`DIXIE' CARRIES EXTRA BURDEN.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer DEL MAR Del Mar is the name of several places in the United States of America:
Morey has missed only Fresno - the one to miss if you have the choice. But in all his travels, the 60-year-old San Franciscan hasn't won a race as lucrative as today's Del Mar's $1 million Pacific Classic or saddled a horse who inspired the emotions Dixie Dot Com dot com - com will. Last week, Dixie Dot Com co-owner Bart Heller, battling cancer, went into a Stanford hospital Stanford Hospital is located at 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, California, 94305.[1] It is world-renowned for its work in cardiovascular medicine and surgery, organ transplantation, neurology, neurosurgery, and cancer diagnosis and treatment. for surgery described as routine. Morey talked with Heller on the phone the day before. ``We talked about his plans and when he was going to come down here (to Del Mar),'' Morey said. Heller and his wife Ronelle, and co-owners Don and Carol Chaiken, had persuaded Morey to give the often-frustrating Dixie Dot Com another chance in a Grade I-level race. But Heller will not be here. In surgery on Aug. 10, he suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 63. ``For him to go in and not come out ... we're still in shock,'' Morey said. Morey, who had his first horse in 1960, and Heller, an East Bay jewelry dealer who owned horses for 30 years, had more than a trainer-and-boss relationship. Heller gave Morey his first chance to train good horses. ``As the barn grew, so did our relationship,'' Morey, ruddy and full- bellied, said Thursday near the Del Mar grandstand after Dixie Dot Com and jockey David Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the drew post five in a six-horse Pacific Classic. ``We became family. ``We loved to go to dinner (after the races). There were never enough hors d'oeuvres on the plate for us.'' Heller urged Morey to be more ambitious in choosing races for his horses. ``He said, 'I have three things in my life: my family, my business and my horses. Please don't be too conservative,' '' Morey said. ``He'd never get rid of a horse. I'd see some of the slugs he had and say, 'You'd be ahead of the game if you dumped them.' He'd say, 'Don't be in a hurry to get rid of (that horse). Just wait till he goes two turns!' '' That Dixie Dot Com is racing at age 6 reflects Heller's optimism. The horse, purchased for $21,000, has lost chunks of his career to shin fractures, and another owner might have retired him. The injuries cost the son of Dixie Brass shots at the 1998 Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. , after he showed promise at Golden Gate Fields Golden Gate Fields is a horse racing track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the , and the 1999 Strub Stakes, after he ran away with the San Fernando Stakes. When Dixie Dot Com won the San Fernando, Morey was living in a trailer near Santa Anita, leaving his son William in charge of the barn up north. A $1.2 million earner with eight victories in 21 starts, Dixie Dot Com is enjoying his longest stretch without an injury and might be back in the form that upset Budroyale in the 2000 San Pasqual Handicap The San Pasqual Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park each year. The race is open to horses age three and up willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt. It offers a purse of $150,000. Winners
``Eight-to-one? I'd like to get a little of that right now,'' said Morey, whose bay colt will run under blue and gold silks. ``We're (going) to see if this horse can get a mile and a quarter. If he's ever going to do it, it's now, because he's at the top of his game.'' Dixie Dot Com and Flores figure to sit right behind Skimming early in the race, and hope the favorite isn't at the top of his game. A victory today would be the biggest of Morey's career. But that's not the only reason the trainer says that if he wins, ``There would be a lot of emotion.'' PACIFIC CLASSIC AT A GLANCE --The race: 11th running of the 1 1/4-mile Pacific Classic for 3-year-olds and up, one of Southern California's major events for the breed's heavyweight division. --The prize: $1 million; the winner gets $600,000. --The place: Del Mar racetrack Del Mar Racetrack is an American thoroughbred horse racing track at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the seaside city of Del Mar, California, 20 miles north of San Diego. Operated by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, it is known for the slogan, "Where The Turf Meets The Surf. is 100 miles south of Los Angeles at the Via de la Valle exit from the San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405, and the part of Interstate 5 south of the El Toro Y[1]) is one of the principal north-south highways in Southern California, and the major beltway of I-5 running through Southern California. (5). --Post time: 2:42 p.m.; fifth race on a card that starts at 12:30. --TV: ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network coverage begins at 2 p.m. --Daily News picks: See Bob Ike's and Terry Turrell's handicaps on page 11. CAPTION(S): box Box: PACIFIC CLASSIC AT A GLANCE (see text) |
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