MEMORIES LINGER AS 'CAP NEARS.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with ARCADIA - This week marks 20 years since track announcer Trevor Denman's first 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 , a race also notable for a record crowd of 85,527 and Bill Shoemaker's 11th and last Big 'Cap victory astride a·stride adv. 1. With a leg on each side: riding astride. 2. With the legs wide apart. prep. 1. On or over and with a leg on each side of. 2. Lord at War. Denman likes Saturday's Santa Anita Handicap because he thinks contention runs at least six deep in the 11-horse event. ``I'd say it's the best since Best Pal's year (1992),'' he said. ``The last really memorable one was 1997 when (trainer Richard) Mandella ran 1-2-3 (Siphon siphon (sī`fən, –fŏn), tube through which a liquid is lifted over an elevation by the pressure of the atmosphere and is then emptied at a lower level. , Sandpit, Gentlemen).'' The voice of Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
1. 1986 - Greinton (with Laffit Pincay) had to catch 157-1 shot Herat near the wire. 2. 1987 - Broad Brush (Angel Cordero) shipped in from Maryland to nose out Ferdinand. 3. 1988 - Alysheba (Chris McCarron Christopher John "Chris" McCarron (b. March 27 1955, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame retired jockey. He was introduced to the sport of thoroughbred racing by his older brother, jockey Gregg McCarron. ) beat Ferdinand in a duel of 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. and Horse of the Year winners. 4. 1985 - The crowd at Lord at War's victory remains the North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. record for a non-Triple Crown race. 5. 1992 - Best Pal Best Pal (born February 12, 1988 in Ramona, California - died November 24, 1998 in Ramona, California) was a champion racehorse, who to this day holds the record for purses of any California-bred racehorse, earning his owners, the Golden Eagle Farm, US$5. (Kent Desormeaux), the popular California-bred, was at the top of his game. And the hardest to call? It was 1993, when Sir Beaufort, Star Recruit and Major Impact finished a nose and a head apart. ``Star Recruit looked like he won it with the naked eye,'' Denman said. ``I think I gave it one of those 'too close' calls.'' --You Get What You Pay for Dept.: Trying to make Big 'Cap Day bigger, Santa Anita management and horse-racing marketers will do something Saturday that makes so much sense they should do it every day. For the minor races on the program headed by the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap, they have bumped up purses by as much as 30 percent. Predictably, the result has been a stampede to the entry box and a likely average of a dozen starters in the non-stakes races. For sheer quality, and the choices available to bettors, it is the finest non-Breeders' Cup card in recent memory on a circuit plagued by six-horse fields and apathetic ap·a·thet·ic adj. Lacking interest or concern; indifferent. ap  a·thet fans. ``This is going to be a good experiment,'' Ron Charles, the executive overseeing Magna Entertainment's California racetracks, said of the increases funded by the sport's California Marketing Committee. ``Will the fans react?'' If the more-attractive races actually draw the heavier wagering that they should, Saturday will become Exhibit A for those who argue the industry would be rewarded for raising daily purses to entice out-of-state horsemen and encourage in-state breeders. In the absence of the slot-machine revenue that many other states' tracks enjoy, the plan here has seemed to be to pray for attendance and wagering increases that would finance purse increases and stimulate race entries. That's like an automobile manufacturer saying to customers, ``If only you'd buy more of the lemons we keep churning out, we'd have the money to build nicer cars in the future.'' Magna Entertainment reported losses of $95 million in 2004, in part because of boondoggles such as the renovation of Gulfstream Park. Maybe Magna and other track operators should do their deficit spending Deficit spending When government spending overwhelms government revenue resulting in government borrowing. deficit spending Expenditures that are in excess of revenues during a given period of time. on more immediate needs like more horses. Get past the politics and squabbles and just do it. ``Should Saturday be a successful day,'' Charles said in an encouraging sign, ``I think you may see it more often.'' --The picks: Local hero Rock Hard Ten may be on his way to joining the nation's older-horse elite after his Malibu and Strub stakes wins. Saint Liam is there already after fighting Horse of the Year Ghostzapper to a photo-finish decision last fall in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and thumping Roses in May last month in Florida in the Donn Handicap. So make my 1-2-3 picks for the Santa Anita Handicap: Saint Liam, Rock Hard Ten, Lundy's Liability. In the Santa Catalina, Declan's Moon doesn't have to win in his 2005 debut, but the 2-year-old champion and early-season Kentucky Derby favorite should be expected to win from behind speedsters Going Wild and Spanish Chestnut. I'll go Declan's Moon, Snack, Going Wild. --You heard it here: If he stays out of trouble off the racetrack, Patrick Valenzuela is going to win the Santa Anita jockeys championship despite missing the season's first 15 days while waiting for his latest long suspension to be overturned. The top of the Santa Anita standings read like this going into Thursday's card: 1. Tyler Baze, 43 wins; 2. Rene Douglas, 41; 3. Valenzuela, 38; 4. Victor Espinoza, 28; 5. Jon Court, 27. But in the 35 days since Valenzuela returned to action Jan. 14, the standings look like this: 1. Valenzuela, 38; 2. Douglas, 28; 3. Baze, 27; 4. Espinoza, 24; 5. Garrett Gomez, 17. Jammin JJ's disqualification Wednesday landed Valenzuela a five-day suspension that begins next Wednesday. But even subtracting for those lost days, at his recent pace Valenzuela would end the 85-day meet with 71 victories, beating Baze by one and Douglas by two. CAPTION(S): box Box: OUT OF THE GATE BY KEVIN MODESTI |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion