San Gabriel Handicap : Sloppy Track Perfect for Nostalgia’s Star

Anyone with an eye on the weather could have forecast the winner of Sunday’s ninth race at Santa Anita.

After all, on a day when more than 1 1/2 inches of rain fell at the track, it seemed obvious that horses named Hurricane Hec and New Storm would finish in the money. And so they did, coming home first and second, respectively, to close out the day’s racing.

But if the outcome of the nightcap was predictable, then so, too, was that of the feature, the $106,550 San Gabriel Handicap.

Originally, 13 horses were entered in the Grade III event on the turf, but only five made it to the starting gate after heavy overnight and early morning rain had caused the race to be switched to the main track.

Not unexpectedly, the dirt track came up sloppy, which is exactly the way Nostalgia’s Star likes it. Sent off as the 3-to-5 favorite, the brown 5-year-old carried Laffit Pincay to a 1-length victory in front of a crowd of 20,938.

Second was longshot Inevitable Leader, ridden by Corey Black, while Spellbound, with Ray Sibille aboard, finished third, a length back.

Nostalgia’s Star, winning for the seventh time in 36 lifetime starts, paid $3.00, $2.60 and $2.20 while earning $61,550 for his owners, A.C. Duckett and Margaret Robbins of Pasadena and Mary Jane Hinds of Beverly Hills. Inevitable Leader paid $6.00 and $2.60, while Spellbound’s show price was $2.60

Pincay, who was given the ride aboard the favorite because Nostalgia’s Star’s regular jockey, Fernando Toro, was riding Bonne Ile in the $200,000 La Prevoyante Handicap at Calder Race Course in Miami Sunday, said the San Gabriel was not altogether a romp for Nostalgia’s Star.

Spellbound broke out in front in the 1 1/8-mile race, with Aventino, ridden by Gary Baze, and Nostalgia’s Star battling for second until they reached the half-mile pole, where Inevitable Leader mounted his challenge.

Coming into the stretch, Spellbound maintained the lead on the rail, with hard-charging Inevitable Leader in the middle and Nostalgia’s Star on the outside, Aventino having dropped back.

With Pincay urging him on with a left-handed whip, Nostalgia’s Star pulled away to win, Inevitable Leader’s hopes falling with Black’s stick in midstretch.

“Sibille shut me off coming out of the gate and he knocked the stick out of my hand (in the stretch),” a mud-spattered Black said afterward in the jockeys’ room, then repeated as much to Sibille.

Spellbound’s rider took the accusation in stride, shrugging it off as racing luck.

“He said I knocked it (the stick) out of his hand but we weren’t that close,” Sibille said. “Maybe I did, but it wasn’t intentional. Really.”

Either way, it did not appear that either horse was going to beat Nostalgia’s Star. Still, Pincay was not overly pleased with the way the race went.

“He (trainer Jay Robbins) just told me not to rush him,” Pincay said. “I tried not to rush him but the pace was so slow. I was just sitting there waiting for the last part of the race and then the other horse (Inevitable Leader) blew outside of me and he (Nostalgia’s Star) just didn’t want no part of it.

“I couldn’t understand why because they were going so slow and so easy. He just dropped back. Finally I had to get out of there and pull around (to the outside). For a while, I didn’t think he was going anywhere. Then I started whipping him left-handed and he responded. Every time I hit him he responded and started running.”

The rain may have helped Nostlgia’s Star, who has a preference for mud, but Pincay said it did not affect Sunday’s racing too much, if at all.

“The track is not bad, the track is pretty good,” he said. “The only thing is getting cold and getting stuff (mud and sand) in your face. Sometimes you can’t see that well. But the track is in good shape.”

Sibille echoed the sentiment, saying that the sloppy surface had nothing to do with Spellbound’s defeat.

“He was running,” Sibille said. “He went easy the first part, a nice easy pace. (When) I turned for home, I asked him to run and he took off and I thought he was going to win it. They (Nostalgia’s Star and Inevitable Leader) just outrun him, they just went by him. . . . He’s never really run a good race in the mud. He likes a real firm turf course.”

Sunday’s switch to the dirt marked the fifth time that the San Gabriel has had to be moved from the turf since it became a turf race in 1955.

The impact was immediate, as trainer Charlie Whittingham scratched his three-horse entry of Strawberry Road, Will Dancer and Louis Le Grand, while Darrell Vienna and Bruce Headley did the same with Conquering Hero and Silveyville, respectively.

Earlier, Catane and Over the Ocean had been scratched, and later in the day Nasib, too, was pulled from the race. That reduced the field to five and all but gave the victory to Nostalgia’s Star.

The win increased Nostalgia’s Star’s earnings to $1,146,915, moving him ahead of Flying Paster into fifth place on the all-time California-bred earnings list.

Robbins said the horse’s next race will be in the San Pasqual Handicap on Feb. 1, and, after that, the Santa Anita Handicap on March 8.

And if it rains on either or both of those days, so much the better.

Horse Racing Notes

Brave Raj’s future remained uncertain Sunday, the day after the 2-year-old filly underwent surgery on both knees. “She came out of the operation looking very good,” trainer Mel Stute said. “She doesn’t appear to be in any great discomfort. . . . The injury is nothing life-threatening, but we won’t know for some time if she’ll ever race again.” Brave Raj, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, went lame after a midweek workout at Santa Anita. X-rays disclosed fractures in both knees and she was operated on at the Southern California Equine Hospital Saturday afternoon by Dr. Greg Ferraro. . . . Lady’s Secret, which appears almost certain to be named Horse of the Year when the Eclipse Awards are announced later this month, will make her first start of 1987 in the $300,000 Santa Margarita Handicap March 1, according to trainer Wayne Lukas. The winner of 23 of her 40 races, including 10 of 15 in 1986, Lady’s Secret won the Santa Margarita last year. . . . Eddie Delahoussaye took himself off all his mounts Sunday because of the flu. . . . Grass specialist Zoffany is being pointed at the Jan. 25 San Marcos Handicap for his first start as a 7-year-old, trainer John Gosden said.