SANTA ANITA : Flying Continental Gets Well

Don’t blame Jay Robbins if he puts in a call to his broker this week and buys a ton of some unlikely stock. The man is definitely on a roll.

After winning Saturday’s San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita with Raise A Stanza, the 44-year-old trainer came right back Sunday to take the $218,600 San Fernando Stakes with Flying Continental.

Both 4-year-old colts are owned by Jack Kent Cooke, who last saw Flying Continental run when he finished a worn and weary 12th on a muddy track in the Kentucky Derby last May. Based on Flying Continental’s condition three days before the San Fernando, there appeared to be no good reason this time around for Cooke to renew his acquaintance on a cold and rainy day at the track.

Last Thursday, Flying Continental’s right hind leg was swollen from the ankle to the hock, throbbing with an infection that started with an innocent skin rash. By Friday he was even worse.

“It’s happened before,” said Dr. Jack Robbins, Cooke’s racing manager and the father of the trainer. “He’s always had very sensitive skin.”

But three solid days of cold-water hosing and steady walking brought the swelling down and put Flying Continental back in the San Fernando picture. Stir in a daring ride by Corey Black and complete misfires by three contenders who couldn’t handle the muddy conditions, and the $16.80 upset was complete.

Black, who stepped in at the last minute for Chris McCarron, sent Flying Continental through a narrow opening along the inside approaching the far turn of the 1 1/8-mile race to take the lead from pace-setting Exploding Prospect.

Relieved when he got away with his move, Black tried to give his little chestnut colt a breather around the final turn before heading into the stretch. But it wasn’t meant to be. Black soon found himself pressured from both sides.

“I let my colt relax a little and he almost came off the bit,” said Black, who won his first stakes since September. “Then they came at me on the inside and the outside. When I asked him to pick it up again, he didn’t answer right away. I thought I was in trouble.”

And Gary Stevens, who was hugging the rail with the mud-splattered gray gelding Splurger, thought he was on the winner.

“I couldn’t believe Gary was up in there,” said Black. “I didn’t think there was any room for another horse.”

Stevens shrugged.

“There was enough room, but just barely,” Stevens said. “Anyway, I had to move when I did or get shut off completely. As it was, I moved an eighth of a mile sooner than I really wanted to. That cost me the race.”

Stevens probably was right. With a furlong to run, Flying Continental had a narrow lead on Splurger, then gradually began to pull away to win by three lengths. With his best burst spent to reach contention, Splurger was all out to hold off Secret Slew and Bill Shoemaker by three-quarters of a length for third.

Crown Collection, the longest shot in the field at 39-1, finished fourth and Opening Verse ran fifth, beaten about eight lengths by the winner.

On a track described by jockeys as “hard underneath and slick on top,” Flying Continental was timed in 1:47 1/5.

The remaining three colts straggled home far back. Music Merci, the 2-1 favorite, lost his action at the sixteenth pole and was eased by Laffit Pincay. Exploding Prospect, who defeated both Flying Continental and Splurger in the Affirmed Handicap at Hollywood Park, stopped to a walk after setting the pace to the far turn. And River Master never ran a yard in the muddy going.

“You win some, you lose some,” said McCarron, who switched from Flying Continental to River Master when the winner’s leg became inflamed Thursday.

At that point, Robbins was doubtful his colt would even run, let alone win.

“Fortunately, I had gotten all his work into him already,” said Robbins, who was especially pleased with Flying Continental’s 1:12 work for six furlongs last Tuesday. “As for McCarron, I couldn’t really hold him. Corey was right there, and he had ridden the colt well at Pomona.”

One of the most popular trainers on the circuit, Robbins is best known for his work with Nostalgia’s Star, the old California warrior who won the 1985 Strub Stakes at Santa Anita on his way to becoming a millionaire.

The track on Strub day in ’85 was even worse than the one tamed by Flying Continental on Sunday, giving Robbins a leg up on another lucky weekend when he sends his San Fernando winner in the $500,000 Strub Feb. 4.

Alex Solis escaped serious injury in Sunday’s fifth race when his mount, Big Comedy, broke down on the clubhouse turn.

Solis, running third when Big Comedy suffered a broken right foreleg, was thrown off the left side of the horse but somehow managed to hang on until most of the field passed safely by.

“I was hanging on to his mane for dear life,” said Solis, who came away with a skinned knee and a mouthful of muddy main track.

Solis finally let go and skidded face first. He sat up, tried to stand, and finally limped toward the outside rail.

In a grim coincidence, Fernando Toro’s mount, Santo Angelo, broke down. Toro was pulling his horse to a stop when he saw Solis.

“There was Alex on the ground right in front of me,” said Toro. “I jumped up and wanted to help him, but I couldn’t let go of my own horse until somebody else showed up.”

Solis said he planned to return today. A track spokesman said both Big Comedy and Santo Angelo were humanely destroyed.

Horse Racing Notes

Eddie Delahoussaye, in a tight battle at the top of the jockey standings, was hit with a five-day suspension Sunday for an interference call Saturday. Delahoussaye plans to appeal the ruling to the California Horse Racing Commission. . . . Laz Barrera reports that the Puerto Rican 2-year-old champion Mister Frisky will be in his barn this week. The colt was 12 for 12 in his native country. . . . Live the Dream, Solis’ mount in the San Fernando, was scratched but will run in the San Marcos Handicap next Sunday. Exemplary Leader also was scratched because of the track condition.