ANTESPEND EARNS WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN.

Byline: Associated Press

Antespend, a daughter of 1985 Kentucky Derby winner Spend a Buck, led all the way Sunday to win the $250,000 Del Mar Oaks by two lengths over Gastronomical.

Ridden by Chris Antley, Antespend covered 1-1/8 miles on the turf in 1:48 4/5 and paid $4.80 to win as the 7-5 wagering favorite.

Gastronomical held on in the final furlong to finish second, while True Flare was a neck back in third. All eight fillies carried 120 pounds.

Antespend won the Santa Anita Oaks on March 10. She finished fourth in the Kentucky Oaks on May 3 and second in the Hollywood Oaks on July 13.

The victory, worth $150,000, increased Antespend's career earnings to $823,179 on nine wins in 13 starts.

Antespend is owned by Jack Kent Cooke, who also owns the Daily News.

The win gave Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally his third victory of the day. McAnally also sent out Misnomer to win the $70,775 Harry F. (Bud) Brubaker Handicap and Egayant to win the seventh race.

Isitingood wins Longacres Mile: As the 10-horse field in the Longacres Mile headed into the homestretch, Bob Baffert, the wiry, white-haired trainer of Isitingood, figured one of two things would happen to his frisky colt.

``Turning for home, I thought, `This horse is either going to stop or explode,''' Baffert Said.

The 5-year-old California invader, never far off the pace under jockey David Flores, instead blew away the two leaders, then held off a late charge by highly touted Cleante to win the revival of Northwest racing's most storied event at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash.

The official margin was a neck. Humpty's Hoedown, the leader much of the race, held on for third.

Scattered around the track were the high hopes of betting favorite Gold and Steel, who faded to eighth, and a bunch of local contenders, including rags-to-riches Majestic Silence, who finished dead last.

So what Baffert earlier called ``a $200,000 experiment'' turned into a huge Longacres Mile victory, for the horse and for his co-owner, Mount Vernon's Mike Pegram.

Cleante, starting from the outside, was wide on the backstretch but moved up steadily, then responded with a strong kick down the lane but ran out of track.

``He was just real relaxed the first part and the pace was kind of lively,'' said jockey Dennis Carr. ``(Second) tastes pretty sour. Losing -- that's what's disappointing.''

Chaposa Springs stays hot:Chaposa Springs extended her winning streak to six races, rallying through the stretch to edge Capote Belle by a half-length in the $150,000 Ballerina at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The 4-year-old filly, ridden by substitute jockey Shane Sellers, stayed a little farther back than usual as Golden Attraction, last year's 2-year-old filly champion, and Capote Belle, recent winner of the Test Stakes, raced through fractions of 22.52, 44.94 and 1:09.08.

In midstretch, responding to Sellers, who replaced flu-stricken Laffit Pincay Jr.