CALIFORNIA CUP: TEXCESS CLAIMS CLASSIC VICTORY GELDING HAD LOST 16 RACES IN A ROW.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Staff Writer ARCADIA -- Frustrated bettors might have told you the day Texcess wins a big race will be the day USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. loses a football game to Oregon State. Well, well. It wasn't an upset on the scale of the USC loss that drew intermittent cheers and groans from fans clustered around Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
The gelding gelding castrated male horse. who began his career as a candidate for the 2005 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. had lost 16 races in a row as he walked into the starting gate starting gate n. Sports 1. A series of stalls with interconnected doors that open simultaneously at the beginning of a race. 2. for the Classic, the main event of the Cal Cup's annual program showcasing state-bred horses. Because those losses included a few against big-name horses -- Lava Man Lava Man (foaled on March 20, 2001) is a dark bay gelded thoroughbred race horse by Slew City Slew (Seattle Slew) out of L'il Ms. Leonard (Nostalgia's Star) who rose from the lowest levels of claiming races to become regarded by many racing fans and members of the racing media as a , Giacomo, Surf Cat, Flower Alley -- fans gave him another chance in the Classic, sending him off as the 7-2 second choice to Top This and That. Texcess and jockey Victor Espinoza turned an outside post to their advantage by sitting on the outside in midpack, attacking on the turn for home and outrunning Cheroot cheroot (shər  t`): see cigar and cigarette. down the stretch to win the 1 1/8-mile race by 1 3/4 lengths and pay $9.40. ``We finally got him in the winner's circle,'' trainer Mike Mitchell said of the horse whose record now is 4 for 21. ``This is just great.'' It was the first of two victories for Mitchell, who capped Saturday by winning the $125,000 Cal Cup Juvenile Fillies with Romance is Diane, who like Texcess was sired by In Excess. Other highlights of the 10 Cal Cup races: Espinoza getting his triple rolling with a win aboard Something About Laura ($2.80) in the $150,000 Matron and Da Stoops ($3) in the $150,000 Sprint; and Alex Solis doubling with Special Heather ($7) in the $100,000 Distance Handicap and Freesgood ($26.40) in the $125,000 Juvenile. Epic Power ($18.80) winning the $175,000 Mile to give Corey Nakatani a 23-20 lead over Espinoza in the jockey standings going into today's final card of the Oak Tree meet. River's Prayer ($38.60) leading all the way in the $150,000 Distaff as Cambiocorsa suffered her first defeat in nine starts in Santa Anita's downhill turf sprints. Texcess' last victory came in the Dec. 4, 2004, Delta Downs Jackpot, a $1 million race for 2-year-olds. Second was Closing Argument, who went on to finish second in the Kentucky Derby. Texcess ran OK but lost 3-year-old races at Santa Anita and Bay Meadows before his Triple Crown hopes came undone in a last-place finish in the Lanes End Stakes at Turfway Park. Since then, he had been second in GradeIII stakes at Santa Anita and Lone Star Park Lone Star Park is a horse racing track located in Grand Prairie, Texas. History Lone Star Park opened in 1997. The track offers separate meets for Thoroughbred racing and Quarter Horse racing. In October of 2002, Magna Entertainment Corp. . Mitchell got the gelding from Paul Aguirre after owners Scott Anastasi, his father, Wayne Anastasi, and Carl Van Burger bought Texcess for $300,000 nine races back. The trainer gave credit to Hollywood Park's new Cushion Track synthetic surface, on which Texcess has been working for a month, and to the serendipity serendipity happy finding of an unexpected object or solution while searching for something else. of drawing post 9, which put the horse out of traffic. ``I've had some common horses that didn't want to win, and he's not one of those,'' trainer Mike Mitchell said. ``But he is one of those horses who have to get a good trip. ``He's a big, long-striding horse, and it's hard for him to stop and start.'' heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com (818) 713-3616 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Texcess, left, with jockey Victor Espinoza, edges out Cheroot, ridden by Martin Pedroza, to win the California Cup Classic on Saturday at Santa Anita. Chris Carlson/Associated Press |
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