JINX MAY NOT BE SO SWEET.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI ARCADIA - On paper and in the flesh, Sweet Catomine appears to have such an edge over the 10 colts in Saturday's 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. that it would take a higher power Higher power is a term used in a 12-step program, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, to describe "a power greater than yourself." Although many participants equate their higher power with God, a belief in God or in formal religion is not mandatory; the higher power is intended as a to deny her a historic victory. The trouble for Sweet Catomine is that her trainer may already have turned the racetrack gods against her. It's something Julio Canani said after the filly won her fifth race in a row last month. ``She's the best filly that ever lived,'' Canani proclaimed after Sweet Catomine ran away from the rest of the best fillies on the circuit in the Santa Anita Oaks Santa Anita Oaks is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Open to three-year-old fillies willing to race 8.5 furlongs (1 1/16 miles) on the dirt, it currently offers a purse of $300,000. . ``She's going to prove it this year.'' At the racetrack, there are some thoughts that are better kept to yourself. You don't shout ``I win!'' before your horse hits the finish line. You don't declare that you've discovered a foolproof betting system before you've bought a beach house with your pari-mutuel proceeds. And you don't invite comparisons between your horse and the all-time greats before the beast puts up the numbers to prove it. On the backstretch back·stretch n. The part of an oval racecourse farthest from the spectators and opposite the homestretch. , folks have a pretty acute sense of when somebody has jumped the gun. Said Roger Stein, who is training General John B for the Santa Anita Derby: ''If you trained Secretariat, and you said he was the greatest horse who ever lived - while he was racing - people would take exception.'' It seems that Canani may realize he spoke too soon on behalf of a horse who won the 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 and the 2-year-old fillies championship in 2005 but hasn't run as fast this season and has yet to be tested against males. This week, Canani, a 66-year-old native of Peru, was denying that he ever called Sweet Catomine the greatest filly who ever lived, even though he said it to a television interviewer in the Santa Anita Oaks winner's circle win·ner's circle n. pl. winners' circles An enclosed area at a racetrack where the winning horse and jockey are brought for awards and publicity. Noun 1. and half a dozen print reporters wrote it down. ``I said this is the best 3-year-old filly. Now,'' Canani said Wednesday morning at Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
Said Craig Dollase, who has Wilko in the $750,000 race that serves as the major western prep for the May 7 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. : ``Maybe he doesn't want to jinx jinx n. 1. A person or thing that is believed to bring bad luck. 2. A condition or period of bad luck that appears to have been caused by a specific person or thing. tr.v. himself.'' So is anyone giving Canani the benefit of the doubt, considering the possibility that he was just caught up in the moment or tripped over his heavily accented English? Yeah, right. At Santa Anita, respect for the racetrack gods runs second only to the demands of the marketing department. The promoters of the Santa Anita Derby have seized on the exuberant comment and featured it in television commercials. A commentator for Santa Anita's online wagering outlet used it as the jump-off for a column about the greatest fillies of all time. Everybody seems to think Canani's statement is just provocative enough to lend sex appeal to a dull Kentucky Derby prep season. ``He has every right to say that at this point,'' said Kent Desormeaux Kent J. Desormeaux (born February 27, 1970, in Maurice, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year. , who rode Memorette to second place, three lengths behind Sweet Catomine, in the Santa Anita Oaks four weeks ago. ``As far as he's concerned, she's done everything (she has to) to be called great. ... She's one to root for - she'd be a great story.'' But in 67 Santa Anita Derbies, 25 fillies have competed and only three have won - Ciencia in 1939, Silver Spoon in 1959 and Winning Colors
Winning Colors is the third novel in the space opera, military science fiction Familias Regnant fictional universe written by Elizabeth Moon; it continues the plot centered on the adventures of in 1988. And in 130 Kentucky Derbies, 38 fillies have tried and only three have won - Regret in 1915, Genuine Risk in 1980 and Winning Colors. This week, when Santa Anita television commentator and XpressBet.com columnist Jon White gave his version of the top 10 fillies in North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. thoroughbred racing history, Regret was No. 2 and Genuine Risk was No. 9, while Winning Colors was nowhere to be found. Like almost everybody, White put the tragic Ruffian at No. 1. ``I would say she's going to have to step it up dramatically to compete with the boys,'' Desormeaux said of Sweet Catomine. ``Boys run faster.'' Or maybe not. Sweet Catomine has won all five of her races - all at the graded-stakes level - since finishing second in her debut at Del Mar Del Mar is the name of several places in the United States of America:
``She's as big as a colt,'' said Corey Nakatani, who'll ride her Saturday. ``She's got the heart of a champion.'' Sweet Catomine's breeder and owner, Martin Wygod, has said that if the big filly wins here, she'll get a chance at the Kentucky Derby. If she wins at Churchill Downs, then the ``greatest filly'' chatter can start. Julio Canani is so wary now, he won't even talk about Churchill Downs. ``Listen, let's play it day by day,'' Canani said. ``She'll run Saturday. We'll talk on Sunday.'' CAPTION(S): box Box: SANTA ANITA DERBY LINEUP |
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