SANTA ANITA : Valenzuela Given Second Five-Day Suspension--and He’s Very Upset

For the second time in the first 18 days of the meeting, Pat Valenzuela was suspended Wednesday by the Santa Anita stewards.

Set down for five days after Flom was disqualified in the first race on opening day, Valenzuela will begin another enforced vacation Saturday for causing interference in Monday’s seventh race.

According to steward Tom Ward, Valenzuela, aboard Imperial Star, cut in and caused interference on the far turn to Regal Fawn, who was ridden by Chris Davenport, and Sparrow Lake, who was ridden by Chris McCarron.

At the top of the stretch, Imperial Star bumped Sparrow Lake, then McCarron struck Valenzuela across the back with his whip.

His own suspension and McCarron’s $200 fine had Valenzuela seething Wednesday.

“It’s complete . . . “ he said. “It seems like whenever Pat makes a mistake, he gets an automatic five-day suspension. Chris said, ‘You . . . ,’ and then he let me have it with his whip. He was looking straight at me.

“I can’t believe he only got a $200 fine. I can’t judge whether or not I should have gotten days, but I’ll accept them. If I deserved days, he deserved them also. If that’s not careless riding, I don’t know what is. I can’t believe the way they treated Chris. It’s complete baloney.”

Although he admitted calling Valenzuela an obscene name at the time, McCarron said he had not meant to hit him with the whip.

“I know it looks terrible on the film and it does look like a retaliatory act, but it was an accident,” he said. “Because of the way it looks, it is hard for me to convince anybody of that.

“I’d been squeezed twice and bounced off the fence. I’m not going to get into it anymore. I lost my cool. It was totally out of character for me and I’m sorry the whole thing happened. I’m not happy with being fined, but that’s the way it goes.”

Favored Fit To Scout made it two victories in a row for trainer Jack Van Berg as she held off Annual Reunion to win the $83,625 La Centinela Stakes before 13,361 at Santa Anita.

Relaxing well under McCarron, the 3-year-old filly took over with about three furlongs to run and beat an unlucky Annual Reunion by three-quarters of a length in 1:38 3/5 for the mile on a good track.

A winner of one of her two starts in Kentucky, Fit To Scout has won two of three in California. She ran second to For My Mom at seven furlongs at Hollywood Park before upsetting Nijinsky’s Lover in a Santa Anita allowance race Jan. 4.

“She’s a good filly and we knew she’d be able to route,” Van Berg said. “Bob Snell and I picked her out of the Saratoga sale (for $95,000). I don’t know what’s next for her. We’ll have to see.”

Running extremely wide most of the way, Annual Reunion, who was second at 38-1 in the Hollywood Starlet, finished 2 1/2 lengths ahead of third-place Nasers Pride.

“It’s kind of a shame,” said Gary Boulanger, who rode the runner-up. “Her last two outs, if we go farther or have any kind of trip, we win a Grade I and this one.

“The first time I rode her, she backed up when the dirt hit her in the face. In the Starlet, she was more willing to run through the dirt and it was the same today. A mile may be a little too short for her.”

Royce McKinley, the chairman and chief executive officer of Santa Anita Realty Enterprises, maintains that Canterbury Downs can be a success.

In a deal signed Tuesday with New Jersey investor John Aglialoro, Santa Anita sold its 39% interest in the financially troubled Minneapolis-area track. Built in 1985, Canterbury Downs has since lost $70 million.

“I really think it can be successful,” McKinley said. “It’s a very fine smaller facility. The track surface is very good and the ambience is great. We just had too much debt service on it.

“If the original projections that we were given had been met, we wouldn’t have had any problems. The (betting) average per capita around the country is $155. The per capita at Canterbury was $116. If we’d had anything like the average per capita, we would have been successful.

“I think the key thing is that people there have to be educated about horse racing and how to bet on the races. We’re deeply disappointed and we’d like it to be successful.

“The people we sold to are quality people who are determined to make it go and they have the financial standing to support it. They think they can make it work.”

Part of the deal with Aglialoro includes a 10-year simulcasting contract, allowing races from Santa Anita to be shown for wagering purposes at Canterbury.

“If the new owners want our advice on anything, we’d be happy to consult with them,” McKinley said. “We’d like to see the operation become a success.”

Horse Racing Notes

Fit To Scout paid $6.80 to win. . . . Alex Solis had three winners Wednesday and took over the lead in the jockey standings. He now has 19, one more than Gary Stevens and two more than Eddie Delahoussaye, who begins a five-day suspension today.

Sandy Hawley will begin riding at Santa Anita Friday. He is named on two horses, Peppy’s Kingdom in the fifth and Mr. Fairway in the sixth. . . . Both the Bay Meadows Oaks Saturday and the El Camino Real Derby Sunday will be simulcast at Santa Anita.