Vanity Handicap : Annoconnor Shocks Even Trainer, Pays $86.20

The filly’s trainer thought she might salvage third. One of her owners thought the jockey might have positioned her too close too soon. But at the end of the 1 1/8-mile, $200,000 Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park Sunday, there was Annoconnor, reaching the wire three-fourths of a length ahead of Pen Bal Lady and paying $86.20 in one of the most shocking upsets of the season.

Annoconnor gave Corey Black his second straight win in the Vanity as he became the first jockey to score consecutive victories in the stake since Bill Shoemaker with Afifa and It’s in the Air in 1978 and ’79. Last year, Black’s Vanity mount was Infinidad, who was also a surprise, paying $26.80.

This year’s Vanity shaped up as a competitive race, but the crowd of 28,050 didn’t see much hope for Annoconnor. The 4-year-old was 42-1, with the prices on other six starters at 8-1 or less.

My Miss Brooks, who had won two straight allowances races, was making her first stakes appearance in two years. Sent off as the 11-10 favorite, My Miss Brooks led for three-quarters of a mile, but was pushed through fast fractions by Integra and faded to fifth. Integra, co-high weight with Pen Bal Lady at 119 pounds, 5 more than Annoconnor, also had nothing left for the drive and finished sixth.

Pen Bal Lady, running on dirt for only the second time in a 20-race career, came from last place to take second, 3 1/2 lengths ahead of Abloom.

Annoconnor earned $110,000, which is only $16,000 less than what she made in 13 previous starts. She paid $86.20, $28.20 and $9.60. Pen Bal Lady’s payoffs were $8.60 and $6.40 and Abloom paid $5.80. Annoconnor’s time was 1:49 1/5.

John Gosden, Annoconnor’s trainer, was back in Kentucky at the yearling sales and his assistant, Rick Metee, saddled the horse. Gosden told Roy Gottlieb, the Chicago real-estate man who co-owns Annoconnor with Morton Fink, that third place might be the best they could expect.

Annoconnor loomed in third place while My Miss Brooks and Integra battled for the lead up front, through a :46 2/5 half-mile and a 1:10 three-quarters. Annoconnor gained the lead on the outside at the top of the stretch and then held on against Pen Bal Lady, who looked for a while like she might overhaul the leader.

Like Gottlieb, Black thought he would be farther back early. “I was a lot closer than I expected to be,” Black said. “I thought she’d relax (at the start) and come back. She broke running, and I was on the inside and knew I didn’t have to go anywhere.”

While Chris McCarron on My Miss Brooks and Gary Stevens on Integra battled for the lead going down the backstretch, Black let Annoconnor settle in behind them.

“I knew they were going fast, but my filly was going comfortably and that’s all I was worried about.”

Eddie Delahoussaye was aboard Pen Bal Lady, whose two stakes wins this year were on grass. “I thought I had it for a while,” Delahoussaye said. “But Corey’s filly kept digging in.”

Gottlieb and Fink, who have a breeding share in Nureyev, bred Annoconnor by mating the stallion with My Lord, a claiming filly they bought several years ago for $32,000. My Lord was bred back to Nureyev this spring after foaling a filly by Chief’s Crown.

Annoconnor is named after a former partner of Gottlieb’s who died a few years ago. “She never let me name a horse after her,” Gottlieb said. “But we reserved the name, waiting for a filly to come along who might do something special. This filly showed that fighting spirit, just like the real Ann O’Connor had. And her husband should be happy. He sent a lot of money from Chicago to bet on her.”

In her fourth start, Annoconnor broke her maiden last August at Del Mar and finished the year with three wins in eight starts. This year, she started out with a grass win at Santa Anita, but moving into stakes company on dirt she ran third in the El Encino and sixth in the La Canada.

In the La Canada, Annoconnor bled from the lungs and she’s been treated for the problem since. Her first start since the bleeding resulted in an allowance win at Hollywood Park and then she ran sixth on the grass in a race five weeks ago.

From Hollywood, Annoconnor will go to Del Mar, where a couple of races--one on dirt, the other on grass--could be on the schedule. Her reputation will follow this filly, and she won’t be paying $86.20 again.

Horse Racing Notes

Hollywood Park begins the final week of the season on Wednesday, with the meeting ending next Monday. The last three stakes are the $100,000 Hollywood Juvenile Championship on Saturday, the $200,000 Swaps on Sunday and the $250,000 Sunset Handicap on Monday. . . . Annoconnor gave trainer John Gosden his first stakes win of the meeting. . . . Annoconnor didn’t come close to breaking the record for a payoff in the Vanity--Perizade won the stake in 1961 and returned $180.60. . . . Julio Canani moved into a tie with Craig Lewis in the trainer standings by saddling his 21st winner, but the horse, Chili Hill, was claimed by Mike Mitchell for $16,000. . . . Hollywood Park will take betting on a telecast of the United Nations Handicap from Atlantic City Wednesday. Bet Twice is expected to make his grass debut in the stake. . . . At Ruidoso Downs, N.M., Merganser went wire-to-wire to win the Rainbow Futurity for quarter horses. The Rainbow Futurity is the second leg of the Triple Crown for 2-year-old quarter horses held at Ruidoso Downs in southern New Mexico. Merganser, who was ridden by Jacky Martin, finished the 400 yards in 19.82 seconds. Finishing second was Super De Kas while Kansas Futurity winner Okeydokey Baby was third.