CAL-BREDS ARE CLASSY ON OPENING DAY.Byline: Kevin Modesti Daily News Staff Writer Bright sunshine. Ocean breezes. A chorus line of lean, tan legs at the saddling paddock. On most opening days where the turf meets the surf, those would have been the most flattering California images to flicker over Del Mar's nationwide simulcast network. Wednesday, for a change, the best advertisement for California racing was the horses. In front of 26,894 fans, all three of the afternoon's stakes races were won by California-bred horses, a collective major upset. Caribbean Pirate, the least experienced of the 3-year-olds in the $80,825 first division of the Oceanside Stakes, rallied from mid-pack under Chris Antley Christopher W. Antley (January 6 1966 - December 2 2000) was a Champion American jockey. He was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but grew up in Elloree, South Carolina. He left school at sixteen to ride horses professionally at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. to beat The Barking Shark and favored Mateo by two lengths and pay $10.60. Ambivalent, stretching out to a mile and making his turf debut, knifed between rivals to score from last place under Alex Solis Alex O. Solis (born March 25, 1964 in Panama City, Panama) is a jockey based in the United States. He currently lives in Glendora, California and rides predominantly in Southern California. He first gained national prominence when he won the 1986 Preakness Stakes with Snow Chief. in the $80,225 second division of the Oceanside and pay $14.60. In between, Flying in the Lane, with Martin Pedroza, sent off at 17-1 despite coming out of a fast defeat at the same 6-furlong distance, took advantage of a :44-second pace to win the $66,000 Fantastic Girl Stakes for fillies and mares. Caribbean Pirate (a gelding gelding castrated male horse. by Pirate's Bounty) and Flying in the Lane (a mare by Flying Victor) had only one other Cal-bred in their races. Ambivalent (a colt by Rhodes) was the lone Cal-bred in his. But their achievement might have gone unnoticed by the crowd, which had trouble tearing its eyes away from each other, this being one of the few dress-up days on the Del Mar-Hollywood Park-Santa Anita circuit. The attendance total wasn't that impressive, it being the smallest on opening day here since 1991, but the place felt packed, especially on the ritzier floors. ``Probably 20,000 of them were in the turf club Turf Club may refer to:
Seeing that Del Mar expects to draw 40,000 for Cigar's scheduled appearance in the Aug. 10 Pacific Classic, it was fair to ask where the extra 13,000 will sit. Harper replied: the infield. Del Mar wagering Wednesday by the fans here and elsewhere totaled $10,840,684, 12.3 percent higher than the 1995 opener, an increase explainable by the rapid growth of out-of-state simulcasting. The out-of-staters were introduced to some unfamiliar faces in the California training corps. The day had begun as one for old favorites when Pat Valenzuela Patrick Valenzuela (born October 17, 1962 in Montrose, Colorado) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Born into a racing family, his father plus three of his uncles were jockeys. (Del Mar champion, '86, '90, '91) rode Turkish Blazor to victory for trainer Charlie Whittingham (Del Mar champion, '72) in the traditional one-mile opener. (Valenzuela lost the entire '95 Del Mar meet to a suspension.) But unless you're a member of the Tom Bunn, Mike Orman or Blake Heap families, the stakes-winning trainers were anything but big names. The three had combined for 15 victories in '96 before Wednesday. ``The difference between a good trainer and a great trainer is the horses he gets,'' said Richard Stacey, who owns Caribbean Pirate with his wife Sally. ``We're going to try to buy him (Bunn) some good ones.'' Bunn hadn't trained a stakes winner since Bistro Garden won the '91 Bay Meadows Derby The Bay Meadows Derby is a Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses of either gender on the Longden Turf Course at Bay Meadows Racetrack. Bay Meadows is in San Mateo, California where it opened in 1934 and is home to the longest-running stakes event in California: the Bay . And Caribbean Pirate, purchased for $60,000 as a 2-year-old and delayed by a knee chip, didn't figure to break the slump so soon. He was taking a small step up in class - the Oceanside is for non-stakes-winning 3-year-olds - after winning a Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
``All the credit should go to Tom,'' Stacey said. ``This is fantastic. But it means more to him than it does to me.'' Stacey said Caribbean Pirate would be pointed for the Aug. 11 La Jolla Handicap The La Jolla Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The La Jolla is open to horses, age three, willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the turf. , the major prep for the Sept. 2 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. . Ambivalent will take the same route, though that wasn't the plan before the Oceanside. Orman, who trained '95 Oceanside winner Lake George Lake George, village (1990 est. pop. 1,100), seat of Warren co., E N.Y.; inc. 1903. Situated on the southern tip of Lake George in the foothills of the Adirondack Mts. (recently retired to stud following an ankle chip), intended to use the race as a prep for the $75,000 Real Good Deal Stakes on Aug. 14. One problem: By claiming Wednesday's $50,225 winner's purse, Ambivalent became ineligible for the Real Good Deal, which is for non-winners of $50,000. In other races, trainer Bob Baffert had back-to-back winners with Anet and Two Punch Glen, and Antley completed a double with Broad Dynamite. |
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