SANTA ANITA : Princess Royalty Returns to Races

A filly named Princess Royalty makes today’s running of the California Breeders Champion Stakes at Santa Anita worth watching.

When last seen in the afternoon, Princess Royalty was turning an insignificant claiming race at Hollywood Park into a cause celebre that had railbirds screeching and the stewards scratching their heads.

Making her competitive debut in the second race on Dec. 22, the daughter of Slew’s Royalty was listed at 15-1 on the morning line against a mediocre field of California-bred maidens. She was bet down to 2-1 by post time and then ran her opposition silly, winning by 16 lengths in a quality clocking of 1:10 for six furlongs.

On top of that, Princess Royalty was claimed for $32,000, a price that looked like a bargain before the race was half run. Marty Alpert, who owns horses with his wife Eileen, looked like the smartest man in the world that day.

“I’d been in the market for a Slew’s Royalty (offspring), and we’d been watching this filly in the mornings,” said Alpert, founder of the Big 5 Sporting Goods chain. “But quite honestly, I didn’t go to the races that day with the intention of claiming her. I was there to make a bet on a horse in the first race. I wasn’t even sure she was the right filly until just before the races.”

As Princess Royalty bounded through the stretch on her way to victory, a chorus of boos echoed through the sparse weekday crowd. Stung by what they were convinced was a classic betting coup, the fans were showing their displeasure for being left out of the loop. Russ Hudak, Hollywood’s morning line maker, did not blame them at all.

“Anyone would feel like they’ve been slighted somehow,” said Hudak, who is clocking horses at Fairplex Park during the Santa Anita meet. “My pride was already hurt after watching the horse bet down from 15-1. And then for her to win the way she did, when her works made it hard to believe she could be ready to run such an impressive race.”

The Daily Racing Form published its maximum of four workouts for Princess Royalty on Dec. 22. None was exceptional. Hudak had access to the filly’s prior workouts, but he said there was nothing to indicate the ability she showed in her race.

“A maiden claiming race like that for 2-year-olds is usually the toughest line to make,” said Hudak. “Instead of the betting public determining the odds, its usually people who know something about the horses who tip the prices one way or the other, and then the fans follow along.”

Trainer Hector Palma, who prepared Princess Royalty for her impressive debut, said he was as surprised as anyone by the margin of victory.

“There are some horses, called morning glories, who work very fast in the morning and never run a jump in the afternoon,” Palma said. “This filly, I think, is just the opposite.

“Anyway, she had been bothered by a splint bone,” added Palma, describing a minor shin condition. “I usually work my horses fast. But I knew she’d be running for $32,000, so there was no reason to ask her for that much speed in her works. Besides, if she goes off at 15-1, even if she wins, nobody says a word.”

Palma contends it was a private clocker who touted Princess Royalty around the track, drove the price down and inspired Alpert’s claim.

“These private clockers got no business on the grounds,” Palma said. “They are only there to buy and sell horses.”

It is the job of the stewards to make sure that any routine inside information--whether it comes from a private clocker or stable personnel--does not cross the line and become a violation of racing rules.

“Horses changing odds that way is not that unusual,” said steward Pete Pedersen, who was on the phone to Hudak when Princess Royalty’s tote-board price began to plummet. “But for her to win the way she did, and then to be claimed as well, it became a significant matter. Such unusual performances are one of our most basic concerns.

“Palma told us that there was a good workout on the filly that did not appear in the Racing Form,” Pedersen said. “Based on his reputation as someone who regularly reports all workouts to the clockers, we’ve got to give him the benefit of the doubt. There’s simply no smoking gun.

“So in this case we’ve found no one that we could say committed an improper act,” Pedersen added. “But that doesn’t mean an improper act wasn’t committed.”

The fault could lie in the system itself. Hollywood Park, where Princess Royalty had been working, is notorious for its poor sight lines when it comes to clocking and identifying horses. The main track has several entry points far from the stable area. Also, the track dropped one clocker from its payroll several years ago, leaving an overworked crew of five.

Even though trainers are obligated to identify a horse before a workout, the system has been reduced in many cases to exercise riders shouting out names as they gallop past the clockers’ stand. Chuck Russell, the senior clocker on the local circuit, estimates that his crews are 95% accurate when identifying horses. But he hedges when it comes to Hollywood Park.

“If we’re going to miss a work, or a trainer wants to try hiding one, that’s the place it will happen,” said Russell, who has been clocking for 21 years. “I’ve asked Hollywood, year after year, to put on more clockers, and nothing has happened.”

Pedersen sympathizes.

“Of course, one of our gravest concerns is that the public not lose its trust in the integrity of our clockers,” the steward said. “I’d rather have no workouts published at all, rather than have inaccurate workouts. A case like this is frustrating, because it makes us realize that we have to do a better job of guaranteeing the authenticity of workouts.”

One thing is for certain: Marty Alpert had a good idea Princess Royalty represented at least $32,000 worth of quality. Once he confirmed that the filly was indeed the same horse he’d had his eye on, he made a beeline to the paymaster’s office to fill out the appropriate claiming forms. That was costly, however.

“I ended up getting shut out on my bet in the first, and the horse won,” Alpert said.

Princess Royalty, now trained by Jerry Fanning, will have a chance to get Alpert even and then some in today’s $141,500 Breeders Champion Stakes, a race that has been won in the past by such quality California-bred fillies as Rascal Lass, Kool Arrival, A Kiss for Luck and Fabulous Notion.

“Gary Stevens got off her after a work the other morning and said she felt like Akinemod,” said Alpert, referring to the Fanning-trained winner of Monday’s La Brea Stakes. “I think we’ve got a good one.”

And Palma will be watching with mixed feelings.

“Sure, I was sorry to lose the filly,” he said. “But you know, the day after she won we had 15 calls asking for a breeding to Slew’s Royalty. As long as I’m not running against her, I’ll be rooting for her.”

Horse Racing Notes

Princess Royalty is from the first crop of Slew’s Royalty, a swaybacked son of Seattle Slew whose brilliance was compromised by chronic unsoundness. Hector Palma nursed him through seven starts to four wins and a third in the San Diego Handicap. . . . The best of the 3-year-old Cal-bred fillies might have run on Monday. Not So Careless, a daughter of Desert Wine bred and owned by film producer Ray Stark, broke her maiden by 1 1/4 lengths after being in trouble for most of the 6 1/2 furlongs. She is a half sister of Fabulous Notion and is trained by Bobby Frankel.

SANTA ANITA LEADERS

THROUGH JAN. 1

JOCKEY STARTS 1ST 2ND 3RD WIN % Gary Stevens 44 10 13 2 22 Alex Solis 37 8 3 5 22 Chris McCarron 33 7 6 1 21 Laffit Pincay 32 5 5 3 16 Eddie Delahoussaye 41 4 6 9 10 Robbie Davis 41 4 5 4 10 Pat Valenzuela 27 4 3 1 15 Martin Pedroza 25 2 1 6 8 Russell Baze 36 2 1 4 6 Corey Nakatani 33 2 1 3 6 Ray Sebille 12 2 1 1 17

TRAINER STARTS 1ST 2ND 3RD WIN % Neil Drysdale 6 4 1 0 67 Eddie Gregson 6 4 0 0 67 Jerry Fanning 11 3 0 0 27 Wayne Lukas 12 2 2 1 17 Brian Mayberry 13 2 1 4 15 David Hofmans 4 2 0 1 50 Ron McAnally 8 2 0 1 25 A.C. Valenzuela 2 2 0 0 1.0 Danny Velasquez 8 2 0 0 25