KENTUCKY DERBY PICTURE COMES INTO FOCUS.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI / Horse Racing In horse racing, high expectations never go unpunished. So when we fantasized about Silver Charm, Gentlemen and a classic 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 , we should have known we were guaranteeing disappointment. Moving on, the best that can be said is this: So far in 1998, nobody is making the same mistake with the Kentucky Derby. Expectations for the May 2 Derby - now 50 days away - are uncommonly low. Favorite Trick, the would-be superhorse, has taken a long winter and is no sure thing to make the race. From the 3-year-olds who have been running both in California and Florida, a charismatic and exciting prospect has yet to emerge. All of which could change - is that good or bad news? - this weekend when three tracks across the country hold four races that might alter the way we think about the 124th Derby: The $250,000 San Felipe Stakes The San Felipe Stakes is a race for Thoroughbred horses run each year at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The race is normally held in mid-March and is open to horses, age three, willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles (8.5 furlongs) on the dirt. , Santa Anita, Saturday: It's a chance for Artax to separate himself from the California pack, and for Prosperous Bid and Sea of Secrets to remain unbeaten. Whoever wins should be favored for the April 4 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. . The lineup in post-position order (with riders): Artax (Chris McCarron), Sea Of Secrets (Gary Stevens), Yarrow Brae (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 ), Prosperous Bid (Corey Nakatani), Classic Cat (Frank Alvarado), Nationalore (Eddie Delahoussaye) and Real Quiet (Kent Desormeaux). The $750,000 Florida Derby, Gulfstream Park, Saturday: The winner becomes the Eastern favorite, especially if Lil's Lad repeats his Fountain of Youth Fountain of Youth legendary fountain of eternal youth. [World Legend: Brewer Dictionary, 432] See : Unattainability victory over head case Coronado's Quest, stretch-running Halory Hunter and disappointing Cape Town. The field is the smallest for the race since Honest Pleasure beat five in 1976: Voyamerican (Eibar Coa), Halory Hunter (Pat Day), Starship Charles (Eduardo Nunez), Cape Town (Shane Sellers), Lil's Lad (Jerry Bailey) and Coronado's Quest (Mike Smith). The $75,000 Swale Stakes, Gulfstream, Saturday: The 7-furlong ``B'' feature could upstage the Florida Derby, because it marks the first competition for Horse of the Year Favorite Trick since he completed a perfect 2-year-old season by winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. at Hollywood Park in November. Trainer Bill Mott said Favorite Trick will need a ``winning performance'' - notice he didn't say a win - to go on to the April 11 Blue Grass Stakes The Blue Grass Stakes, currently sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in mid April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. at Keeneland and a shot at the Derby. The lineup: Teddy Boy (Joe Bravo), Dice Dancer (Jean-Luc Samyn), Swig (Coa), Good and Tough (Smith), Favorite Trick (Day), Dontletthebigonego (John Velazquez), El Mirasol (Julie Krone), Diamond Studs (Bailey) and Southern Bostonian (Seller). The $500,000 Louisiana Derby, the Fair Grounds, Sunday: Comic Strip, another good 3-year-old for Lil's Lad trainer Neil Howard, tries to repeat his mild upset of Time Limit in last month's Risen Star. The lineup will be set today. The San Felipe looks stronger than the earlier Santa Anita Derby ``semifinal,'' the 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. , won by Orville N Wilbur's over Souvenir Copy on March 1. Most of the attention Saturday will go to Artax, a son of '91 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 Marquetry. Trainer Randy Bradshaw is trying to get the natural pacesetter to relax. Artax's latest workout, 5 furlongs in a fast :58 4/5 with McCarron aboard Sunday, didn't entirely serve Bradshaw's purpose. ``I didn't like to see the second eighth (of a mile) in :10 2/5, but he settled down after that, which was great,'' the trainer said. ``The rest of the week, I'm just going to put some mile-and-a-half gallops into him and take a little more off his fastball.'' The past four Kentucky Derby winners raced in the Florida Derby (Go for Gin Go for Gin (foaled 1991 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred racehorse most well known as the winner of the 1994 Kentucky Derby. He was sired by Cormorant out of the dam Never Knock. ran fourth in 1994, and Thunder Gulch won in '95), the Louisiana Derby (Grindstone won in '96) or the San Felipe (Silver Charm ran second in '97). With some impressive efforts this weekend, and an encouraging season debut by Favorite Trick, expectations for the Kentucky Derby will start to build. Just what we need. Oh, what the heck: Yes, we've learned not to look too far ahead when it comes to Silver Charm and Gentlemen. But, just in case you're wondering when they might finally meet, the answer is June 28 in the Hollywood Gold Cup. Silver Charm, recovered from the foot bruise that kept him out of last Saturday's Santa Anita Handicap, is scheduled to fly today with Big 'Cap winner Malek to Dubai for the $4 million Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race is operated through the Emirates Horse Racing Authority (EHRA) whose Chairman is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on March 18. That will be Silver Charm's fourth race in three months, so he'll get a rest when he comes home. Gentlemen, who suffered another bout of respiratory bleeding when he finished a shocking last in the four-horse Big 'Cap, won't resume training for two weeks and probably would come back in the May 31 Californian - a Gold Cup prep - at Hollywood Park. Trainer Richard Mandella was relieved when a veterinary exam confirmed that Gentlemen had nothing more wrong with him after the race. Mandella hopes the bleeding - which happened to a lesser degree in the '97 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. and Big 'Cap - is brought on by winter allergies. 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 standings: Jockeys (through Wednesday): Gary Stevens, 55 winners; Kent Desormeaux, 53; Corey Nakatani, 41; Alex Solis, 39; David Flores, 28. Trainers: Bob Baffert, 33; Neil Drysdale, 18; Ron McAnally, 17; Richard Mandella and Mike Mitchell, 14. Handicapper helper: Maybe the outside isn't so bad. Post position 12 in two-turn races on the Santa Anita main track has produced four winners in nine tries this season. Upcoming: At Santa Anita: $250,000 San Felipe Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, 3-year-olds, Saturday; $250,000 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. , 1 1/16 miles, 3-year-old fillies; $125,000 Crystal Water Handicap, mile on turf, California-breds, Sunday; $100,000 La Habra, 6-1/2 furlongs on turf, 3-year-old fillies, Wednesday. At Gulfstream Park: $750,000 Florida Derby, 1-1/8 miles, 3-year-olds; $75,000 Swale, 7 furlongs, 3-year-olds, Saturday. At the Fair Grounds: $500,000 Louisiana Derby, 1 1/16 miles, 3-year-olds. Mileposts: Harness-horse owner Jack Coffey and former Los Alamitos co-owner Chris Bardis were appointed to the California Horse Racing Board by Gov. Pete Wilson. They replace Don Valpredo and Hyla Bertea. . . . Officials of Detroit Race Course announced the 48-year-old track will close after the 1998 season. . . . D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. , who had two horses test positive for scopolamine scopolamine (skōpŏl`əmēn, –mĭn) or hyoscine (hī`əsēn', –sĭn), alkaloid drug obtained from plants of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), chiefly from henbane, in January at Santa Anita, indicated he would use the same defense that worked for several other trainers a few years ago: He'll argue that the banned substance came from jimsonweed jimsonweed, n Latin name: Datura stramonium; parts used: flowers, leaves, roots; uses: asthma, Parkinson's disease, irritable bowel syndrome; precautions: children, pregnancy, lactation, patients with nervous disorders; liver disease, heart found in feed and hay. . . . Herbert McCarron, father of Chris and Gregg, died in Masachusetts from complications of emphysema. . . . Sidelined: Love Lock (ill), Shellbacks (fracture). . . . Injured 1997 stars Formal Gold (jogging) and Touch Gold (walking) took early steps toward comebacks. . . . Euthanized: 1984 Preakness winner Gate Dancer (because of complications of laminitis laminitis (lăm'ənī`tĭs), also called founder, inflammation of the lamina, the innermost layer of the hoof wall in horses, ponies, and donkeys. Although the condition usually affects only the front feet, it may involve all four feet. ). . . . Jockey Martin Pedroza and agent Richie Silverstein have split. Jim Pegram, who has David Flores, will also book mounts for Pedroza. . . . Former riding great Angel Cordero, who has been training, has become the agent for jockey John Velazquez in Florida. -- Kevin Modesti CAPTION(S): Box BOX: A WEEK AT THE RACES (see text) |
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