Redattore seeks turnaround

ARCADIA, Calif. - Shortly after the network television cameras are turned off and the casual fans start heading for the exits, Santa Anita is treating die-hard racegoers to one more stakes after Saturday's Breeders' Cup program.

The $150,000 Seabiscuit Handicap over 1 1/16 miles is the 11th race on a 12-race program, and a puzzle for bettors.

Redattore, the winner of the 2002 San Antonio Handicap, is the 123-pound highweight. He will be trying to end a two-race losing streak and win his third major stakes of the year.

His top opponents are Fleetstreet Dancer and Star Cross, who were second and third in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap on Oct. 4; Truly a Judge, the winner of the 2002 Claiming Crown Jewel; Excess Summer, the winner of three consecutive stakes; Taste of Paradise, who won the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar in August; and Pie N Burger, the winner of three stakes in Texas and Louisiana this year.

Statue of Liberty, excluded from the Breeders' Cup Mile along with Pie N Burger and Taste of Paradise when the race was oversubscribed, is entered for his first start on dirt. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, Statue of Liberty was winless in four major stakes in England and France this year.

Redattore won the Frank Kilroe Mile and Shoemaker Mile on turf earlier this year, but he was sixth in the Eddie Read and third in the Live the Dream Handicap at Del Mar.

"He had a bad Del Mar," trainer Richard Mandella said. "We just threw it out."

A Brazilian-bred, Redattore, 8, has won 3 of 8 starts on dirt, with the San Antonio his most prestigious main-track win.

Redattore could get an ideal trip in a race with ample pace. Excess Summer, who won the Pomona Derby in his last start, and Taste of Paradise, who was fifth in the Goodwood, will be near the front along with Chinkapin, who won the Pomona Invitational on Sept. 28.

A quick pace could help Fleetstreet Dancer and Star Cross.

Fleetstreet Dancer has lost eight stakes in the past year, but he was third in the four-horse Pacific Classic and second by a half-length to Pleasantly Perfect in the Goodwood. Pleasantly Perfect starts in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Star Cross ran his best race in the Goodwood since arriving from Argentina in early 2002, losing by 1 3/4 lengths.

The Goodwood was the first time Star Cross was ridden by Ryan Fogelsonger, who has the mount on Saturday.