Horse Racing : McCarron’s Day: Steady Diet of Mud--and More Mud

Sketches from a rainy - day notebook at Santa Anita . . .

After a week of wet weather, Wednesday looks to be the dreariest day yet, with rain falling steadily throughout the night and well into the morning, forcing the workouts to be moved to the training track.

By noon, however, the sun shows signs of breaking through, and by the first post at 1 p.m., has done so.

All the same, evidence of the storms is everywhere. Angry black clouds are banked against the nearby San Gabriel Mountains, obscuring the peaks. Large pools of water on the roof of the tote board reflect the fact that 6 inches of rain has fallen on the track in the last seven days.

On the main track, Fast Account works a mile through the slop in preparation for the Santa Anita Handicap a week and a half away. Each hoof throws up a spray of mud as he thunders past the post in 1:43 flat, Gary Stevens up.

Shortly after 1, a horse of far lesser pedigree is being prepared in the paddock. Papoose Vamoose, a brown 3-year-old colt, is Chris McCarron’s first ride of the day in the second race. The two have been made 6-5 favorites in the morning line, probably more a reflection of McCarron’s ability than the colt’s.

Post time for the second race is 1:37 p.m., and with 20 minutes to go, Papoose Vamoose is being saddled, his blinkers put on and hoofs cleared of mud. Five people, including trainer Darrell Vienna, work on him in the paddock stall.

“Put ‘em in,” someone shouts, and then, “OK, let’s go,” and the horses are led outside into the parade ring. The door to the jockeys’ room swings open and the riders appear. McCarron, the third one out, is wearing the silks of the Santa Barbara Stable--royal blue with interlocking red diamond frames on the back, red cuffs on the sleeves and a royal blue cap.

Papoose Vamoose’s owners have entered him in a $25,000 claiming race, one with a purse of only $16,000. Presumably, seeing the horse claimed is of more importance than seeing it win. Still, the two sometimes go hand in hand, which is why McCarron, the track’s leading jockey, is the chosen rider.

An old hand at this game, McCarron jogs into the parade ring, exchanges handshakes with the owners and flashes an occasional grin at the shouts of encouragement from the fans clustered around the ring.

“Go to your horses, riders . . . riders, up,” come the commands, and McCarron obeys, going through the motions he’ll be making five times today and more than 500 times during the winter meeting.

Papoose Vamoose is the No. 1 horse in the six-horse field and, as such, leads the rest through the tunnel and onto the track as the call to the race sounds.

“See you in the winner’s circle, Chris,” someone yells, sounding more hopeful than believing.

Even in miserable weather, it is surprising how many fans horse racing attracts. No doubt if there were no wagering, the figure would shrink considerably, but even on a day like Wednesday with an undistinguished program, there are 16,887 on hand.

And wager they do. A total of $61,920 is bet on Papoose Vamoose, including $39,335 to win. He goes off as the 4-5 favorite.

“The horses have now reached the starting gate,” race caller Trevor Denman announces, and then, “The flag is up . . . and away they go.”

Papoose Vamoose breaks well, with McCarron maneuvering him to the rail just behind Corey Black aboard Growler Sandue. Around the far turn, however, they are caught and passed by Arbitrate, ridden by Luis Ortega. McCarron brings the whip out in the stretch, but Papoose Vamoose has nothing left except heart. He manages to hang on for third.

Horse and rider are a mud-spattered pair as they return to the winner’s circle area for McCarron to weigh out. He dismounts, strips off his goggles, pats the horse and grins. Win or lose, McCarron enjoys his work.

Someone approaches to attach a red tag to Papoose Vamoose’s bridle. The colt has been claimed.

The fifth race is almost a repeat performance. This time, McCarron is aboard Diane Fancy, a 4-year-old filly. She goes off as the 4-1 second choice, leads for much of the early going, then fades and finishes third.

There is something to the idea that the order of finish on a sloppy day can be told simply by the weight of the mud on rider and horse. After the sixth race, McCarron and his mount, Bird of Passage, are considerably heavier, having finished fourth.

His fourth ride of the day almost results in his first winner. Aboard Obey in the seventh race, McCarron leads the pack into the stretch but is passed, first by Tricky Turn and then, just before the wire, by Search for Heaven.

All that is left is the feature, the $60,000-added Santa Ysabel Stakes. McCarron is aboard Rachel’s Excalibur, a 3-year-old filly making only her third start. The first two were victories at Bay Meadows. They have four other fillies to beat.

The omens are not good. Rachel’s Excalibur balks at the gate, then stumbles coming out of it. Still, McCarron has her running well and they are still in contention entering the stretch.

Once again, however, the mud and the distance take their toll, and Rachel’s Excalibur finishes fourth. Having been one of the front-runners, McCarron is less muddy, but he pauses anyway to hose the mud off his boots before walking back to the paddock.

He does not wait to see Gary Stevens, aboard Trim Colony, enter the winner’s circle for the traditional photograph.

For Stevens, the day has been a good one. Winning the Santa Ysabel gives him three victories, and he makes it four a little later with Dr. Coercion in the ninth.

For McCarron, meanwhile, the day is over. He has ridden in five races, finished third in three and fourth in the two others.

“I feel I had a good day,” he says back in the jockeys’ room. “Before the day started, it looked like I had a few good horses. I don’t feel like I missed out on anything.

“I’m very satisfied, considering the track conditions and everything. All the horses ran well. None of them got hurt. That’s all you can ask for.”

Outside, the clouds are moving in again and the sky is growing dark. A day that began with rain appears to be ending the same way.

Horse Racing Notes

Jorge Velasquez, the 39-year-old Panamanian-born jockey, will be honored Sunday at Santa Anita after being named recipient of the 1986 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. Only four riders in North America--Bill Shoemaker, Johnny Longden, Laffit Pincay and Angel Cordero--have more wins than Velasquez, who ended 1985 with 5,586. . . . Chris McCarron continues to lead the jockey standings at Santa Anita with 54 firsts, 48 seconds and 41 thirds in 278 mounts. . . .Although he is part of rival trainer Ross Fenstermaker’s stable, Precisionist is regarded as “pound for pound the best racehorse in America from six furlongs to 1 miles” by trainer John Gosden. . . . Strawberry Road, which finished third in Monday’s San Luis Obispo Handicap, threw a shoe during the race, according to trainer Charlie Whittingham.