Racing at Santa Anita : Cherokee Colony Scores a Surprising Victory

Sometimes, trainers are the last to know. With Cherokee Colony returning from a 9-month layoff, trainer Chris Speckert tried to enter him in a small race at Santa Anita Friday, but not enough competitors were interested.

That left Speckert with his last option, Saturday’s $100,000 San Carlos Handicap. With On the Line running in that stake, Speckert expected a second-place finish at best.

But Cherokee Colony came roaring through the stretch as though he had never been away, dispatching On the Line, the 3-10 favorite, by 1 1/4 lengths before a crowd of 30,395.

Speckert is going through one of those stretches when everything he touches turns to gold. Just a week ago, he entered No Review in the San Gorgonio Handicap and let the filly run even though the stake was switched from the grass to the dirt. She won by a half-length.

Cherokee Colony’s victory Saturday was much more remarkable. The 4-year-old son of Pleasant Colony, the 1981 Kentucky Derby winner, had to beat On the Line, who had won 3 straight 6-furlong races in December. Before Saturday, only Very Subtle, the winner of the Las Flores Handicap, had gone off at such a short price at this meeting.

Not only did Cherokee Colony gun down On the Line in the stretch, but he also finished the 7 furlongs in 1:20 3/5, which missed Flying Paster’s stakes record by two-fifths of a second and was only three-fifths slower than Spectacular Bid’s track record.

On the Line finished 3 lengths in front of Happy in Space in the 6-horse field, which was reduced by the scratches of Complicate and He’s a Cajun.

Coax Me Clyde, who was running second behind On the Line and his sparkling fractions through the first half-mile, pulled up lame, 1 of 3 horses that finished in distress in the last 3 races. Vanned off after the seventh race was Feraud, who broke down while running second in the stretch over Santa Anita’s divot-scarred turf course, and Oricao was a casualty in the ninth race, which was run over the hard main track. Feraud broke his right foreleg and attempts were being made to save the 6-year-old Argentine-bred.

Cherokee Colony paid $22.20, $4.60 and $2.40. On the Line paid $2.40 and $2.10, and Happy in Space paid $2.40.

Super Diamond, the 9-year-old gelding making his first start since last March, wound up fourth, 4 lengths behind Cherokee Colony, after having a chance at the top of the stretch.

Cherokee Colony was sent to Speckert a month ago, after running 8 times for Johnny Campo, owner-breeder Thomas Mellon Evans’ trainer in the East. After winning only 1 of 5 starts as a 2-year-old, Cherokee Colony became a prominent 3-year-old.

He won the Flamingo, finished fourth behind Brian’s Time, Forty Niner and Notebook in the Florida Derby and was third to Private Terms and Seeking the Gold in the Wood Memorial.

When Cherokee Colony was sent to Speckert, it was with the intention of getting him ready for the $500,000 Strub Stakes. Since the 1 1/4-mile Strub is on Feb. 5, Speckert needed a race badly for Cherokee Colony this weekend, and at one point he was even considering today’s 1 1/8-mile San Fernando, which is well-stocked with Strub candidates.

“I’m amazed by this race,” Speckert said. “I was amazed by the way he got out of the gate, and then to see him do what he did against On the Line, who I thought would be super tough, just amazed me further.”

Rafael Meza rode both No Review and Cherokee Colony. Meza worked Cherokee Colony at Hollywood Park, in early January, during a time when several jockeys were scrambling for the mount.

“The last race may have taken something out of On the Line,” Meza said. “At the three-eighths pole, I knew my horse was going to eat him up. I galloped my horse out an extra eighth of a mile past the finish line, and he still wasn’t blowing that hard.

“I still don’t think my horse is 100%. He could be any kind.”

On the Line won the Palos Verdes Handicap on Dec. 30 by running in 1:07 3/5, which tied the track record. On Saturday, the 5-year-old carried 126 pounds, 7 more than Cherokee Colony.

“He did all he could do,” said Gary Stevens, On the Line’s jockey. “I’m sure the weight made a difference, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse. I’ve been working the other horse and I was leery of him, but I didn’t think he’d be able to get up at seven-eighths of a mile.

“Obviously, I was wrong. He chewed me up and spit me out at the sixteenth pole. On the Line reached down deep and it wasn’t enough. I’m a little in shock. My horse ran his rear off and still got beat. Give the winner a lot of credit.”

Cherokee Colony earned $62,800, pushing him over the $400,000 mark. The added distance of the Strub is not a major concern for Speckert. “I think he’ll go a mile and a quarter,” the trainer said. “Obviously, he’s a horse that doesn’t need that much training.”

Horse Racing Notes

Wayne Lukas, who trains On the Line, settled for another second Saturday, with Wonders Delight against Stocks Up, the Hollywood Starlet winner, in the Bay Meadows Oaks. Another Lukas horse, Bright Asset, finished third. . . . Today at Bay Meadows, Rob an Plunder is an 8-5 favorite in the $300,000 El Camino Real Derby, which has drawn 4 other 3-year-olds--Hawkster, Stephen’s Sooner, Double Quick and Harmony Creek.

Johnny Longden, the trainer and Hall of Fame jockey who will be 82 next month, underwent 6 hours of back surgery recently and will be away from his barn for 6 to 8 months. Longden had 6 pins inserted into a vertebra. “It was a new operation,” he said, “but it was either that or spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair.” Longden has had chronic back trouble since he was injured in a spill in 1936 and spent 8 months in a cast. He is using a walker and hopes to get his doctor’s permission to come to the track Monday, when one of his horses is running.

Russell Baze won 3 races at Santa Anita Saturday. . . . Simply Majestic, who won the San Gabriel Handicap at Santa Anita on Dec. 31, ran third Saturday in the Appleton Handicap at Gulfstream Park. Fabulous Indian, a 20-1 shot, won the race in a photo finish with Equalize. Jose Santos, the rider of Equalize and the Eclipse Award-winning jockey for 1988, will be at Santa Anita today to ride Perceive Arrogance in the San Fernando. . . . Sandy Hawley, the leading rider in Canada last year, has returned to Santa Anita for the winter and will ride Raykour in the San Fernando. . . . On Monday, Very Subtle carries top weight of 126 pounds, spotting her 7 rivals from 9 to 12 pounds, in the Santa Monica Handicap.