Horse Racing : Manila Is Just the Latest in a Long Line of Shockers at Saratoga

Jacinto Vasquez is not surprised by anything that happens at Saratoga.

“Remember Onion?” Vasquez asked the other day, referring to the undistinguished horse he rode in the Whitney Handicap here in 1973. “He beat the great Secretariat (who had swept the Triple Crown earlier in the year). Hey, this is Saratoga.”

It was the only way Vasquez could explain a shocking upset of comparable proportions at Saratoga last Sunday. Manila, the best grass horse in the United States for the last two years, went off at 3-10 odds but was beaten by Talakeno, a horse who has had trouble winning in California and a lot of other places.

“My horse didn’t fire,” said Vasquez, who rode Manila and was on the receiving end this time. “That’s about all you can say about the race.”

The day was humid and the temperature was in the 90s, the kind of weather that has caused trainer LeRoy Jolley to scratch Manila and cancel workouts at Belmont Park. But Manila had won nine straight races and had only three horses to beat in the Bernard Baruch Handicap, the two others being of the same caliber as Talakeno. The assignment looked as easy as sitting on a park bench, a la Bernard Baruch.

Dick Dutrow, who has trained Talakeno since the horse left Laz Barrera’s barn on the West Coast, practically apologized for winning, suggesting that his horse wouldn’t have had a chance if Manila had been anything near his usual form.

Manila is not the only heavy favorite to have lost here this month, and maybe Vasquez is right. Saratoga, which opened in 1863 and is the nation’s oldest track, did not come by its reputation as “the graveyard of favorites” just because of a few minor upsets.

Man o’ War incurred his only defeat at Saratoga, and fittingly the horse that beat him was named Upset; Jim Dandy, who has a stake named after him, was 100-1 when he beat Gallant Fox, a Triple Crown champion, at Saratoga, and Affirmed, after winning the Triple Crown, seemed to have overcome the Saratoga jinx when he finished first in the Travers--but five minutes later, the stewards took his number down for interference and gave the win to Alydar.

The wave of upsets this season has been particularly damaging to trainer Wayne Lukas’ barn. Lady’s Secret, Capote, Jazzing Around, Pine Tree Lane, Endurance and Fiesta Gal have all failed to win when they were expected to.

Alysheba, a son of Alydar, may be favored in the wide-open 1987 Travers here Saturday, but that could be a mistake. Only one favorite, Chief’s Crown in 1985, has taken the Travers since 1975.

Being a Kentucky Derby winner is another strike against Alysheba. The Derby winner hasn’t won the Travers since Shut Out in 1942.

“Most Derby winners don’t even get to the Travers,” said Charlie Whittingham, who trains Temperate Sil, another starter Saturday. “They’re usually too worn out from running in the Triple Crown.”

This is an unusual year, however. Most of the best 3-year-olds from the Triple Crown series have held together, and there will be a lot of familiarity in the Travers, which is a $1-million race for the first time.

Besides Alysheba and Temperate Sil, others likely to start are Bet Twice, winner of the Belmont Stakes and conqueror of Alysheba in the Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park, plus Polish Navy, Java Gold, Cryptoclearance, Fortunate Moment and the Jolley-trained entry of Gulch and Gorky.

Temperate Sil, in his final workout for the Travers, blazed five-eighths of a mile at Saratoga in 57 1/5 seconds, which was the second-fastest morning time at the track this season. Groovy, the brilliant sprinter, worked in 56 4/5 while preparing for Sunday’s Forego Handicap here.

Bill Shoemaker, who worked Temperate Sil and will ride the Santa Anita Derby and Swaps Stakes winner in the Travers, is staying at Saratoga to ride horses today and Friday.

Shoemaker, a Texas native, will appear with Willie Nelson at what’s being called a “Willie and Willie Concert” in Dallas Oct. 20. The concert is being used to raise funds in the interest of legalizing parimutuel wagering in Texas through several county referendums Nov. 3.

Typically, the lineup is changing for the Budweiser-Arlington Million Sept. 6 at Arlington Park.

Manila, despite his dull performance here, will still be running and is likely to be favored.

Two European horses, Ascot Knight and Triptych, will not be coming. Triptych, ridden by Steve Cauthen, is a 5-year-old mare who won in York, England, this week and will run in the Arc de Triomphe at Paris in October.

The handlers of Mtoto, the top European horse invited to the Million, have not said they’ll run at Arlington but are holding the option open.

Ferdinand will continue to run on the dirt, which means that two American horses, Forlitano and Duluth, will move into the Million field from the alternates’ list, and Trigger Finger will make the trip from France for the race.

Horse Racing Notes

A California state investigator said that there were six batteries--electric prodding devices--involved in the Kip Didericksen affair at Hollywood Park. The quarter horse jockey had two in his possession shortly before the race started, his valet had two and there were two on the ground, apparently discarded. Didericksen was suspended for a year, put on probation for another year and fined $2,000. His valet got a year’s suspension and another year’s probation. The California Horse Racing Board did not receive an appeal of the ruling by the deadline Monday. . . . Alysheba’s owners plan to run the colt next year as a 4-year-old. . . . Waquoit, one of the country’s top handicap horses, will run Saturday, carrying top weight of 125 pounds, in the Iselin Handicap. Lost Code runs with 117 pounds. . . . Festivity, winner of the Palomar Handicap last Sunday at Del Mar, was the horse who lost the race at Saratoga last summer when the stewards put up the number of the wrong horse. None of the stewards involved in the decision are working the meeting this year. . . . War, the winner of the Blue Grass Stakes on a disqualification, was sold at auction here the other day for $360,000. Phantom Jet, another stakes winner, went for $475,000.