LOS ALAMITOS : Dare You To Back From Australia

Joe Alflen dared to open his first auto dealership at 19 and is now the co-owner of nine South Bay franchises.

His appropriately named Dare You To returned to quarantine in Los Angeles this week after a troubled seventh-place finish in the $500,000 final of an Australia-New Zealand series last weekend. In two earlier legs of the series, the 6-year-old pacer scored a track-record-equaling victory and finished second.

“He had three obstacles to overcome,” said Alflen, 47, of Redondo Beach. “Jet lag, the length of the races and racing the opposite way around the track.

“They go (clockwise), and learning to go that way with speed is tough. They’re used to racing longer distances there, too. Most of our races are a mile.” The series was from 1,700 to 2,700 meters, the latter about 1 5/8 miles.

Dare You To, who dared to challenge the best on Down Under terms, became a media darling. “When I talked to his trainer, Kelvin Harrison, last week, he had 20 reporters there,” Alflen said. “There was a big banner in his hotel that said, ‘Go, Dare You To, Go.’ ”

Dare You To, who competed frequently for the Stan Bayless stable at Los Alamitos in recent years, is scheduled to take a brief rest with Harrison in New Jersey after clearing quarantine. Then he will compete in the Driscoll Series at the Meadowlands, in New Jersey, and be pointed for the Breeders Crown at Pompano Park, Fla., this fall before retirement to stud, probably in California.

“One thing I’ve learned from the Breeders Crown and this series is that he needs more time off between races,” Alflen said. “He set a life mark of 1:51 4/5 at Pompano two weeks before the Breeders Crown, but he raced again the following week and wasn’t as sharp as he could have been for the Breeders Crown (finishing fourth).

“In New Zealand, he raced four times--on March 1, 6, 9 and 16. His best race was in the second leg, when he won in record time. In retrospect, I wish we could have skipped the third leg.”

Dare You To, driven by New Zealander Maurice McKendry, lost all chance in the 13-horse final when a horse fell in front of him at the first turn, causing him to break stride. “Kelvin said last week that the only thing that could beat us was bad luck, and bad luck it was,” Alflen said.

Alflen bought the colt privately as a yearling from Allan Wilk of Beverly Hills. The well-bred colt is by Abercrombie out of the Meadow Skipper mare, Chickasaw Brave. Abercrombie, who stands at Castleton Farm in Kentucky, was the leading sire in the nation for the third time in four years in 1990, when his sons and daughters earned $10,180,347 in purses.

Dare You To has 26 firsts, 18 seconds and 19 thirds in 87 starts, earning nearly $700,000. “He ranks up there with the best I’ve driven,” said Bayless, who has handled such stars as Nero and Horton Hanover. “He’s raced with a lot of good horses, and he’s still racing, and they’re not. He’s iron tough.”

Alflen became a harness owner in the mid-1970s after visiting the races at Hollywood Park.

“I started with a $4,000 claimer named Holridge Arby,” he said. “He finally won in his eighth start, and I’ll never forget the walk to the winner’s circle. People were cheering, and I felt like I had run the race myself. I was hooked.

“My first good horse was a filly named Retriever (who won $154,506 in 1977-81). I sold her for $500,000 and bought an 11-acre ranch in Ojai called Ojai Town Creek Ranch. My son, Lloyd, started Dare You To there.”

The elder Alflen, a graduate of Fremont High School, recalled buying a 1936 Ford during his teen-age years and becoming intrigued with the car business.

“It was a childhood fantasy,” he said. “There was a guy named Homesick Harry, who ran a lot on Florence Avenue. He said, ‘Well, son, I’m getting out of the business, and if you ever went to get in, here’s the landlord’s number. He’s charging $75-a-month rent.’ ”

Alflen and Bill Adkins, his career-long business partner, accepted the dare.

Alflen admits that owning Dare You To, a Mercedes of the free-for-all division, has spoiled him. “It’s like eating hot dogs, and somebody introduces you to prime steak,” he said. “Once you get one the caliber of Dare You To, you’re not happy with lesser horses.”

Alflen hopes lightning strikes twice. “I bought a No Nukes yearling last year named Funny Justice,” he said. “I’m going to rename him Double Dare.”

Trifecta wagering, which involves selecting the 1-2-3 finishers in order in one race, will begin Friday at Los Alamitos. “We’re offering a free $2 trifecta bet with every on-track paid admission that night,” said Lloyd Arnold, president and general manager.

Fred Kuebler, director of racing, said: “It will be the 10th race every night. There will be 10 horses in the race, nine across the track and one trailer. It’s a $2 bet, and we’ll also have a $6 box (six $1 bets on all combinations of three numbers).”

In a 10-horse field, there are 720 possible winning combinations.

“It’s something we’ve wanted for 15 or 20 years,” Arnold said. “I think we’ll be up 10% to 15% in handle.” The track is averaging $886,304 a night, up 12.8% from last year.

The trifecta, which was approved by the California Horse Racing Board last August and cleared by the Office of Administrative Law last week, will make its California debut today at Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields.