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One theory has it that The Police’s 1980 album Zenyatta Mondatta came from the words Zenith and Monde (French for “World”), meaning Top of the World. Another says the translation came from Sanskrit, also meaning Top of the World. Whatever the case, after watching the thoroughbred version of Zenyatta win the Ladies Classic on Breeders’ Cup Day 1, you saw a horse on top of the (racing) world. After making her customary rally-wide move from last, Zenyatta ran by Cocoa Beach to remain perfect, running her record to nine-for-nine. If there has been a better filly or mare in my lifetime, I haven’t seen her. I remember Ruffian as a kid, and more recently the undefeated Personal Ensign, and brilliant runners like Inside Information and Azeri. They might have been as good but none of them better than Zenyatta. The gorgeous amazon, who exudes sheer class when she steps on the racetrack, runs the same race every time, lagging behind early, picking it up on the far turn under light urging from rider Mike Smith, then swooping by her outclassed rivals through the lane. Here’s hoping she stays in training next year and comes back to win another Classic—the Breeders’ Cup Classic against the boys.

The Breeders’ Cup card kicked off with a huge performance from Ventura, who rallied from far back to win the Filly and Mare Sprint in 1:19.90, just a hundredth of a second off the track record. She ran by champion Indian Blessing like that one was tied to a post, drawing off powerfully through the final 100 yards. Late runners, seemingly no matter how wide, had all the best of it today. Besides Zenyatta and Ventura, Juvenile Fillies winner Stardom Bound wrapped up a championship with a Zenyatta-like move on the far turn, rallying 5-wide into the lane to win impressively while giving Smith the first of his two BC wins on the day.

Prior to that race, Maram remained undefeated in three starts by narrowly holding off Euro invader Heart Shaped in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, with favored pacesetter Laragh tiring to third. In the other turf event, Forever Together duplicated her latest Keeneland victory with another strong stretch run to sweep by Sealy Hill and Wait a While to take the Filly and Mare Turf.

Although I have been somewhat ambivalent about the BC going to a two-day event, I have to admit I really enjoyed today’s prelim card. Many felt it was a slight to Zenyatta to be relegated to the all-female Friday card, but the other side of the argument is that she got the spotlight all to herself. The crowd of 31,257 gave her a rousing ovation as she returned to the winner’s circle, knowing her status as one of the all-time greats had been secured.

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us. Let’s see if Curlin can put on the same kind of show.

Last weekend Oak Tree carded eight Breeders’ Cup prep races, including a record six Grade I’s on Saturday. Add another Grade I (Norfolk) and a Grade II (Oak Tree Mile) on Sunday, and we had a sensory overload weekend. Of those eight features, we saw a number of solid performances but two runners stood out—Zenyatta in the Lady’s Secret and Stardom Bound in the Oak Leaf. Let’s take a chronological look, with a brief recap of each:

The Clement Hirsch at 1 1/4 on turf saw Red Giant wear down Out of Control in what amounted to a two-horse race as favorite Spring House didn’t fire at all. The top two figure to move on to the BC Turf but my gut feeling is they are a cut below the biggies.

Zenyatta produced another scintillating performance in the Lady’s Secret, blowing away Hystericalady through the final furlong with her usual devastating stretch kick. We’re running out of superlatives to describe this amazon, who looks like the shortest-priced winner on BC day.

In the Ancient Title, Cost of Freedom showed his freakish win at Del Mar when making his first start off the John Sadler claim was no fluke when he held off odds-on Street Boss to win in 1:07.2 (over a very glib track). In Summation had some traffic trouble but was third best and Idiot Proof isn’t the same horse as he was last year at this time. The top two figure to be major players in the BC Sprint.

Stardom Bound followed up her devastating Debutante win with an equally impressive Oak Leaf score while stretching out around two turns. I had my doubts (especially after she had been kicked by a pony the day before) but she dispelled those by simply outclassing her opposition. She isn’t beating anything out here but will go into the BC Juvenile Fillies as a solid favorite.

In the Yellow Ribbon, Wait a While continued her love affair with the Santa Anita course by winning this race for the second time (also won the ’06 edition). She got a perfect trip behind the leaders, moved to the lead at the top of the stretch and held gamely over classy Vacare and late-running Black Mamba.

And to wrap up Saturday’s card, hard-knocking Well Armed took the Goodwood Stakes as the solid choice. He looked to be in some trouble on the far turn as rider Aaron Gryder was asking hard but ‘Armed responded in mid-stretch and won fairly comfortably. If the “Big Two” don’t fire in the BC Classic, he has to be given some sort of look, although I wasn’t visually blown away by the Goodwood. Tiago perked up and ran second, with Albertus Maximus (too far back early?) third.

On Sunday, Hyperbaric got the jump and held off fast-closing Tybalt to win the Oak Tree Mile while giving Garrett Gomez his 3,000th winner. The Julio Canani-trained gelding has won three straight and this barn knows how to win the BC Mile. The runner-up ran huge, coming the final furlong in under 11 seconds.

Finally, maiden Street Hero won a cavalry charge to take the Norfolk over Midshipman, Believe in Hope and Del Conte. The number might have been okay but to me this was an ugly race, and I’ll take a stand against all these local on the big day.

NOTES: Through five days of racing the revamped Pro-Ride main track has played very fair, with horses winning from everywhere. Although the surface got a little too glib for my taste on the weekend, I think it has been fair to all types of runners. The turf, while lightning fast, has also played fairly. Through the first week, there were 12 turf races, with four won in wire-to-wire fashion (two when the rails were out 30 feet, which promotes speed)….Corey Nakatani suffered a broken collarbone on opening day and is likely to miss the rest of the meet…Lainies Lion was the first horse to take advantage of the new CHRB rule that protects horses coming back from 180-day or more layoffs. Those horses cannot be claimed if entered back at or above their last claiming price…the second race of the meet saw a very rare double disqualification. Not only was it a ticky-tack call but the objection was lodged by the jockey of the original fourth-place finisher, not by the stewards…Curlin arrived here the day after becoming North America’s richest racehorse by winning the JC Gold Cup at Belmont on Saturday. His arrival wasn’t exactly the Beatles coming to America for the first time but he was greeted by a handful of track officials, media and photographers.

My apologies for not making regular blog postings during the Del Mar meet. With the six-day racing schedule, plus added responsibilities like hosting radio shows and co-hosting the Del Mar satellite television show, there just aren’t enough hours in the day. With three weeks remaining, I will try to post something before the end of the meet, but no promises. I will definitely post a meet wrap-up when the season ends on Sept. 3.

One thought: Richard Dutrow, trainer of Big Brown, has completely lost it. Big Brown is “way better than Curlin”? Based on the skewed logic that Curlin didn’t win the Derby or the Haskell and was defeated by a filly last year during his 3-year-old campaign? How about comparing apples to apples, Rick? Curlin faced one of the best 3-year-old crops in memory last year. Street Sense, Hard Spun and Rags to Riches would have destroyed anything ‘Brown has run against this year as ‘Brown continues to beat up on The Little Sisters of the Poor. After being eased in the Belmont, ‘Brown’s Haskell win can be described in two words: UGG LEEY.

Best line of the year so far came from Nick Zito, who said that Dutrow “should get the phone number of Tony Soprano’s psychologist. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Big Brown. But Rick still needs to get that phone number.”

It’s time for Dutrow to put his money where his mouth is. Curlin is scheduled to run in the Woodward on August 30 at Saratoga. The entry box is open.

Just when we should be celebrating Opening Day at Del Mar, with Saratoga right around the corner, Life reared its head and spoiled the whole thing. The shocking news of the death of track announcer and friend Luke Kruytbosch at age 47 hit me like a ton of bricks. We weren’t best buddies but we saw each other a couple of times a year and stayed in occasional contact throughout the season. The annual “Stay Hungry” trip, comprised of press box buddies and assorted misfits, was not complete without a stop at Turf Paradise and beers with Luke at the Backside Bar after the races. I know it’s an overused cliche, but I don’t think Luke had an enemy in the world. How could you not like this guy? A large teddy bear of a man, with that booming, infectious laugh, he knew and genuinely liked everyone in the game. And I don’t mean just the heavy hitters, I mean the parking lot attendants, backside workers and clean-up crews. He probably knew the name of every so-called “little guy” at every track he worked. I wrote in a Mar. 22, 2007 blog post that Luke Kruytbosch was one of the nicest and most patient guys on the planet. The “patient” part was seen first-hand one night when an overzealous Luke fan who’d had one (or five) too many kept peppering him with questions, imitating his calls and making a general idiot out of himself. Luke hung in there gamely, patiently answering questions, even going so far as to invite the guy up to his booth to watch him call a race sometime. I finally couldn’t take it anymore so I shuffled off and called Luke on his cell phone, trying to give him a much-needed reprieve.

When you get news like this, it’s only natural to reflect back on time spent or conversations with that person. And my sadness only increased when I realized our group didn’t get a chance to spend time with Luke last March in Arizona. Instead of the usual drinking and post-race debauchery, we rushed out of the track to make it back to ASU for a good NIT basketball game. We had great seats and saw a terrific game (ASU vs. Florida). A few of our guys even cashed sizeable wagers on Florida. We whooped it up and talked about how much we had enjoyed the atmosphere and how great it had been to do something “different”, instead of the usual excessive intake of adult beverages and dice games at the ramshackle Backside Bar. Had any of us known we wouldn’t see Luke again, we would have bypassed the meaningless hoops game in a second.

Besides being a top-notch announcer who called 10 Kentucky Derbies, Luke was a friend and mentor to many young, up-and-coming race callers. I know for a fact that he was extremely instrumental in helping guys like Bill Downes and John Lies get their starts. I once ran into Luke at a Breeders’ Cup press party and joked that I didn’t know whether to shake his hand or kiss his ring. Like the Pope or a Mafia Godfather, he was the guy other track announcers went to for advice or career advancement. Tonight after the races, owner Mike Pegram (a close friend of Luke) hosts a big party at his Del Mar home. You can bet your bottom dollar we will toasting and telling Luke stories late into the night.

Right after getting the tragic news about Luke, I got a call from Bob Mieszerski, telling me that he had been laid off as part of the L A Times cost-cutting measures. The Times cut 150 jobs, and Mieszerski and racing writer Larry Stewart were two of the victims. Mieszerski is an extremely talented handicapper and writer who has been in the newspaper business since he was 21 years old. Blessed with an incredible memory and great feel for the game, I consider him one of my main handicapping mentors. While obviously nothing can compare to the tragedy of death, losing one’s job after a 30-year career has to rank second. Mieszerski deserved better—being notified two days before the start of Del Mar showed a complete lack of class by the Times, which will now have no horse racing coverage in the country’s second-largest market. With the Breeders’ Cup coming to Santa Anita this fall, could the timing have been any worse? Let’s hope Bob lands on his feet quickly, making the Times’ loss some other publication’s gain.

Excuse me if I’m not in my usual fired-up-for-Del Mar state of mind. There are some things a lot more important than horse racing.

The American Oaks at Hollywood Park has turned into one of the more important races on the Southern California calendar in just seven short years. The Grade I $750,000 event attracted another strong international field this year, highlighting an 11-race card that also included four other stakes and handicap races. Toss in a three-day Pick Six carryover of nearly $1.2 million—with another $3.7 million bet today—and it was a sensational day of racing and gambling. Here’s a recap:

The first stakes of the day was the Hollywood Juvenile Championship, featuring a modest field of eight 2-year-olds (after two scratches). AZUL LEON, a narrow winner from well off the pace in his only start, looked like he would get a favorable pace scenario and he did, rallying very wide from last to win easily in 1:10.4 as the even-money favorite. He didn’t beat anythying but the son of Lion Heart has a bright future for trainer Doug O’Neill. The Vanity looked like a soft spot for unbeaten and untested ZENYATTA but she had to work much harder than expected to keep her perfect record alive. Moving a little earlier than normal down the backstretch, the amazon Street Cry filly got first run on the leader, moved to a clear lead inside the 1/8-pole, then was straight as a string to hold off an unlucky TOUGH TIZ’S SIS, who was forced to steady and angle out in mid-stretch. She gave trainer John Shirreffs his third Vanity win (Manistique in ‘99 and Hollywood Story in ‘06) but the final time of 1:49.2 (final 1/8th run in :13.3) was subpar, and ZENYATTA won despite turning in the least impressive of her six wins.

The CashCall Mile was probably the most exciting race of the day with DIAMOND DIVA re-rallying to nip VENTURA after that one had put a neck in front 50 yards from the wire. Both fillies fired big in what amounted to a two-horse race, with favorite LADY OF VENICE finishing a non-threatening third. The American Oaks drew horses from all over the U.S. and Europe, but PURE CLAN showed her class by splitting horses in mid-stretch and defeating perect trip runner-up SATAN’S CIRCUS, with CLEARLY FOXY an unlucky third (traffic trouble probably cost her second money). ‘CLAN, who chased Eight Belles and Proud Spell in her three career losses, remained unbeaten in four turf starts while making 50-year training veteran Bob Holthus one-for-one in California. And finally, STREET BOSS ran to the wagering and won his fourth straight and first Grade I by taking down the Triple Bend. Like Zenyatta earlier, this was not BOSS’s best race, although he did rally from last and ovecome a very wide trip. He looked like he would draw off in the final furlong but never changed leads through the lane and ended up fully extended to defeat stubborn shipper ELITE SQUADRON. He seems better at 6 or 6 1/2 furlongs, where the quicker opening quarter mile better sets up his stretch kick. All in all, a terrific day, with more than $24 million wagered on the card, and a generous $12,827 Pick Six payoff to 257 perfect tickets.

NOTES: What a weekend John Sadler had last week, taking down four stakes races over two days. He won with a 2-year-old filly (EMMY DARLING in the Landaluce), an older male turf runner (WHATSTHESCRIPT in the American), a female sprinter (DEAREST TRICKSKI in the A Gleam) and a long-fused turf mare (BLACK MAMBA in the Beverly Hills). That’s versatility…heading into the final six days of racing Sadler holds a 26-21 lead over O’Neill in the trainer standings…too bad about HEATSEEKER, scratched out of the Gold Cup and subsequently retired due to a suspensory injury. With Curlin trying to go overseas and win the Arc, he might have been the one to beat in the BC Classic later this fall…Garrett Gomez will be returning West to ride the Del Mar meet, which is a change from previous years when he stayed East until the start of Santa Anita…between him and Rafael Bejarano, who else is going to win any races this summer?…after a slow start to the meet trainer Jorge Periban has been on a roll lately, winning with a very high percentage of his starters over the past month…veteran rider Julio Garcia definitely gets run out of horses. Although he doesn’t stay in one place too long, the quirky reinsman has talent…since when did the Detention Barn become the Protection Barn? Protection for whom—horse, trainer or bettor?…radio show “Thoroughbred Los Angeles”, hosted by Jay Privman on Saturdays and Mike Willman on Sundays, can now be heard in the San Diego market at XTRA Sports 1360 from 9-10 a.m. (Pacific)…HP track announcer Vic Stauffer has done a much improved job of calling the ”underneath” horses (runners finishing second through fifth for exotics purposes) as the horses cross the wire. I have been very critical of Stauffer in the past, but let’s give credit where credit is due.

Finally, what are the odds of getting two foul balls at the same baseball game? Off the bats of back-to-back hitters no more than three minutes apart? Well that’s exactly what happened to Southern California simulcast host/TV personality Kurt Hoover at an Angels’ game last Tuesday night. Considering that there were about 40,000 people in the stands, the odds of the same person getting two balls in the same night would be about 1.6 billion to one! To be fair, sitting behind home plate on the loge level is a lot more advantageous than sitting in the right field bleachers, but come on. How do I know it happened? I was sitting one seat to his right. The last time I got a foul ball was chasing one down at a Little League game and returning it to the snack bar for a 25 cent piece of candy…in 1975.

It’s not exactly news now, but CURLIN looked every bit the best horse in the world with his authoritative win in last weekend’s Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. Toting 128 pounds and making his first start since winning the Dubai World Cup, CURLIN, who was bottled up behind horses along the rail most of the way, found a seam at the top of the stretch and powered away from his overmatched opponents. He showed no signs of Post Dubai Syndrome, appearing as if the Mideast trip took nothing out of him. But rather than take a traditional route through the rest of the year, culminating in another Breeders’ Cup Classic, his connections are anxious to try him on turf with a possible run at the Arc de Triomphe in France this fall.

Although this is a very lofty plan, owner Jess Jackson has proved himself to be a true sportsman. By just keeping his very valuable commodity in training this year he is losing money, as well as risking injury to a colt whose worth as a stallion must be in the $50-60 million range. Curlin has some turf breeding and will test the grass in upcoming workouts before a planned grass start in the middle of July. If all goes well, next would be a possible start in the Arlington Million, and then bon voyage. If the grass experiment doesn’t work, there would be nothing wrong with coming back to defend his Classic title, although is seems clear that his connections are not anxious to run him over a synthetic surface. While a Curlin-Big Brown matchup looked so tantalizing just two short weeks ago, the chances seem pretty remote now. Plus, based on what we saw on back-to-back weekends, does anyone really doubt which is the better horse?

Post Triple Crown Thoughts: After thinking things through a little more, I’m not sure the five-week span between the three races is the most significant reason we haven’t seen a Triple Crown winner in 30 years. There have been 11 horses in history that won the Preakness and Belmont after failing in the Derby, including five since Affirmed last won the Triple Crown in 1978. So if the grind is so taxing, why were Risen Star (’88), Hansel (’91), Tabasco Cat (’94), Point Given (’01) and Afleet Alex (’05) able to compete in all three events while being plenty strong for the final leg? In fact, thee of those winners—Risen Star, Point Give and Afleet Alex—romped home far in front of their nearest Belmont rivals. And don’t forget, Curlin ran great in all three legs last year. Factor in all the reasons (three different tracks at three different distances in five weeks, pedigree, injury, luck, human error), mix it all up and here’s my conclusion: For 30 years, we just haven’t had the right horse to do it.

NOTES: If you have followed the recent Congressional hearings on horse racing, you probably knew things weren’t off to a good start when committee chairwoman Jan Schakowsky opened up with comments like “horses are doped up on cocaine” and that ill-fated Eight Belles was a “genetic disaster”. Sheer ignorance…it looks more and more like LAVA MAN will duck out on trying to win his fourth straight Hollywood Gold Cup and wait for the Eddie Read at Del Mar. His connections, fearing a quick three-week turnaround, are in no hurry to take on HEATSEEKER…trainer Doug O’Neill has begun running his horses out of the detention barn (60 days), penalty for a high bicarbonates test from January…last Sunday’s Affirmed winner TWO STEP SALSA is the real deal for Julio Canani. Look for him to become a very important runner in the second half of the year…CEDAR MOUNTAIN loved the 1 3/4-mile distance in Saturday’s Round Table, romping home like a true stayer…recent Hall of Fame inductee Milo Valenzuela isn’t well enough to travel to Saratoga later this summer, so the Hall of Fame will come to him. Santa Anita will host his induction ceremony tomorrow night in the Chandelier Room.

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The next time someone tells you the result of an upcoming race is a “forgone conclusion”, run away, far away. We all know there is no such thing in this sport. But trainer Richard Dutrow had been so prophetic during this year’s Triple Crown run that you wanted to believe that is was a forgone conclusion that BIG BROWN would become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years. After all, he said his horse would win the Derby, picked the 20-post at the draw and bet a reported $100,000 on the nose. Bingo. He said the same thing would happen at the Preakness before ‘Brown toyed with his overmatched opposition. Dutrown even called out Japanese invader CASINO DRIVE, telling the media that his main foe wasn’t doing well and posed no threat a week before that one was eventually withdrawn on Belmont Day.

But as we’ve seen now 11 times since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, a Derby-Preakness parlay certainly does not ensure victory in the Belmont. There’s a reason only 11 horses have won the Triple Crown—it’s hard. When ‘Brown came up empty on the far turn and was correctly eased by Kent Desormeaux, I thought to myself, I’ll never see another Triple Crown winner in my lifetime. In the 1970’s, I watched Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed rattle off Triple Crowns like it was commonplace. Spectacular Bid should have joined those three but a safety pin and poor ride cost him his chance. Little did I know as a 15-year-old watching Affirmed nose out Alydar that I might not ever see another.

Affirmed was my favorite horse then and nothing has changed 30 years later, which led me to root against most of the last 11 Derby-Preakness winners trying to join him on the list of racing immortals. But I broke down in 2004 and rooted for Smarty Jones, who I thought was a terrific horse and very deserving of Triple Crown status, and I believed ‘Brown was an exceptional horse running against poor competition, which, despite his quarter crack issues, would indeed make him the next Triple Crown winner. But lo and behold, there was Nick Zito playing giant killer again, sending out DA’ TARA to pull off the front-running win in a painfully slow 2008 edition. I know one thing, the next time a horse goes for the Triple Crown, from a gambling perspective, I’m “all in” against that happening. History has proven once again that it’s a terrible betting proposition to take a short price in the Belmont.

Whatever the reason for ‘Brown’s poor performance last Saturday (pick one or more of the following choices: a) quarter crack b) missed training time c) third start in five weeks d) heat and humidity e) being taken off the anabolic steroid Winstrol in mid-April f) didn’t handle the track g) the Racing Gods had heard enough from Dutrow—particularly his comments about the way Smarty Jones had been trained and ridden leading up to the Belmont, and a snide comment about Curlin being beaten by a filly—and decided to teach him a lesson), I have been very disappointed in Dutrow’s comments and reactions since. I cut him some slack for shunning the media (”Don’t even think about it” was his response to one reporter trying to get an immediate post-race comment) directly following the race. He probably was in shock and concerned about the welfare of his horse, and he did meet with the media back at his barn later.

But what about his ludicrous comments in the past few days that blame Desormeaux? Since the horse has been checked out thoroughly and his connections can find no medical issue (unless it shows up later), the finger pointing has begun. According to Dutrow, “I don’t see the horse with a problem, so I have to direct my attention toward the ride. That’s all I can come up with…as along as the horse stays the way that I see him right now, then things are going to keep building up for me to know that it was the ride that did him in.” Say what? Did Dutrow even watch the race, or at least a replay? The horse was done, finished, cooked on the far turn. Anyone who has watched 20 races in his life could tell that much. Desormeaux, knowing the horse was going to finish last, wrapped up and eased him through the lane, protecting the horse and the sport from another major black eye. Can you just imagine if the jock had continued to ask and whip the beaten horse through the lane, only to have him break down in the stretch? So long horse racing, if that had happened. So, after praising and lauding Dutrow for his horsemanship and bombastic style up till now, the trainer showed his true colors in the face of adversity. Like so many before him have shown, it’s easy to be a good winner. Being a good loser takes something called class.

NOTES: Check out Bob Mieszerski’s excellent online article in Monday’s L A Times (http://www.latimes.com/sports/horseracing/la-spw-horse10-2008jun10,0,7065433.story). As Mieszerski so correctly notes, there doesn’t have to be a sinister explanation for everything in horse racing…LAVA MAN showed some of his old fight with a good third-place finish in the Saturday’s Whittingham Memorial at Hollywod Park. Put on the lead by new rider Tyler Baze, ‘MAN showed aggressiveness to open up a big lead, looked like he might get swallowed up by the field at the top of the lane, but dug in gamely is his best perfomance since last year’s HP Gold Cup. I have to admit, rather than retire and parade him on Gold Cup day (which I had written earlier), he deserves a shot at winning his fourth straight Gold Cup…favorite CHAMPS ELYSEES apparently came out of the race sick, showing a high white blood cell count and excessive mucus…in other stakes that day, MISTY OCEAN went wire-to-wire in the Honeymoon Handicap, PASSIFIED ($26.00) got no respect again but took the Redondo Beach, and REBELLION charged from far back to win the Ack Ack…there was one horse covered in the last race of Saturday’s Pick Six, meaning a return of $400,000 to a single-ticket holder when favorite DOWNTOWN LOVER got home…on Sunday, LETHAL HEAT stretched out and gamely won the Hollywood Oaks, running her record to four wins from five starts…her rider, Rafael Bejarano, holds a commanding 37-24 lead in the jockey standings…Doug O’Neill has a 16-12 lead among trainers.

Finally, the next time you hear a horse compared to Secretariat, here’s a piece of trivia: Big Red still holds three track records after being retired 35 years ago.

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Memorial Day has always been one of my favorite days at the track. I actually make the trip to Hollywood Park to see live racing, rather than staying hunkered down in front of a TV set in the Santa Anita press box. I enjoy watching the good simulcast races from around the country, particularly the Met Mile from Belmont. But this year’s Memorial Day will always hold a special place in my heart and mind because of one particular simulcast race from Golden Gate Fields. The first race of the day was a nondescript 5-furlong maiden turf race featuring seven fillies of seemingly modest ability. But as a part-owner of first-time starter CASCABEL LADY (along with colleagues and long-time friends Jeff Siegel and Jack Karlik), I definitely had the butterflies in my stomach.

Siegel had purchased the filly for $25,000 at the Barretts October sale as part of a Golden Eagle Farms dispersal. By Bertrando out of a Seattle Slew mare, she definitely had the pedigree to be something decent. Siegel thought she had the look of a classy filly and was surprised to get her for such a reasonable sales price. She was shipped to trainer Amanda McKaughan, who trains a small string of Siegel’s horses up north, and began the slow process of learning how to become a racehorse. I had owned small parts of a couple slow horses 8-10 years ago (in fact one of those, THE IKER, who was owned by Siegel and named after me, broke his maiden for $25,000 at Santa Anita in 2000) but had not been involved in the ownership side of the game for nearly a decade. One day shortly after purchasing the then 2-year-old, Siegel came up to the press box and, showing unusual enthusiasm, asked me if I was interested in owning part of a “really nice” horse. He said he was very high on this one and would sell me a share if I wanted. Now, Siegel could sell ice to the eskimos but he didn’t need my money. He has been a major success in every facet of this sport: handicapper, owner, vice president of Team Valor (Breeders’ Cup and Big Cap wins, second in the ‘97 Kentucky Derby with Captain Bodgit to name a few accomplishments) and most currently a commentator with HRTV. I thought it over for a few days and decided to take a piece of Cascabel Lady.

Seven months later, after the usual issues with young horses forced a couple minor interruptions in her training pattern, we started looking for a race. ‘Lady was scheduled to have her first real stiff work last Saturday, coming out of the gate while working in company (although she’d had nine recorded works, she had never been set down in the morning and had never done more than pop out of the gate). She would be asked to show something more serious this time. Lo and behold, an “extra” race was written on Friday (for Monday’s card) and it somehow filled with the aforementioned seven runners. We figured rather than work her again, let’s just go ahead and run, setting her up for a longer race next time out.

None of us had any idea how she would run, but our best guess was that she would break slowly, lack early speed, then hopefully she would take hold and finish nicely to get part of the purse and be ready for bigger and better things in the near future. As the horses approached the gate and ‘Lady drifted up to 19-1, Karlik and I wished each other luck (Siegel was up north for the race) and watched as she ran almost exactly how we had hoped. She actually broke fine but lacked speed down the backstretch, hugged the rail on the turn while starting to move up behind the dueling leaders, lugged in at mid-stretch before jockey Juan Ochoa was able to angle her out, then finished full of run to be third, beaten just over a length. Karlik and I were ecstatic, as was Siegel, who called right after they crossed the wire. But wait, the “inquiry” sign was on the board after odds-on favorite Tahoe Dream had been squeezed badly in deep stretch. Maybe we would be be moved up to second, even sweeter, I thought. Press boxer Jerry Antonucci had the audacity to suggest that there might be a double disqualification, moving us up all the way up to first. Yeah right, Jerry. I’ve seen about three of those in my entire career. Well, sure enough, that’s what happened. The stewards ruled that the top two runners had both contributed to fouling the favorite, meaning Cascabel Lady was kissed into the win, returning $41.20 in the process. I didn’t bet a dime, nor did Siegel or Karlik (I can’t speak for fourth partner Mr. Spero—we’ve never met). Apparently our trainer, Mandy Mack, bet $2 across the board. So this was not exactly the betting coup some might have envisioned from three handicappers who have been known to back their opinions at the window.

But what a thrill! I’ve experienced a lot of great things in racing but nothing compared to this. Being in from the beginning—the waiting, the wondering if she would even make it to the races, the optimistic reports on her progress—to then finally running and winning. Is this a great game or what?

NOTES: What a weekend for Thoroughbred Los Angeles radio personalities. Besides my good fortune, Sunday host and Santa Anita publicity director Mike Willman’s MCCANN’S MOJAVE did it again, winning the Grade III $150,00 Berkeley on Monday’s card; and Jon Lindo, Saturday co-host and contributor, is a member of the partnership that owns talented 2-year-old BACKBACKBACKGONE, who ran away and hid in Sunday’s Willard Proctor…BIG BROWN has a quarter crack in one of his troublesome feet (left front) but trainer Richard Dutrow says the horse is doing fine and WILL win the Triple Crown on June 7…tragic news on Wednesday about NASHOBA’S KEY, who kicked the side of her outdoor pen before going out on a scheduled work, fracturing her left hind leg and having to be euthanized at the barn. She won eight of 10 starts and over $1.25 million…Santa Anita cancelled its scheduled flooding and drainage testing of its problematic main track. It was decided that the asphalt base would be torn out and removed. By the way, SA has dropped an $8.4 million lawsuit on the Cushion Track manufacturer…in Monday’s feature races from Hollywood, DAYTONA beat EVER A FRIEND on the square in the Shoemaker Mile and PRECIOUS KITTEN continued her brilliance with another Grade I win in the Gamely…MONTEREY JAZZ came out of his most recent work with a foot injury and is out for the rest of the year…Kent Desormeaux will throw out the first pitch in Sunday night’s ESPN game at Shea Stadium…Tyler Baze will pick up the mount on LAVA MAN next time out in the Whittingham. I’m sure that will turn things around because regular rider Corey Nakatani has done such a terrible job (sarcasm) on him throughout the years.

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