BAY MEADOWS MAY BOAST OF BLESSED EVENT.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing The West's best hope for the Kentucky Derby might not be any of the six, seven or eight Southern California 3-year-olds expected to run in the Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $750,000. a week from Saturday. It might, instead, be the Bay Area horse running Saturday in the $600,000 Jim Beam Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky. Event of the Year is gaining a following, and we'll know more about the undefeated but inexperienced son of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew when Russell Baze rides him against 10 other horses in the Jim Beam. ``Everybody's still out proving (themselves),'' said Jerry Hollendorfer, who trains Event of the Year for breeders and owners John and Betty Mabee, ``and we are, too.'' Can a horse from Bay Meadows - which is the minor leagues compared to Santa Anita - win the Kentucky Derby? Well, Cavonnier and Casual Lies, the 1992 and '96 Derby runners-up, and Tabasco Cat, the '94 Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner, had run at Bay Meadows. But the last Bay Area horse to win the Derby was Determine in '54. Thus, horses from the middle of the state must do more than their southern rivals to be taken seriously as Derby contenders. What Event of the Year did in the 1 1/16-mile El Camino Real Derby The El Camino Real Derby is a race for Thoroughbred horses held in late winter at Bay Meadows. The El Camino Real is open to three-year-olds willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles (8 and 1/2 furlongs) on the dirt. A Grade III event, it offers a purse of $200,000. earlier this month at Bay Meadows was enough to make him the favorite for the 1-1/8-mile Jim Beam. Racing around two turns for the first time in his third career start, Event of the Year and Baze sat third and lost ground racing wide but won by 3-1/2 lengths over stablemates Post a Note and Clover Hunter in 1:40 1/5, the second-fastest of 17 El Camino Reals. The Daily Racing Form's Beyer speed figure The Beyer Speed Figure is a system for rating the performance of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America designed in the early 1970s by Andrew Beyer, the syndicated horse racing columnist for The Washington Post. for the race (105) put Event of the Year in a league with the 3-year-olds from more traditional proving grounds. ``I think he can be rated (off the pace), which gives me a lot of encouragement,'' John Mabee said. ``What impressed me more than anything was, of course, the time . . . and the fact he did the last 16th (of a mile) in under 6 (seconds).'' The Mabees, who own Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona, are looking for their first Derby starter since Best Pal finished second to Strike the Gold in '91. Their other '98 candidates - Souvenir Copy and Prosperous Bid - have dropped off the Derby trail after disappointing races this month. Plotting prep races for Event of the Year, Mabee decided not to ``throw him in against the wolves there at Santa Anita,'' and dropped the April 11 Arkansas Derby after Favorite Trick was pointed there. Hollendorfer said he had another reason for choosing the Jim Beam. ``The thinking was that if we could run well in the Jim Beam, we'd have more time to prepare for the Kentucky Derby,'' the trainer said, although of recent Derby winner, only '92 Jim Beam winner Lil E. Tee Lil E. Tee was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1992 scored one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Kentucky Derby. A bay colt, Lil E. Tee was bred in Pennsylvania by Lawrence I. Littman. had five weeks between races. ``I know he's lightly raced,'' said Hollendorfer, the perennial Bay Area leader whose $1.8 million in purses place him second in the nation this year behind Bob Baffert, ``but he's very talented and I think (the Jim Beam) will put enough into him. . . I kind of like having a fresher horse who I think can get the distance going into those (Triple Crown) races.'' Event of the Year didn't race until October, and then not again until February, because of physical problems that Hollendorfer called minor. The Kentucky-bred, dark-bay colt developed a cataract on his right eye as a yearling yearling an animal in its second year of age, e.g. yearling cattle, yearling filly, yearling colt. yearling disease rinderpest in wildebeeste in the Serengheti. , and if that hadn't happened, the Mabees probably wouldn't own him today. ``Normally a horse like this would be in the July yearling sale,'' John Mabee said. ``(But) he wouldn't have brought anything in the sale with 10 or 20 percent vision in the eye.'' So they brought him to California, where a dogs-and-cats veterinarian removed the cataract, giving Event of the Year 90 percent vision. The question remains: Will he ever see Churchill Downs? ``Event of the Year is going to tell us whether he's going to the Derby by how he runs in the Jim Beam,'' Hollendorfer said. He drew post 2 for the Jim Beam. The rest of the lineup in post-position order: Nite Dreamer, Mr. Freeze, Sorceror, Daniel My Brother, Yukon Pete, Yarrow Brae, Silver Launch, Truluck, Time Limit, Heart Surgeon. Meanwhile, aiming for the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 4 are: Artax, Orville N Wilbur's, Indian Charlie, Real Quiet, Classic Cat and Nationalore. Listed as ``possible'' are Sea of Secrets and Hanuman Hanuman Monkey god of Hindu mythology, a central figure in the Ramayana. He was a guardian spirit, the offspring of a nymph and the wind god. His great heroic exploit was recovering Rama's wife, Sita, from captivity by the demon Ravana. Highway. Good morning, Dubai: You'll have to get up early Saturday to bet on the $4 million Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race is operated through the Emirates Horse Racing Authority (EHRA) whose Chairman is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, , featuring Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm and Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during upsetter Malek. The world's richest thoroughbred race will be simulcast to Santa Anita at 8:30 a.m. An earlier race from Nad Al Sheba, the $500,000 Dubai Duty Free Dubai Duty Free can refer to:
If that doesn't sound like any way to start a weekend, Santa Anita will be taking bets on the World Cup today. A WEEK AT THE RACES At The Races is a British television channel, originally co-founded with Channel 4, but now owned by a partnership between British Sky Broadcasting, Arena Leisure PLC and 28 (out of the 59) UK racecourses. Santa Anita standings: Jockeys (through Wednesday): Kent Desormeaux, 66 winners; Gary Stevens, 61; Corey Nakatani, 47; Alex Solis, 45; 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 and Chris McCarron, 32. Trainers: Bob Baffert, 40; Neil Drysdale, 22; Ron McAnally, 19; Randy Bradshaw, 17; Mike Mitchell, 15. Handicapper hand·i·cap·per n. Sports & Games 1. One who assigns handicaps. 2. One who predicts the winners in a horserace, especially one who publishes such predictions as a guide for bettors. Noun 1. helper: McCarron is winning 27.4 percent of his races at a mile and up, and only 8 percent in sprints. Upcoming: At Santa Anita: $75,000 Santa Lucia Handicap, fillies and mares, 1 1/16 miles, Saturday; $75,000 San Pedro Stakes, 3-year-olds, 6-1/2 furlongs, Sunday; $100,000 Irish O'Brien, fillies and mares bred in California, 6-1/2 furlongs on turf, Wednesday. At Turfway Park: $600,000 Jim Beam, 3-year-olds, 1-1/8 miles, Saturday. At the Fair Grounds: $350,000 Explosive Bid Handicap, 1-1/8 miles, Sunday. In Dubai: $4 million Dubai World Cup, 1-1/4 miles, Sunday. Mileposts: Santa Anita stewards dismissed a complaint against trainer D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. , who had two horses test positive for scopolamine scopolamine (skōpŏl`əmēn, –mĭn) or hyoscine (hī`əsēn', –sĭn), alkaloid drug obtained from plants of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), chiefly from henbane, . The stewards heard ``sufficient evidence'' that the horses' feed was accidentally contaminated with jimsonweed jimsonweed, n Latin name: Datura stramonium; parts used: flowers, leaves, roots; uses: asthma, Parkinson's disease, irritable bowel syndrome; precautions: children, pregnancy, lactation, patients with nervous disorders; liver disease, heart , which produces the banned substance. The horses were disqualified, costing Love Lock a winner's purse and Magic Cat a second-place check for Jan. 11 races. . . . The California Horse Racing Board altered the ``claiming jail'' rule - reducing from 30 to 25 days the period that a claimed horse is ineligible to run for less than 25 percent more than the claimed price. . . . Santa Anita will be open Monday and start the new week Wednesday. . . . Cape Town, the Florida Derby winner after Lil's Lad was disqualified, became the first Kentucky Derby horse to arrive at Churchill Downs on March 18. Lil's Lad is pointing for the April 11 Blue Grass. . . . Mike Smith doesn't expect to ride for three months after breaking a shoulder and collarbone on Florida Derby day. . . . Breeders' Cup Turf The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. The race's current title sponsor is John Deere. winner Chief Bearhart makes his '98 debut in the Explosive Bid in New Orleans on Sunday. . . . Gulfstream Park near Miami will host the 1999 Breeders' Cup races on Nov. 6. The '98 event is at Churchill Downs on Nov. 7. . . . The CHRB CHRB California Horse Racing Board CHRB Community Housing Resource Board (Montana) CHRB Commonwealth Health Research Board pledged support to the new National Thoroughbred Racing Association The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is the main governing body of Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States. They are also the main governing body of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. , which aims to be a kind of league office for the sport. . . . Bay Meadows announcer Paul Allen resigned to be a radio sportscaster in Minneapolis, where he will continue to call races at Canterbury Downs this summer. . . . Keeneland announced plans for drive-through wagering. . . . Trainers Jenine Sahadi and Ben Cecil are back from their honeymoon in the Cayman Islands. Sahadi told a Santa Anita publicist: ``We went Jet Skiing, saw some sea turtles and Ben even caught a fish.'' - Kevin Modesti CAPTION(S): Box Box: A WEEK AT THE RACES (See Text) |
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