HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - She proved herself against the best.
Champion Farda Amiga's toughest race last season was probably the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga in which Allamerican Bertie, the Klein family's homebred, set the pace and hung on grimly, beaten three-quarters of a length by a remarkable filly.
ARCADIA, Calif. - It should come as no surprise that the La Canada series of races for freshly turned 4-year-old fillies at three different distances taking place over a span of barely 40 days has been swept only two times in its 28-year history.
It's tough enough just to pronounce.
Why, wonder those who are new to the concept, would a Southern California racetrack want to honor our hockey-crazed neighbors to the far north? And why "La" Canada rather than "Oh" Canada?
ARCADIA, Calif. - The management of Hollywood Park has turned the normally mundane announcement of its spring and summer stakes schedule into a veritable pi?ata of zany surprises.
Okay, maybe that's going a bit too far. But anything that shakes the tree of complacency in the presentation of top-class racing is a good thing, and the folks at Hollywood Park seem to be trying their best.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Vindication, champion 2-year-old last season, is expected to have six starts before the Kentucky Derby. He ran four times last year.
Undefeated Sky Mesa, winner of the Hopeful at Saratoga and a leading prospect for the classics, is also expected to go in the Derby off six starts. He had three starts as a 2-year-old.
Toccet, one of the busiest 2-year-olds, with eight starts, will have run about 10 times if his people can get him ready in time for the Derby.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - In bygone days, attempted betting coups were among the most intriguing and colorful parts of the racing game. They have largely vanished because of the prevalence of illegal drugs at U.S. tracks. If a trainer is trying to cash a bet, he can use a needle or summon an unscrupulous veterinarian to obtain an edge, so there is no need to invest the time, planning, and creativity necessary for a successful coup.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Hurricane Jerry blew into California last weekend, scooped up both the Strub Stakes and the San Antonio Handicap, paused for dinner with friends and a little golf, then left town still firmly attached to the two best older horses in North America.
By his own admission, Jerry Bailey used only a few of the tools at his disposal while riding Medaglia d'Oro to victory in the Strub. To hear him tell it, he basically left the gate, hung on, and turned left. The result was a seven-length win over the up-and-coming Olmo-davor, who never really knew what hit him.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - No bigger than a minute, Max Hugel's Gal O Gal was the horse of the hour here Saturday, sprinting along the rail through the stretch to post a well-earned victory in the $100,000 Herecomesthebride Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf.
NEW YORK - Last weekend's Sunshine Millions has been widely pronounced a roaring success, a verdict that seems reminiscent of the old joke about the horse owner who says that racing has made him a millionaire.
"The only problem," says the owner, "is that I started out with $10 million."
ARCADIA, Calif. - The San Antonio Handicap is always a race worth winning. Success tends to indicate greater things to come - if they haven't already happened.
Sore old Seabiscuit was near the end of the line when he won the San Antonio in 1940, but he was dazzling that day, defeating his stablemate Kayak.
Round Table, an all-purpose champion, was at the dawn of his Horse of the Year season when he beat Porterhouse, Terrang, and Find in 1958. He ran 17 more times that year.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Day and night.
Sweettrickydancer didn't show a thing when she began her racing career last summer at Calder. Competing on dirt, she was beaten almost 35 lengths in her first two appearances. Then trainer Rodolfo Garcia, cognizant of her pedigree favoring the turf, tried her in a grass race and got a rousing response.