SANTA ANITA : Vacation Helped Exemplary Leader

When a trainer and an owner put a stakes-class 3-year-old on the shelf halfway through a season laden with rich opportunities, you immediately ask, “What went wrong?”

And when the trainer answers, “Nothing, we just wanted to back off for a while,” the immediate reaction is, “Yeah, sure. So where’s he going to stud? Singapore?”

But in the case of Exemplary Leader, one of several upset possibilities in Sunday’s San Fernando Stakes at Santa Anita, his five-month vacation at the end of 1989 should be taken at face value, according to his trainer, Brian Mayberry.

After finishing sixth in the La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 6, Exemplary Leader was given an easy 2 1/2 months around the barn. He began serious training again in October, then resurfaced in the Malibu Stakes on Santa Anita’s opening day, Dec. 26, to run an impressive second behind the San Fernando favorite, Music Merci.

“Giving him time off was an arbitrary decision on my part,” said Mayberry, who is currently on top in the Santa Anita standings. “With year-round racing, you’ve got to stop sooner or later. I prefer to do it sooner.”

Later, added Mayberry, is sometimes too late. A trainer must know when a horse hits his peak and when that peak has passed. To do otherwise is to risk debilitating illness or a career-ending injury.

“It’s a very intuitive thing,” Mayberry said. ‘A lot of guys don’t recognize when to stop.”

Exemplary Leader had been in steady training for 18 months when he finally got his holiday. He ran seven times as a 2-year-old in 1988 and 10 times before the Malibu in ‘89, winning one stakes and placing in four others for Jan, Mace and Samantha Siegel.

Acting on Mayberry’s recommendation, the Siegels paid $58,000 for Exemplary Leader at a 1987 yearling sale in Kentucky. So far, the son of Vigors has returned $170,038 on the investment.

“He’s a hard-nosed colt,” Mayberry said. “He did most of his maturing between the ages of 3 and 4. That’s another reason we stopped on him--his sire didn’t get really good until he turned 5.”

Vigors, dubbed the White Corvette because of his distinctive coat and his electrifying acceleration, won only five of 29 starts from ages 2 through 4. As a 5-year-old, however, he started just five times and won four major stakes in 1978, including the Santa Anita Handicap and the San Antonio Handicap.

Mayberry got lucky this week when Neil Drysdale decided not to run Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Prized in the San Fernando. That allowed Prized’s rider, Eddie Delahoussaye, to return on Exemplary Leader after their promising collaboration in the Malibu.

“This colt likes to make one big run at the end, and Eddie seems to have mastered knowing just when to move,” Mayberry said. “I don’t know if he’s quite good enough to win Sunday, but I think we’ve given him a chance to tell us.”

Of the 35 horses who worked six furlongs Wednesday morning at Santa Anita, the slowest was also the best known.

Gorgeous, last seen nipping at Bayakoa’s heels at the end of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, barely broke a sweat as she strolled along in 1:18 1/5 for the distance. The exercise said nothing about her ability, which is considerable, and everything about the style of Drysdale, her trainer.

Six days earlier, Drysdale matched the 4-year-old daughter of Slew o’ Gold against Prized in a “full-pads scrimmage” at about 7 1/2 furlongs. They responded with an official seven-furlong clocking of 1:24 1/5 that track clockers described as “breezing” rather than “handily,” indicating a minimum of effort that produced maximum results.

“She went right along in that work,” Drysdale said. “Did quite a bit, actually. After that, she didn’t need anything much more than a 1:16 or a 1:17 on Wednesday. Just something to keep her interested.”

Racing fans will be watching with interest Monday when Gorgeous returns in the El Encino Stakes at 1 1/16 miles. Of all the stars of 1989, Gorgeous was the most enigmatic. She ran only six times, popping up at six different tracks in California, New York, Kentucky and Florida. She won four races and finished second twice, and the only horses to beat her, Bayakoa and Open Mind, were later named champions.

Ron McAnally, Bayakoa’s trainer, singled out Gorgeous as the horse to beat in the Nov. 4 Distaff a full two months before the race, despite the fact that Open Mind, Goodbye Halo, Miss Brio and Colonial Waters were all making headlines at the time. Gorgeous, on the other hand, had just recovered from a minor leg injury and was back in light training.

“She’s a light-bodied filly, the kind you can’t train too hard,” McAnally said. “I could tell the way Neil was handling her that he was gearing her up to fire her best shot when he brought her back. And that’s exactly what happened.”

Drysdale said Gorgeous has put on weight and thickened in the right places. Delahoussaye, her rider, agreed.

“She’ll never be a monster,” Delahoussaye said. “She’s stronger now, but she still has that more refined look you see in those old English paintings. Anyway, it’s how they look at the finish that counts, and you can’t fault her there.”

Horse Racing Notes

Olympic Prospect will have no excuses in Saturday’s seven-furlong San Carlos Handicap. The powerful gelding drew the outside post in a field of nine, guaranteeing the clear trip he did not get in the Palos Verdes Handicap on Dec. 30. The opposition consists of Oraibi, Candi’s Gold, Raise a Stanza, On the Menu, Tanker Port, Order, Ron Bon and Doncareer, who hung on so well to finish third in the Malibu Stakes opening day.

The former European colt, Lowell, makes his main-track debut for trainer Richard Cross in today’s featured eighth race. Lowell finished a close fourth in the Hollywood Derby on Nov. 19, after which he was purchased by Bruce McNall. . . . The attractive feature is surrounded by eight claiming races, three of them for maidens, proving how difficult it is for even Santa Anita to present consistently high-quality programs in this era of year-round competition.

Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has launched an aggressive response to the devaluation of two of its major races by the North American Graded Stakes Committee. The track will run an ad in all editions of Saturday’s Daily Racing Form, ridiculing the grading process. In addition, Oaklawn will delete all references to race grades in its advertising, programs, and condition books. Oaklawn management hit the roof when it was learned the Apple Blossom Handicap for older fillies and mares had lost its Grade I rating. Four of the last five champions in the division competed in the race, including 1989 winner Bayakoa.

Robbie Davis returned to action Thursday after missing Wednesday’s card because of what was apparently food poisoning. “Must have been the ski lodge pizza,” said his agent, Jeff Franklin. “He was back working horses the next morning.”