OAK TREE OPENER: AZERI STOPS SHY OF DOZEN OWNER BLAMES JOCKEY FOR LOSS.

Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer

ARCADIA - Great thoroughbreds stir emotion in victory and defeat, as Azeri's owner unwittingly demonstrated Sunday at Santa Anita after the mare's winning streak ended at 11 races.

Apparently too upset to accept that Azeri had an off day, owner Michael Paulson blamed jockey Mike Smith for her loss to Got Koko and Alex Solis, in which she broke a step slowly and dropped back to fifth in the six-horse field early in the $300,000 Lady's Secret Handicap in front of 20,317 fans.

``I don't understand why Mike did that,'' Paulson said. ``That isn't her style of running. You could see she wanted to run several times but he had a tight hold on her.''

Azeri's loss - her second in a 16-race career and first since Summer Colony beat her Feb. 2, 2002, in the La Canada Stakes - was the most talked- about result on the Oak Tree season's opening day, which saw other Breeders' Cup prep races won by favorites Storming Home, Tates Creek and Halfbridled.

``He (Smith) gave me a scare before the race (when) he said, `Oh, I'm going to hold her back and see how the pace sets up,' '' Paulson said. ``Once he saw the slow pace, he should have took the lead and ran away with it. I'll talk to Mike and see what happened. But I'm going to be a little more vocal about how this horse is going to be ran in the future.

``But that's racing,'' said Paulson, son of the late owner-breeder Allen Paulson (Cigar, Arazi). ``We've got to be good sports. I commend the winners. Azeri's the champ. She'll be back and start a new streak.''

The defeat is a blow to the 5-year-old's chance of repeating as Horse of the Year, a championship that might have been clinched by Mineshaft in Saturday's Jockey Club Gold Cup.

After crossing the wire third, 2 1/4 lengths behind Got Koko ($12), Azeri (1-5 odds) was moved to second in the official order when runner-up Elloluv was disqualified to fourth for interfering with Adoration in the stretch.

Azeri, carrying 128 pounds - 10 more than Got Koko - made up ground after running about four lengths behind the 23.46-47.23-1:11.29 pace set by long shot Royally Chosen but never was a threat to win the 1 1/16-mile Lady's Secret. As slow as Paulson thought the pace was, Got Koko actually rallied from last to win in 1:42.92.

``I'm at a loss for words,'' said Smith, a Hall of Famer who has ridden Azeri in every start. ``I got her out (in the clear) in plenty of time to get her running, but I just couldn't get her running.''

The Lady's Secret is the major local prep for the Breeders' Cup Distaff, one of the eight Breeders' Cup races at Santa Anita on Oct. 25. Paulson indicated he'll still consider running Azeri against males in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

In other preps Sunday, Halfbridled, ridden by Julie Krone, ran away with the Oak Leaf to remain the favorite for the Juvenile Fillies; Tates Creek, with Pat Valenzuela, squeezed through to win the Yellow Ribbon on her way to the Filly & Mare Turf; and Storming Home, with Gary Stevens, won the Clement Hirsch Turf Championship and head to the Turf.

It was the first time Stevens rode Storming Home since their accident at the finish of the Aug. 16 Arlington Million.

--Notes: Chinkapin and Omar Berrio outfinished Denied to win the Ralph M. Hinds Memorial on closing day at Fairplex Park. ... Perfect Drift and Pat Day beat Tenpins in the Hawthorne Gold Cup in Illinois. ... Trainer Bobby Frankel's victory with Tate's Creek was his 22nd in a Grade I stakes this year, tying D. Wayne Lukas' 1987 record.

Kevin Modesti, [phone]

kevin.modesti(at)dailynews.com