GOLDEN GLIMPSES #220

July 4, 2000

By ED GOLDEN

RACING THOUGHTS THAT COULD TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY

Don�t hold your breath until . . .

Bob Baffert sends out a horse without a bullet workout.

Fusaichi Pegasus makes his next start.

Ed Moger Jr., wallowing in obscurity, receives recognition as a shrewd trainer to cash a bet on.

Matt Garcia is compared to Bill Shoemaker. But horses run for him.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Magna Entertainment see eye-to-eye. The NTHP has cited Santa Anita, one of Magna Entertainment�s purchases, as "obliterating the historic structure" and placed the storied Arcadia track on its list of "America�s Most Endangered Historic Places." The august organization claims that expansion at Santa Anita "will ruin historic Art Deco structure," but with weekday on-track attendance barely breaking 5,000, who will notice?

Nationalore breaks his maiden. The 5-year-old son of Video Ranger is winless after 25 starts, including thirds in two Grade I stakes, the 1997 Breeders� Cup Juvenile and the 1997 Hollywood Futurity. The winners of those races were Favorite Trick, 1997 Horse of the Year, and Real Quiet, who went on to win the 1998 Kentucky Derby. Daily Racing Form doesn�t maintain such records, but Nationalore is believed to be the world�s richest maiden, with earnings of $319,227.

Laffit Pincay Jr. wins his 10,000th race, because it won�t happen. The next goal for the world�s winningest rider is 9,000, and he needs only 67 wins to reach that number. Bet the under that the dedicated 53-year-old icon will call it a career well before he approaches five figures.

Until horse racing gets the TV exposure auto racing receives. In a recent Los Angeles Times� listing of TV sports, an inch-and-a-half of space was devoted to auto racing. Horse racing required only three lines.

Until the beancounters shrink the racing calendar. Southern California needs at least 30 days chopped from its already monotonous schedule, which is far beyond the saturation point, the result of which produces five-horse fields with regularity.

Until today�s inflation reaches parity with yesteryear. In a career that spanned 21 races, with 20 wins and one second, Man o� War earned $249,465 eight decades ago. Aptitude picked up $170,000 for finishing second in the Kentucky Derby this year. Eddie Arcaro�s mounts earned $30,039,543 during The Master�s 30-year riding career that ended in 1961. Through June of this year. a period of just six months, national leader Pat Day�s mounts had earned more than $8 million.

THE HOMESTRETCH: Probables for Sunday�s $1 million Hollywood Gold Cup: General Challenge, Corey Nakatani; Chester House, Kent Desormeaux; Out of Mind, Eddie Delahoussaye; Big Ten, Alex Solis; Cat Thief, Pat Day; David, Aaron Gryder; Early Pioneer, Victor Espinoza; Pleasant Breeze, Jorge Chavez, and possibly Patience Game. All starters carry 124 pounds over 1 1/4 miles . . . Baffert, on trying to win the Grade I race with General Challenge after a three-month layoff: "You�d rather have a race into him before going a mile and a quarter, especially at Hollywood. That�s a pretty demanding race track. But we�ve won off a layoff before." Baffert won last year�s Gold Cup with Real Quiet . . . Randy Bradshaw, assistant to D. Wayne Lukas, says multiple Grade I stakes winner Surfside has not returned to Churchill Downs as previously reported. "They decided to give her more time (to recover from removal of ankle chips)," Bradshaw said, "and she�s still at Overbrook Farm." . . . After the Aug. 12 Clement L. Hirsch Handicap at Del Mar, trainer Eduardo Inda has the Sept. 16 Ruffian at Belmont in mind for Riboletta, the West Coast�s leading mare. Inda plans to go in Keeneland�s Spinster on Oct. 14 after the Ruffian, a Grade I race which Inda says is the "perfect" spot for Riboletta, who would have to be supplemented to the Nov. 4 Breeders� Cup Distaff at a cost of $400,000. That race looms as an Eclipse Award showdown with divisional leaders Beautiful Pleasure and Heritage of Gold . . . Brice Blanc has picked up the mount on Belmont Stakes winner Commendable for Sunday�s Dwyer Stakes, filling in for Day, who rides Cat Thief in the Gold Cup . . . Espinoza is heading for a breakthrough meet at Hollywood, where he is leading rider with two weeks to go. The 28-year-old Mexico City native won titles at Fairplex Park in 1996 and 1997, but has never won a major riding crown. "I�m very happy with what I see right now with Victor," said his agent, Tony Matos, who has been representing riders for more than 30 years and includes an 11-year hitch with Pincay and a 10-year run with Angel Cordero Jr., both Hall of Fame members. "Victor has nothing to envy from any rider. He has all the qualities to be a great rider and he is in demand all over the country." Desormeaux�s business also is handled by Matos, who has steadily resurrected the 30-year-old jockey�s career to world-class status. "What can I say about Kent?" Matos said. "He is a superstar. With Victor and Kent, I couldn�t be more blessed." . . . Trainer Joe Orseno, on how Desormeaux got the mount on handicap leader Golden Missile: "Frank (owner Frank Stronach) really likes Kent," Orseno said, "and when we needed a rider for last year�s Breeders� Cup Classic, Frank asked me to try and get Kent. It was the first time he rode for me and we almost pulled off a 75-1 upset. I got a chance to know Kent and his wife (Sonia) during Preakness week. They�re great people."

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