Santa Anita Derby: It’s Anybody’s Horse Race : Possible Favorite on Saturday Could Be Skywalker or Tank’s Prospect or . . .

When a trainer said Thursday morning that there was no Affirmed or Spectacular Bid in this year’s Santa Anita Derby field, he got no argument.

It doesn’t look as though there is a Codex or an Avatar in the race, either.

Those are recent Santa Anita Derby winners who went on to win Triple Crown races.

When the nine-horse field gets into the gate Saturday for the $300,000 race, the possible favorite could be Skywalker, who has started only five times and never won a stake.

Or the favorite may be Tank’s Prospect, who ran close to top horses from the East as a 2-year-old but hasn’t started since his win two months ago in the El Camino Real Stakes at Bay Meadows.

If Cosmotron wins, he would be only the third gelding in the 48-year history of the race to finish first. The last was Sweepida in 1940.

Cosmotron and Nostalgia’s Star, another starter, ran for claiming prices earlier in their careers. But they are not necessarily over-reaching against this field, because it doesn’t include one horse who has won a major race.

When Vivian Pulliam, the trainer of Cosmotron, was asked to name the horses to beat Saturday, she said: “Oh, dear, I was afraid I would be asked that. It looks like an evenly matched bunch to me. The horse that wins probably will be the one that feels the best and has the best racing luck.”

Two of the starters--Cosmotron and Don’t Say Halo--haven’t been nominated to the Kentucky Derby, which doesn’t allow supplementary nominations.

“Everyone would like to win the Kentucky Derby, but we’ve got a small operation (eight horses),” Pulliam said. “There’s money to be made in the 3-year-old races in California, and you won’t have to carry as much weight (126 pounds for all three Triple Crown races). And with a gelding, we’re not concerned about trying to prove the horse’s worth as a stallion.”

Said Chris Speckert, who trains Don’t Say Halo: “I don’t know why he wasn’t nominated, but he didn’t break his maiden until the day after the Kentucky Derby deadline (Feb. 15).”

Pine Belt, whose trainer, Eddie Gregson, won the Kentucky Derby with Gato Del Sol in 1982, drew the No. 1 post for the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby. Pat Valenzuela rides Pine Belt. Next to them in the gate are Nostalgia’s Star, with jockey Eddie Delahoussaye, then Fast Account, Gary Stevens; Floating Reserve, Sandy Hawley; Cosmotron, Chris McCarron; Smarten Up, Rafael Meza; Tank’s Prospect, Jorge Velasquez; Don’t Say Halo, Darrel McHargue, and Skywalker, Laffit Pincay.

All of the starters will carry 122 pounds. Skywalker has been made the 5-2 favorite by Jeff Tufts, the Santa Anita linemaker. Then come Tank’s Prospect, 3-1; Nostalgia’s Star and Don’t Say Halo, 5-1; Cosmotron, 8-1; Fast Account and Floating Reserve, 10-1; Smarten Up, 15-1, and Pine Belt, 20-1.

Stevens, who rode Fast Account to a sixth-place finish in the San Felipe Handicap March 17, was hoping for a better post position for Saturday and got one.

“That’s right where we wanted to draw,” the jockey said of the No. 3 spot.

“In the last race, we drew on the outside and were wide the entire time. The horse got a lot of dirt in his face before he started running. We were last after three-quarters of a mile, and when he started running, he must have made up 100 yards in the stretch.”

Image of Greatness, who won the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe by a nose over Skywalker and finished ahead of four other Santa Anita Derby starters, has gone East.

“Going into the stretch of that race, I thought we’d win for fun,” said Mike Whittingham, Skywalker’s trainer. “But my horse bled that day and now he’ll be on medication for that, and the added distance should also help.”

McHargue, who won the 1981 Santa Anita Derby with the longshot Splendid Spruce, said that Saturday’s field reminds him of 1981’s. Flying Nashua was sent off as a 9-10 favorite in ’81 and ran a dismal fourth, but otherwise, it was a balanced group. Partez finished sixth and then was a solid third in the Kentucky Derby. Splendid Spruce was seventh in Kentucky. Saturday’s 3-year-olds look just as unpredictable.

Horse Racing Notes Wayne Lukas, who would set a record if Tank’s Prospect gives the trainer his fourth Santa Anita Derby victory, could win three stakes Saturday. Lukas’ Pancho Villa is favored in the Gotham at Aqueduct, and Image of Greatness will be a short price in the Cherry Hill Mile at Garden State Park. . . . The only other trainers with three Santa Anita Derby victories are Mish Tenney and Tommy Doyle. All three of Lukas’ wins have been scored in the last five years--with Codex, Muttering and Marfa. . . . The Cherry Hill drew 24 entries and can’t be split because Garden State is offering $1-million and $2-million bonuses to any 3-year-old who wins that race and two or three others. Fourteen horses will start, with high weights getting preference. Spend a Buck is the high weight at 122 pounds. Four horses are entered in both the Cherry Hill and Gotham. The Cherry Hill field doesn’t include Mom’s Command, who will wait for a filly race at Garden State next Thursday. . . . Tank’s Prospect has won his only two starts at Santa Anita.

THE FIELD

PP Horse Jockey Trainer Odds 1. Pine Belt Pat Valenzuela Eddie Gregson 20-1 2. Nostalgia’s Star Eddie Delahoussaye Jay Robbins 5-1 3. Fast Account Gary Stevens Patricia Johnson 10-1 4. Floating Reserve Sandy Hawley Joe Manzi 10-1 5. Cosmotron Chris McCarron Vivian Pulliam 8-1 6. Smarten Up Rafael Meza Laz Barrera 15-1 7. Tank’s Prospect Jorge Velasquez Wayne Lukas 3-1 8. Don’t Say Halo Darrel McHargue Chris Speckert 5-1 9. Skywalker Laffit Pincay Mike Whittingham 5-2

All starters to carry 122 pounds Distance will be 1 1/8 miles. Odds were established Thursday by Santa Anita linemaker Jeff Tufts.