rider. Now, with his 14-horse stable, Brookfield is hoping to make as big a name for himself on the track as he did on the waves.

“It’s tough,” he said. “A lot tougher than I thought it would be. The business end of things is what is the toughest for me. I wish I had a wife so I could have someone helping me keep track of the books.”

Brookfield was the national amateur surfing champion in 1985 for the 25-35 age group. For a brief while he gave thoughts to turning pro and riding the waves for a living, but competition against the pro surfers changed his goals.

“I surfed against some pros in a couple of pro-am events,” he said. ‘I beat a few of the pros but most of them kicked my butt pretty good. Besides, I was 25 when I won my national title and that’s a little late to get started as a pro.”

Now with the days of waves behind him, Brookfield centers his attention on his Los Alamitos stable, which is headed by the stakes winning filly Here Comes the Band.

Owned by Brookfield’s mother Nancy, Here Comes the Band was bought as a yearling for $1,000, and she has earned more than $50,000 while winning five races, among them the Grade I Juvenile Handicap.

“Right now, she’s not only the best horse in my stable, she is my stable,” says Brookfield.

With four victories so far at the summer meeting, Brookfield is not a threat to leading trainer Caesar Dominguez just yet, but his in-the-money percentage of better than 50% marks him a trainer to watch.

“Getting better horses is the key to winning races,” he said. “I’d like to see my stable get to 20 horses. I don’t want a big stable, but I’d like a quality stable.”

Training a stable of 20 horses, or even his current 14 horses, is a full-time job for Brookfield, but even a quarter horse trainer needs to get away every now and then.

“I sneak away to the beach once a week,” Brookfield said. “That’s about all I have time for these days.”

Topping this week’s racing at Los Alamitos will be the $25,000 added Chicado V Handicap on Sunday afternoon.

Among the top older horses nominated for this Grade II race are the multiple stakes winner Dashing Val, Vessels Maturity winner Jazzing Hi, and the 1989 champion 3-year-old colt Sig Hanson.

Also looking to the Chicado V is the gelding Heisajoy of the H. L. Hooper stable, an impressive winner of the Double Bid Handicap in his most recent start.

The Double Bid was the first start of the year for Heisajoy and the 5-year-old gelding responded with a stunning victory over stakes winners Casady King and Wicked Dash.

“We had to take some chips out of his knees after last year and this was as fast as we could get him back to the races,” Hooper said. “I didn’t want his first start to be in a stakes, but we couldn’t get an allowance race to fill for him so we had no choice.”

Los Alamitos Notes

Tonight’s program includes the trials for the Pacific Coast Breeders Derby. There will be three trials for this race with the 10 fastest qualifiers earning a spot in the June 16 final.

Among those entered in the trials is the colt Streakin Jewel, winner of the Pacific Coast Breeders Futurity last year. . . . Streakin Jewel will be in the second trial, which will go as the seventh race on tonight’s 10-race program.