San Juan Capistrano Handicap : Dahar Gives Whittingham Another Win

The first Charles Whittingham Stakes was run at Santa Anita on March 28, but there’s another race that really belongs to the 73-year-old Hall of Fame trainer.

It’s the San Juan Capistrano Handicap. Whittingham had his 12th San Juan winner Sunday when Dahar came five horses wide on the turn for home, overtaking the gallant mare Mountain Bear and winning by a half-length before 50,650 fans.

“This is my race,” Whittingham said shortly after the 47th San Juan was over. Whittingham won the stake for the first time with Corn Husker in 1957. He won it again with Royal Living in ‘59, then made up for lost time in the 1970s with five wins and now Dahar has given him his fourth in a row and his fifth in the last six years.

Alex Solis, riding Dahar much the way he did in winning the San Luis Rey Stakes three weeks ago, was in disagreement with Chris McCarron about whether McCarron’s mount, Mountain Bear, tired through the stretch, but that is only a technicality. For whatever reasons, Dahar ran about 1 3/4 miles on the turf in 2:48 1/5 and earned $220,000 of the $400,000 total purse for his owners--Nelson Bunker Hunt, Allen Paulson and Bruce McNall. Hunt, who bred Dahar in Kentucky through a classy mating of Lyphard and Dahlia, owns 50% of the horse, while Paulson and McNall each have 25%.

Whittingham’s reasons for Dahar’s seventh win in 24 career starts: “This horse is awful good right now. And Solis is a tough rider. He rode a very, very good race for me.”

Whittingham, who has finished 1-2 in the San Juan three times, started three horses in Sunday’s race, with Strawberry Road II having also been given a good chance and Hail Bold King considered an outsider. Strawberry Road had failed to last, finishing second to Dahar in the San Luis Rey.

Only a couple of minutes before post time, the entry of Dahar, Strawberry Road and Shulich (trained by George Scott, but also owned by Paulson and McNall) was holding at even money on the tote board.

Suddenly, the crowd remembered that Whittingham--Mr. San Juan--trained two of those horses. The trio was hammered down to 7-10 in the final few flashes on the board, accounting for Dahar’s payoffs of $3.40, $2.20 and $2.10.

The two horses behind Dahar were English-breds who ran extremely well. Mountain Bear, who had never lost in six starts on Santa Anita’s turf, finished 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Jupiter Island, who closed willingly before hanging in the drive. Jupiter Island, making his second start in the United States and his first appearance anywhere in more than five months, saved third by a half-length over Truculent.

Mountain Bear, at 4-1 a distant second betting choice, paid $3.40 and $2.60 and Jupiter Island returned $3.

Solis, who earlier in the day had worked Snow Chief, the Kentucky Derby favorite, between races, had never ridden in a race as long as the San Juan. He had once been in a 1 5/8-mile race in his native Panama.

On Sunday, he had in Dahar a horse who was capable of going even farther.

In the jockeys’ room, Solis couldn’t stop coughing. He had inhaled several small pieces of dirt while keeping Dahar within striking distance and saving ground along the fence most of the way around.

For another win like the San Juan, Solis would gladly accept another dirt snack.

“The mare (Mountain Bear) was hanging tough, but I think she got weak,” Solis said. “At the eighth pole, I was sure that she got tired. My horse has got so much class and he responded real well when I hit him.”

McCarron, who took over as Mountain Bear’s rider when she won the 1-mile Santa Barbara Handicap on March 30, would give Solis an argument.

“My mare didn’t tire whatsoever,” McCarron said. “The other horse was just a half-length too much for us. My mare gave me every ounce of energy she had. And even though she got beat, there were a lot of good horses behind us that she beat.”

Mountain Bear took the lead coming down the hill, with Strawberry Road repeatedly trying to pass her at several points. Talakeno was also up close, with Dahar not far behind him, taking the short way around.

Mountain Bear still had about a two-length lead at the top of the stretch, but Solis brought Dahar outside for his winning move.

It wasn’t clear that Dahar would have enough in the end, but Darrell Vienna, Mountain Bear’s trainer, had given up long before the final yards.

“I didn’t think she would win after they ran the first mile in 1:36 4/5,” Vienna said. “What I had been hoping for was something like 1:37 or 1:38. It wasn’t a slow pace, and considering that she was going 1 3/4 miles, I didn’t think she could make it that far.

“Then Strawberry Road made that premature move. Maybe not premature for them, but premature for us. Mountain Bear had to shrug him off, and that was another thing that worked against her.”

Strawberry Road struggled home seventh, the poorest finish for the Australian-bred since he ran eighth in the Washington D.C. International last November.

Sweaty in the post parade, Strawberry Road had a tough assignment because of the San Juan distance.

“He might not be a 1 3/4-mile horse,” Whittingham said. “I think he likes the going a little softer than this, too.”

Gary Stevens, Strawberry Road’s jockey, agreed. “He was very nervous going to the gate,” Stevens said. “When Mountain Road came back inside me after we tried to move on the turn, my horse was through.”

With the season ending today, Whittingham added his 10th stakes win and his 27th win overall, leading all trainers in both categories. Already the hairless trainer has his eye on some races at Hollywood Park for Dahar. He’s not a man who lives by the San Juan alone.