This Time, On the Line Is on the Money : Colt Wins San Fernando Stakes; Alysheba, Temperate Sil Scratch

After On the Line ran 10th in last year’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and then finished a distant fourth in Hollywood Park’s Swaps Stakes a couple of months later, the jury had decided that this wasn’t a 1-mile horse.

On the Line hasn’t been asked to go as far as 1 miles since the Swaps, and a career of sprinting had been penciled in. But now the 4-year-old colt has run himself into another 1-mile situation--the $500,000 Charles H. Strub Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 7--because of his half-length win Sunday in the San Fernando.

Wayne Lukas, who trains On the Line for owner Gene Klein, probably feels that he has a better candidate for the Strub in Faster Than Sound, who won a mile race at Santa Anita on Saturday. Regardless, On the Line is expected to be cranked up for another try at 1 miles because he is within one race of becoming only the sixth horse to sweep the Strub series. Round Table and Hillsdale won the Malibu, the San Fernando and the Strub in the 1950s, Ancient Title did it in 1974 and Spectacular Bid and Precisionist registered sweeps this decade.

With Alysheba’s debut as a 4-year-old put on hold because of a sloppy track, and Temperate Sil also staying in the barn, the 1 1/8-mile San Fernando was little more than a watered-down version--literally--of the seven-furlong Malibu. On the Line, Temperate Sil and Candi’s Gold finished 1-2-3 in that stake, and on Sunday it was Candi’s Gold again unsuccessfully chasing On the Line to the finish line, losing by a half-length.

Candi’s Gold finished 8 1/2 lengths in front of Grand Vizier, with Hot and Smoggy fourth and Tertiary Zone last in the five-horse field. With Masterful Advocate, another San Fernando entrant, having instead run on Saturday, finishing third to Faster Than Sound, all five of Sunday’s starters shared in the $212,400 purse.

The bulk of the money--$122,400--was won by On the Line, who as the second betting choice to Candi’s Gold, paid $4.80, $2.80 and $2.40. Candi’s Gold, who paid $2.40 and $2.10, has become a not-quite-enough horse, with 4 career wins in 15 starts and 9 second- or third-place finishes. Grand Vizier paid $2.40 to show.

“My horse ran hard, but the other horse just kept on trucking,” said Eddie Gregson, Candi’s Gold’s trainer.

On the Line broke on the lead, was 2 1/2 lengths ahead after a half-mile and on the stretch turn appeared to be in command with Candi’s Gold, in second place, not closing the gap.

“Coming out of the turn, that other horse gained about a length on my horse,” Lukas said. “The finish looked a lot closer from where I was sitting.”

The Lukas barn, which finished 1987 with a record 92 stakes wins, has five this month, three this past weekend. Pine Tree Lane won the Santa Monica Handicap Saturday at Santa Anita while Tricky Squaw, another Klein property, captured the Affectionately Handicap at Aqueduct.

Jose Santos, who has led the country in purses the last two years, rode Tricky Squaw Saturday and was a late arrival Sunday at Santa Anita to be astride On the Line. Rakaposhi, Santos’ scheduled mount in the third race, won with Ray Sibille aboard.

Before the San Fernando, Lukas said to Santos: “I have a mile colt for you, you have to get the other eighth to the finish.”

On the Line might not have been able to see Candi’s Gold coming because he wears full-cup blinkers on both eyes, but Santos knew.

“At the top of the stretch, I had plenty of horse left,” Santos said. “But in the last 50 yards, he got very tired. I don’t know if he wants to go any farther.”

Gary Stevens rode Candi’s Gold. “In the last 50 yards, the other horse started drifting out, and I started getting to him again,” Stevens said. “But there were no excuses. My horse ran well, he handled the track, but he just wasn’t fast enough.”

Timed in 1:49 on a track that was covered by an estimated four inches of rain, On the Line increased his career earnings to about $391,000. The San Fernando was his sixth win in 21 starts and the first time he had won 2 straight.

Lukas bought On the Line for Klein for $150,000 at a Kentucky yearling sale.

The colt is from the stallion Mehmet’s first crop, and his dam is Male Strike, who has produced two other stakes winners. Mehmet’s most memorable wins as a runner were two victories over John Henry in 1982.

“I’ve had good luck with horses from first crops, like this one,” Lukas said. “I’m a conformation buyer, and if you see one you like in a first crop, you can usually get them a little cheaper.”

If On the Line doesn’t run in the Strub, the $100,000 San Pasqual Handicap, at 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 31, would be a race that he has a better chance to win.

But the temptation to come back in the Strub will probably be too much for Lukas to resist. “I know we’ll be facing different horses than we beat,” the trainer said Sunday. “But it’s a chance to put this horse in the history books.”

Horse Racing Notes

Trainer Jerry Fanning is guessing that today’s $100,000 San Gorgonio Handicap will be moved to the dirt because of the saturated grass course. Fanning has two mares--Top Corsage and Miss Alto--entered, with Top Corsage having won her last two starts, both on grass. . . . Records may have been set Sunday when 20 horses were scratched from the fifth race and 13 from the seventh. Thirty-one horses were entered in the fifth and 23 in the seventh. . . . North Sider, last year’s champion older distaffer, has been retired and will be bred to Alydar. . . . Laffit Pincay, who suffered a fractured vertebra in a spill on Dec. 27, is due to resume riding on Jan. 30. . . . Ben Rochelle, who owns both Sari’s Heroine and Snow Chief, will bred them to each other this year. Sari’s Heroine is a stakes winner whose retirement was recently announced. . . . Sunday’s attendance was 19,849. . . . Wayne Lukas said he didn’t consider scratching On the Line, because he checked with Roy Dillon, the track veterinarian, after every race and was assured that the racing strip was safe.