POMONA, Calif. - It's good to be king, even if your kingdom features corn dogs and Ferris wheels, which is why Martin Pedroza stands tall and proud as the undisputed leader of the pack at the Los Angeles County Fair.
The 39-year-old Pedroza has won a Santa Anita Handicap, a Del Mar Debutante, the Hutcheson, the Spinaway, and the Sorority, while riding such worthy animals as Bluesthestandard, Cavonnier, Sea Cadet, and Mr. Prime Minister.
TUCSON, Ariz. - I now have lived long enough to see the narrowing of The Great Divide, that provincial gulf that has separated owners of Thoroughbred and harness horses.
When David Willmot and Bob Anderson's 2-year-old pacing filly Cabrini Hanover won Woodbine's $760,000 premier juvenile filly event last Saturday night, and Nick and Kim Zito's 2-year-old trotting filly Centerfold Hall just missed remaining undefeated in six lifetime starts at the historic Red Mile in Lexington, Ky., a night later, it marked a crossing I have always hoped to see.
DEL MAR, Calif. - It is understandable that there would be some degree of indignation over the early departure of Gary Stevens from his French racing adventure. After all, he arrived to great fanfare last spring, and his association with Andre Fabre had the all makings of a grand piece of racing theater.
NEW YORK - When I left Saratoga Springs, N.Y., last Monday to play the final week of the Saratoga meeting from home on Long Island, I knew I would miss a few things about being at the Spa - the cool of the evenings, the energy of live racing, the company of track buddies staying to the bitter end of the meet. One thing I have not missed, though, is the sheer torture of trying to watch Saratoga races on television in the Capital OTB district.
DEL MAR, Calif. - The real world is not supposed to get in the way of Thoroughbred racing, better known as Fantasy Island. It is okay, therefore, that the substance of the Republican Party platform is not the talk of the backstretch, or that the fallout from the recent presidential referendum in Venezuela has yet to penetrate the turf club chitchat.
DEL MAR, Calif. - The Olympic ideal is admirable. Participation and sportsmanship are the highest forms of expression. First is great, but finish second or third and the accolades still rain down, the flag flies, and you go home with a dandy prize.
Then there is horse racing, a brutal exercise in single elimination, in which winners take all and losers weep, forgotten and buried by time. Disagree? Go visit Cavonnier.
DEL MAR, Calif. - The Del Mar turf course is not haunted by gremlins, gnomes, or trolls. It was not built on a Native American burial plot and therefore cursed as a desecration of sacred ground. Neither was it abducted, probed, and returned to Earth to carry out the diabolical schemes of an alien civilization. It only seems that way.
From its triumphant debut during the 1960 season, to its contemporary profile as a Breeders' Cup site in waiting, the Del Mar's Jimmy Durante Turf Course has led a life rich in history and drama. Sometimes, almost too much drama.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Now that Pleasantly Perfect has stuck a knife into the heart of the "Dubai bounce" theory, it is safe for Domestic Dispute to step up and seal the deal.
That's not to say Domestic Dispute, winner of the Strub Stakes last February, didn't need a bit of a break after his journey to the Middle East to run in the Dubai World Cup on March 27. His trainer, Paddy Gallagher, returned with a colt who was tucked and tired after finishing a distant sixth to Pleasantly Perfect and Medaglia d'Oro.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Jim Cassidy was wondering if a filly or a mare had ever bothered to win the Del Mar Handicap. It was a fair question, since Cassidy was about to enter Moscow Burning in Sunday's $250,000 affair at 11 furlongs on the grass against a field of unfriendly males, and the trainer was hoping that he would not be required to both win the race and make history at the same time. There's enough pressure just leading them over.