SANTA ANITA: BOARD TO INVESTIGATE HORSE'S HEALTH STATUS.

Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer

The revelation that Sweet Catomine had physical problems in the week before her Santa Anita Derby defeat has prompted an investigation by the California Horse Racing Board, the state agency announced Sunday.

Only after Sweet Catomine's fifth-place finish as an even-money favorite did owner Martin Wygod tell reporters the filly bled in a workout and battled a foot problem - and had been in heat for the first time - in the days before Saturday's race.

Wygod said he considered scratching Sweet Catomine but didn't in part because Santa Anita built its ads around her appearance.

``This obviously a concern,'' said Ingrid Fermin, the CHRB's executive director, who said she learned of the situation from Sunday-morning newspaper columns that rapped Wygod and trainer Julio Canani for keeping the horse's condition from bettors.

The investigation, which began Sunday, is to include interviews with veterinarians who treated the 3-year-old filly at Santa Anita and at an equine medical facility near Santa Barbara.

It was unclear what rules might have been violated if Sweet Catomine's handlers made misleading prerace statements about her condition. Racing officials expressed concern the incident would undermine already-shaky public trust in the sport.

Buzzards Bay and jockey Mark Guidry won at 30-1 odds to give trainer Jeff Mullins a record third consecutive Santa Anita Derby victory.

Kevin Modesti, [phone]

kevin.modesti(at)dailynews.com