CONGAREE OPENS WEIGHTY SEASON.Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services ARCADIA - Congaree and Pleasantly Perfect Pleasantly Perfect (born April 2, 1998 in Lexington, Kentucky) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who retired as the fourth richest American horse in career earnings. A son of Pleasant Colony, winner of the 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, he was out of the mare Regal State who will face three other horses in Saturday's San Antonio Handicap The San Antonio Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park each year. The race is open to horses, age three and up, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt. The Grade II event offers a purse of $250,000. Round Table won this race in 1958. at Santa Anita as last year's stars open their 2004 seasons. Congaree, the Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions. winner and Horse of the Year runner-up to Mineshaft mine·shaft n. A vertical or sloping passageway made in the earth for finding or mining ore and ventilating underground excavations. Noun 1. , was assigned a race-high 124 pounds for the $250,000, 1 1/8-mile San Antonio, the major prep for the March 6 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 . Pleasantly Perfect, the surprise Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade 1 Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 years old and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles (2012 m) on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. winner, is next at 121 pounds. The San Antonio Handicap field, announced Thursday, in post-position order: Fleetstreet Dancer, 116 pounds, jockey Jon Court; Star Cross, 113, Victor Espinoza; Congaree, Jerry Bailey; Pleasantly Perfect, Alex Solis; Nose the Trade, 113, 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 . Flores was named to ride Nose the Trade in place of Patrick Valenzuela, who is under suspension since missing a mandatory drug test Jan. 23 and had not been heard from by Santa Anita stewards as of Thursday morning. Valenzuela had swept Southern California's major-track jockey titles last season after returning from a nearly two-year suspension for his latest drugs-related rules infraction Violation or infringement; breach of a statute, contract, or obligation. The term infraction is frequently used in reference to the violation of a particular statute for which the penalty is minor, such as a parking infraction. INFRACTION. . Congaree, who might have been Horse of the Year if he'd reversed a head defeat to Milwaukee Brew in the 2003 Santa Anita Handicap, was not a definite starter for Saturday's race until Wednesday. The horse owned by Houston Texans owner Bob McNair won the 2003 San Antonio. ``I wasn't very happy with the weights, but we don't have much choice,'' Baffert said of the 124-pound assignment, matching what Congaree carried in his Gold Cup and Cigar Mile victories as a 4-year-old. ``For some reason they just keep weighting and weighting Congaree. He's running a mile and an eighth early in the year, so if he wins, what does he do in the Big 'Cap? Last year he had to give Milwaukee Brew five pounds (124-119).'' Pleasantly Perfect will try to improve on his third-place finish in the 2003 San Antonio. After finishing fourth in the Santa Anita Handicap, the then-4-year-old was sidelined until the October Goodwood Handicap victory that set him up for a 14-1 Breeders' Cup Classic upset. The other major prep for the Santa Anita Handicap is the Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds. That $300,000, 1 1/8-mile race is scheduled for Feb. 7. CAPTION(S): box Box: OUT OF THE GATE - Kevin Modesti |
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