BRAVE ALMEIDA IS BACK.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with Goncalino Almeida speaks of Brave Act, the horse who revived his riding career, the way people speak of Almeida. ``I love Brave Act,'' the jockey said Thursday at Santa Anita, where they'll go for their third straight stakes victory together in Monday's San Luis Obispo Handicap The San Luis Obispo Handicap is a race for Thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park each year. The race is open to horses age four and up, willing to race one and one-half miles on the turf. A Grade II event, it offers a purse of $150,000. . ``This horse just has heart. The horse had a lot of problems, but he came back and he kept going.'' Almeida and Brave Act were made for each other. It just took a rare stroke of good luck for the 43-year-old Brazilian to ride the 5-year-old English-bred. Almeida had rallied Brave Act to an overachieving second behind Anet in the 1997 Del Mar Derby The Del Mar Derby is an American thoroughbred horse race run each year at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The race is open to horses of either gender, age three, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the turf. . But Brave Act injured an ankle, and when he came back 11 months later, the mount went to Chris McCarron, the top rider for trainer Ron McAnally. With McCarron, Brave Act won minor turf stakes last fall at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park. Meanwhile, Almeida was nearing the end of an 18-win year that would have discouraged anybody else, and trying to rebuild his business with a new agent. When Brave Act was entered in the Dec. 28 San Gabriel Handicap The San Gabriel Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California each year. The race is open to horses, age three and up, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt and offers a purse of $150,000. on turf and McCarron chose to ride McAnally's Fragrant Mix instead, McAnally turned to Almeida, who had the break he needed. While Fragrant Mix and McCarron finished fifth as 4-5 favorites, Brave Act and Almeida came between horses to win the San Gabriel and paid $11.20. Next time out, in the Jan. 18 San Marcos Handicap The San Marcos Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run on grass at Santa Anita Park in January of each year. The race is open to horses, age three and up willing to race one and one-quarter miles on the turf. A Grade II event, it offers a purse of $150,000. , Fragrant Mix and McCarron finished sixth and Brave Act used stalking tactics to win at $6.60. Brave Act earned $180,000 for owner Sidney Craig with the two victories - more than the rest of Almeida's horses this meet earned in 41 races (including five wins). They'll face as many as nine horses, including Lazy Lode and possibly Fragrant Mix, in the $200,000 San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (săn l  `ĭs ōbĭs`pō), city (1990 pop. 41,958), seat of San Luis Obispo co., S Calif., near San Luis Obispo Bay; inc. 1856. at 1-1/2 miles on grass. ``Like most things in this business, it's (being in) the right place at the right time,'' said agent Richie Silverstein, who was looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a jockey when Almeida hired him last summer. ``And an ironclad ironclad, mid-19th-century wooden warship protected from gunfire by iron armor. The success of the ironclad when first employed by the French in the Crimean War sparked a naval armor and armaments race between France and Great Britain. work ethic.'' Almeida gets to the barns at 5:30 most mornings to exercise horses for prospective clients. Brave Act, said Silverstein, ``put the spring back in both of our walks.'' That took some doing for Almeida, who had suffered a string of injuries, the worst-timed being two broken legs in a January 1996 fall. The former leading Brazilian rider had enjoyed his best season in the United States in '95, when he and Earl of Barking won the Hollywood Turf Handicap and he and Jumron finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby. He was winning the confidence of trainers who'd scorned his wiry wir·y adj. 1. Resembling wire in form or quality, especially in stiffness. 2. Sinewy and lean. 3. Filiform and hard. Used of a pulse. physique and unorthodox riding style. ``He's got a different style. He doesn't look as good as the other guys,'' said trainer Jose DeLima, who rode against Almeida when both were in Brazil. ``But he's as good as any one of them.'' Almeida said he never thought of quitting. ``It's part of the business,'' he said, cheerful as always. ``You go high and you go low.'' Almeida doesn't get a lot of mounts. But winning with Brave Act can only help his business. And he should pick up horses from Martin Pedroza, Silverstein's other rider, who's leaving for the Chicago tracks. ``This (bad spell) is past,'' Almeida said. ``It's a new year.'' And the winners are . . .: Eclipse Award voting results will be announced Tuesday night at a dinner in Bal Harbour, Fla. This could finally be Gary Stevens' year to be honored as the nation's outstanding jockey. If Stevens wins, Jerry Bailey fans will claim it's because voters were tired of going for their man year after year. Wrong: Stevens earned it with a superior 1998 season. Does the suit fit? The Meadowlands, in New Jersey, is being sued by harness announcer John Bothe, who claims an assignment to handicap races on TV could plunge him back into the gambling compulsion that once bankrupted him. The lawsuit's premise is that an addiction to betting is a handicap that an employer must accommodate. On this topic, the brutal-honesty award goes to the Washington Post's Andrew Beyer, who quotes academics doubting the very existence of compulsive gambling. ``The majority of us gamblers share this opinion and look with pity on people like John Bothe who portray themselves as helpless victims of a disability,'' Beyer wrote. ``We just call them bad bettors.'' 78 days to the Derby: Bob Baffert's latest announced plan has Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a 1 1/16-mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt (although the distance has varied, depending on the configuration of the host track) for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part winner Silverbulletday making her 3-year-old debut against Prime Timber and other colts in the Feb. 28 San Rafael Stakes The San Rafael Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park, located in Arcadia, California. The race is a Grade II event with a purse of $150,000 and is open to three-year-olds willing to race one mile (8 furlongs) on the dirt. (1 mile) at Santa Anita, and Exploit and General Challenge waiting for the March 13 San Felipe (1 1/16 miles). Excellent Meeting, the other Baffert filly, runs Saturday against four members of her own sex in the Las Virgenes. Two Las Virgenes winners, Althea ('84) and Serena's Song ('95), went on to be favored in the Kentucky Derby, and runner-up Winning Colors ('88) went on to win the Derby. Baffert has 16 horses, second to D. Wayne Lukas' 21, among 396 nominated for the Triple Crown revealed last week. Lukas' team is led by Cat Thief. 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 leaders: Jockeys (through Wednesday): Alex Solis, 36 wins; 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 , 29; Chris McCarron, 24; Gary Stevens, 23; Laffit Pincay, 22. Trainers: Bob Baffert, 28; Ron McAnally, 11; Bobby Frankel and Richard Mandella, 10; Wally Dollase, 8. 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: Rain washed away the assumption that pacesetting horses tire on the Santa Anita turf course. Front-running winners on grass before the Jan. 26 rain: 4 in 48 races. Since then: 5 in 15 races. On the stakes schedule: At Santa Anita: Saturday, $200,000 Las Virgenes, 3-year-old fillies, 1 mile; Sunday, $200,000 Santa Maria Handicap The Santa Maria Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run each year at Santa Anita Park. A Grade I event, it is set at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt. The Santa Maria is open to fillies and mares age three and up and offers a purse of $250,000. , fillies and mares 4 and up, 1 1/16 miles; Monday, $200,000 San Luis Obispo Handicap, 4-year-olds and up, 1-1/2 miles on turf. - Kevin Modesti CAPTION(S): Box Box: A WEEK AT THE RACES (See text) |
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