SANTA ANITA : Wretham Caps Drysdale’s Best Year

The end of 1989 was no different from the beginning or the middle for trainer Neil Drysdale, as the urbane Englishman wrapped up his best year ever by winning the $112,700 San Gabriel Handicap on Sunday at Santa Anita Park.

Wretham, a 4-year-old English gelding making his U.S. stakes debut, closed from next-to-last at the head of the stretch to win the 1 1/8-mile turf event by a length over Patchy Groundfog.

Wretham’s victory--accomplished in a stakes-record 1:46 1/5--pushed the Drysdale stable earnings well over the $5.4 million mark for the season, a figure that doubled his best previous year. Only Wayne Lukas, Charlie Whittingham and Shug McGaughey won more purse money in 1989.

Asked if the racing world could expect more of the same in 1990, Drysdale simply smiled and shook his head.

“Impossible,” the trainer said. “I can’t imagine topping it.”

Typical Drysdale. The disciple of the Charlie Whittingham school of training is chronically low-key and conservative. And his training style mirrors his personality. In 1989 his skills were evident in nearly every division.

Drysdale rang up his total with a stable full of stakes stars that included Breeders’ Cup Turf victor Prized, Hollywood Oaks winner Gorgeous and an array of major winners like Sabona, Political Ambition, Miss Brio and Rahy.

At no point, however, was Wretham ever mentioned in the same breath. In fact, when he came to Drysdale from England a year ago he was cut out to be no more than a useful allowance horse. He was gelded and given time to acclimate, finally coming out to win at first asking last July 9 in an allowance race at Hollywood Park. He won only one of five subsequent races.

Drysdale’s great strength is his ability to evaluate talent and place horses where they can win. He knew Wretham was an honest, slightly arthritic old pro who needed a fast pace and a little give in the ground to run his best race. Despite being his local stakes debut, the San Gabriel provided Wretham with the perfect mix of circumstances.

Any time In Extremis is in a race the pace is certain to be brisk. The free-wheeling son of Sharpen Up sped into the lead under Alex Solis, closely followed by favored Bosphorus and the big gray horse Delegant.

Laffit Pincay, who got off In Extremis to ride Wretham, was content to lay well off the leaders as they rounded the clubhouse turn and headed down the backstretch.

“He was running very easily for me,” said Pincay, who has won three of the first five stakes run at the meeting. “I figured they were going pretty fast up front.”

They were. In Extremis passed the half-mile mark in :46 3/5 and still had the lead after 6 furlongs in 1:10 1/5. At that point the field had shuffled considerably, as the horses at the back began to move.

Pincay and Wretham were following Gary Stevens and Prince Ruffian around the final turn when Russell Baze and River Warden launched a terrific burst from behind.

Pincay was impressed enough with River Warden’s move to give chase. But within a furlong, River Warden had flattened out and Pincay found himself in trouble.

“I had no other choice except to go around,” Pincay said. “I was already pretty wide, and that made me go out even farther. But my horse was really starting to finish.”

Up ahead, Corey Black thought he was sitting on the winner. Patchy Groundfog was closing steadily on In Extremis and was clearly the horse Pincay had to beat. Then Black heard announcer Trevor Denman and started to worry.

“I heard Trevor call Laffit’s horse, then I saw him coming out of the corner of my eye,” said Black. “But there was nothing I could do about it. Old Patchy was already running as hard as he could. We just got outrun.”

Wretham went from a length behind to a length ahead of Patchy Groundfog in the last few yards before the wire. In Extremis finished another length behind in third place and came back with teeth marks in his saddle towel. Bosphorus, a notorious rogue, tried to savage In Extremis about 70 yards before the finish.

“He just reached over and took a bite,” said Chris McCarron, who rode Bosphorus. “Man, is that a weird feeling.”

And expensive, too. Bosphorus was beaten less than a length for third money but ended up sixth, costing himself any share of the purse.

Wretham, who paid $21.80, is owned by a syndicate headed by the Relatively Stable of Harold Applebaum and Jerry Magnin. The way he closed to win the San Gabriel, he seems a cinch to come back strong in the longer San Marcos Handicap on Jan. 21.

Auld Lang Syne Dept.--The decade at Santa Anita began with John Henry winning the San Gabriel Handicap on Jan. 1, 1980. The following people won the nine races at Santa Anita that day:

Jockeys Darrel McHargue, Laffit Pincay, Eddie Delahoussaye, Sandy Hawley, and apprentice Patrick Valenzuela, and trainers Wayne Lukas, Gary Jones, Eddie Truman, Ron McAnally, Henry Moreno, Laz Barrera and Lou Glauburg.

The decade ended on Sunday with these people in the winners circle:

Jockeys Gary Stevens, Chris McCarron, Robbie Davis, Rafael Meza, Pincay and apprentice Corey Nakatani, and trainers Sandy Shulman, Eric Longden, Bruce Headley, Vladimir Cerin, Donn Luby, Bill Spawr, Drysdale and McAnally.

Horse Racing Notes

In addition to the feature, Neil Drysdale won the sixth race with the maiden filly Summer Matinee, a daughter of Belmont Stakes winner Summing who was a $250,000 buy last March by the Clover Racing Stables syndicate. After her 5 1/2-length romp, look for Summer Matinee in a stakes race before too long. . . . Bosphorus has attacked before. Just ask Karen Headley, exercise rider and daughter of trainer Bruce Headley, who boasts a nasty bruise on a shin where Bosphorus took a bite last month.

Allen Paulson’s Opening Verse was the unluckiest loser in Sunday’s seventh race. The son of The Minstrel was trapped on the rail for nearly every step of the mile on the main track, finally escaping in the last few yards to lose in a a photo with longshot Attesa. Opening Verse was making his American debut for trainer Richard Lundy after a European career that included a second-place finish to Nashwan.