Racing at Del Mar : No Review, a 25-1 Shot, Overtakes Do So for Stunning Victory in Oaks

As expected, a 3-year-old daughter of Nodouble won the $163,800 Del Mar Oaks on Saturday.

But the winner wasn’t Do So, the 3-5 favorite. It was No Review, a 25-1 longshot. The two offspring of Nodouble, a 23-year-old stallion, ran first and second, a half-length apart, before a stunned crowd of 22,195.

It took a creative ride by Rafael Meza, who was riding No Review for the first time, for owner-breeder Thomas Mellon Evans’ filly to overtake Do So six jumps before the finish line of the 1 1/8-mile grass race. Do So finished a length ahead of Jungle Gold, a European filly making her first U.S. start, and there was a 4 1/2-length gap back to Double Wedge, from France, in fourth place. Scratches of Variety Baby and Angelina Ballerina reduced the field to seven horses.

There was $6 less bet to win on No Review than on Beat, the other 25-1 shot. No Review, earning $96,300 and timed in 1:49, paid $53, $9.80 and $5.60. The other payoffs were $2.60 and $2.40 on Do So and $4.80 on Jungle Gold.

“Nine pounds and a mile and an eighth,” was the way trainer Ron McAnally summed up the end to his Do So’s winning streak, which had reached four stakes. Weights for the Oaks were based on horses’ performances, and Do So carried 124 pounds, the maximum for Saturday’s stake and the highest of her career. No Review, despite a record of four wins in eight starts this year, got in with 115 pounds, because her three stakes wins were in cheap races at Delaware Park, Philadelphia Park and Atlantic City.

Just two months ago, however, Do So spotted No Review seven pounds while running 1 1/16 miles in the Canterbury Oaks. Do So won the race--the third victory in her streak--and No Review ran sixth, beaten by 5 1/2 lengths.

At the top of the stretch Saturday, it looked as though No Review would end up no better than fourth. Although she was full of run, a wall of horses--Do So, Jeanne Jones and Affordable Price--spread out ahead of her. Affordable Price and Jeanne Jones, both relatively new to grass racing, had set the early pace, but Do So, in contention from the beginning after breaking alertly for a change, had passed them just before the quarter pole.

Close to the rail, Meza alertly swung No Review to the outside, then whipped her furiously with his right hand through the last 16th of a mile.

The Canterbury race had been the first grass start for No Review, and then she won a turf start, the Atlantic City Oaks, in July. That was her last appearance before she went from Ross Pearce’s barn to that of Chris Speckert, a former Charlie Whittingham assistant who trains Evans’ horses in California. No Review’s dam, Dance Review, is a daughter of Northern Dancer, who has been considered by Europeans to be the world’s best grass sire for more than two decades.

No Review bled from the lungs during a workout at Del Mar, and Speckert was able to run her Saturday on Lasix, an anti-bleeding medication.

“She came back and worked with Lasix against colts (last Monday), and it was tremendous,” Meza said. “She won very handily, very nice. . . . She’s only been out of the money twice (in 11 lifetime starts).”

Speckert hadn’t won a race with nine previous starters at the Del Mar meeting, with his best finish being one second.

“She was sent out to me a month ago,” Speckert said. “She trained well for me here and worked well on the grass, so I thought she’d have a chance.”

Alex Solis, riding Do So, also felt the weight was a factor.

“Too much weight,” Solis said. “She felt fine. She was trying hard. . . . I was where I wanted to be and rode her like I always do.”

No Review was a much more popular filly in the East. In her eight starts this year, she had gone off as the favorite five times, and in all four of her wins, she had been favored.

Speckert said No Review will remain in California, and the $200,000 Ramona Handicap here on Sept. 11 is being considered for her next start. The weights won’t be as favorable for No Review as they were Saturday, but the distance stays the same.

Racing Notes

Owner Thomas Mellon Evans and trainer Chris Speckert will try to win another stake today when Roberto’s Dancer, like No Review a second-generation offspring of Northern Dancer, runs in the $200,000 Del Mar Derby. Roberto’s Dancer doesn’t figure to win, either. He was second in his last start, the La Jolla Handicap, but has won only an allowance race, at Santa Anita in March, in six starts this year. . . . Lively One, winner of the Swaps at Hollywood Park in his last start, is expected to be favored, although he ran seventh in his only turf start. . . . Mill Native, winner of Saturday’s Arlington Million, is headed for California and trainer Charlie Whittingham’s barn. Mill Native paid $59.60 in betting on the Million at Del Mar, compared to his $83.20 win payoff at Woodbine. . . . With the Arlington Million giving the bettors an extra race, there was a record $9.3 million bet on the Del Mar card Saturday, counting the on-track handle and the total at 10 off-track locations. There were almost 17,000 horseplayers at Hollywood Park and Santa Anita. The Hollywood handle reached $2 million for the first time, and the total fell $40,000 short of $2 million at Santa Anita. Hollywood Park and Santa Anita out-handled Del Mar by about $100,000.