Horse Racing : Friendship Nearly Cost Santa Anita a Rematch

The friendship of Bob Strub and Charlie Cella almost got in the way of Sunday’s rematch between Alysheba and Ferdinand in the San Bernardino Handicap at Santa Anita.

Strub is the president of Santa Anita, and Cella runs Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. When some of Strub’s people suggested that the $250,000 purse for the San Bernardino be raised as an inducement for Alysheba to run here, he balked at the idea.

Strub knew that if Alysheba didn’t stay at Santa Anita, he would be running at Oaklawn today in the $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap. Oaklawn needs a box-office draw more than Santa Anita does. Attendance and handle have slumped this season at the usually popular Arkansas track, so much so that Cella had to reach into his own pocket and ante up $1 million to make good on promised purses to horsemen.

When Jack Van Berg, Alysheba’s trainer, called the Santa Anita racing department a few days after Strub had nixed a San Bernardino purse hike, he was surprised to learn of the decision.

Van Berg said that the Clarence Scharbauers, who race Alysheba, were sold on the idea of keeping the 1987 Kentucky Derby winner in California for a while. They virtually knew what weight their horse would be carrying in the San Bernardino, and they didn’t want to ship Alysheba East unless they had to.

That was enough for Strub, who approved a $530,000 race providing that Alysheba and Ferdinand, the 1986 Derby winner and last year’s horse of the year, both ran.

“Santa Anita has hardly ever increased a purse in a big race--in fact I don’t think we’ve ever done it,” Strub said. “But this was an unusual thing, a rubber match between two fine horses. You try to think of the next guy, but you also have to run your own business. I saw Cella at a meeting in Florida last week, and we joked about it and there are no hard feelings.”

Five horses are entered against Ferdinand and Alysheba in the 1 1/8-mile San Bernardino, but the trainers of two or three might just be looking, in the event the track is muddy and either Alysheba or Ferdinand doesn’t run.

Santa Anita was muddy Friday, but the forecast for the rest of the weekend doesn’t include rain.

Here’s the field, in post-position order: Alysheba, with Chris McCarron, riding, 127 pounds; Foreign Legion, Alex Solis, 110; Roi Normand, Robbie Davis, 110; Ferdinand, Bill Shoemaker, 127; Simply Majestic, Pat Day, 116; Good Taste, Gary Stevens, 113, and Nostalgia’s Star, Fernando Toro, 116.

This will be the first time in their three-race rivalry that Ferdinand won’t be conceding weight to Alysheba. When Ferdinand won the Breeders’ Cup Classic by a nose, he carried 126 pounds to Alysheba’s 122. The weights were 127 for Ferdinand and 126 for Alysheba when Alysheba won by a half-length in the Santa Anita Handicap March 6.

A win by Alysheba would send him over the $4-million mark in purses, a level reached by only two other horses--John Henry with $6.5 million and Spend a Buck with $4.2 million. Bonus money helped John Henry by $500,000 and Spend a Buck by $2 million. Alysheba has no bonuses in his total. If Ferdinand wins Sunday, he will be about $55,000 short of $4 million.

If either Alysheba or Ferdinand doesn’t run, the purse will drop to about $400,000, and if both stay in the barn, the pot will revert to its original value of about $250,000.

Bet Twice, whose return only adds to the toughness of this year’s handicap division, ran Wednesday for the first time in more than seven months and scored a 3 1/2-length win in a 7-furlong race at Keeneland.

In another race at Keeneland Wednesday, Posen, a Danzig colt trained by Woody Stephens and ineligible for the Triple Crown races, spoiled Regal Classic’s return, beating the Canadian colt by a neck.

Regal Classic, making his first start since running third as the favorite in the Hollywood Futurity in December, had a virus in Florida and is still trying to catch up in an effort to run in the Kentucky Derby May 7.

Ruhlmann, who was eighth as the favorite in the Florida Derby and eighth again in the Santa Anita Derby in his last two starts, is scheduled to run in the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields next Saturday.

“He won’t run when he gets behind horses,” trainer Bobby Frankel said, trying to explain why Ruhlmann beat only one horse in the Santa Anita Derby. “I’ve got to change his style.”

Saratoga Passage, who was also scheduled to run in the California Derby, fractured a bone in his left foreleg and isn’t expected to return to action until late in the year.

Racing telecaster Dave Johnson has a career decision to make this summer: whether to work the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga Aug. 6 or take a supporting role in a weeklong St. Louis production of “Man of La Mancha.”

“The Whitney would be more money, but doing the show would be more fun,” said Johnson, who has worked in several musicals.

Johnson was tripped up when the tote-board timer in the Santa Anita Derby was accidentally set off last Saturday. The board incorrectly showed Winning Colors winning in record time, and Johnson, doing the call of the race, didn’t have the luxury of being able to notice that the final time appeared before the filly had reached the finish line.

Horse Racing Notes

A small field will race Forty Niner today in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland. Risen Star, the Louisiana Derby winner, is scheduled to run, along with Firery Ensign, Buck Forbes and Stalwars, who will be ridden by Chris McCarron for the first time.

Two California-based horses--Mi Preferido and Drouilly’s Boy--are probables for the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park next Saturday. Gary Stevens has the mount on Mi Preferido and will also ride What a Diplomat in the Blue Grass. . . . Tejano, with Laffit Pincay riding, will have his final Kentucky Derby prep in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct next Saturday.

Success Express, winless since the Breeders’ Cup, bled in the Gotham at Aqueduct last Saturday, and another Wayne Lukas trainee, Cougarized, will run with anti-bleeder medication in the Blue Grass at Keeneland. . . . Lost Code carries top weight of 126 pounds against Cryptoclearance, Demons Begone and Gulch today in the Oaklawn Park Handicap.

Gene Sipus, who rode Kingpost to an upset win in the Jim Beam Stakes at Kentucky’s Turfway Park, has been aboard the gawky gelding in each of his three wins. But name jockeys still are in heavy demand, and Sipus isn’t expected to ride Kingpost in the Kentucky Derby. Kent Desormeaux is angling for the mount. . . . Alex Fernandez, who had ridden 89 horses without winning this season, won Friday’s second race at Santa Anita with No Double Deal, who paid $131.20.