SANTA ANITA : Jockeys Give Canani 1-2 Finish

Corey Black and Jorge Velasquez, old pals from their expatriate riding days in Paris, convened a personal reunion at Santa Anita Sunday on the winning end of the $173,100 San Marcos Handicap.

Black, riding the French horse Putting, hung a half-length decision on Velasquez, aboard the English horse Colway Rally, while up in the press box trainer Julio Canani quietly savored his 1-2 sweep of the 1 1/4-mile turf event.

“I didn’t even have to root,” the Peruvian trainer said. “I was two lengths in front of the field.”

Actually, it was four lengths back at the finish to the third horse, favored Live the Dream, who may have been the unluckiest of several unlucky horses in the field of 13.

“My trip? A trifle horrendous,” said Live the Dream’s jockey, Chris McCarron, in his best Trevor Denman accent. “One horse came up on my inside, eliminating a lot of options, and then the horse I was following got stopped.”

Laffit Pincay, who was trying to make second choice Wretham his fifth winner of the day, would not be outdone by McCarron’s horror stories.

“There were a lot of horses in there that didn’t belong,” Pincay said after Wretham weaved his way home ninth. “I had no place to run from the five-eighths to the wire.”

Black, on the other hand, had no complaints.

“I had a perfect trip,” said the 21-year-old Black, who won the San Fernando Stakes the previous Sunday. “Once I got my horse covered up, he relaxed great. After that, it was just a matter of asking him to run.”

Black perfected his skills in “covering up” his horses--placing them behind the opposition to conserve their energies--during a spring and summer of riding in France in 1987. In 1986 the native of Westminster was California’s leading apprentice.

During that same summer of ‘87, Velasquez also was riding regularly in France. At the age of 41 and entering the twilight of his career, the former national champion was treating himself to one last international lark.

“I remember riding against Corey a lot over there,” Velasquez said after the San Marcos. “He beat me a couple of close ones, too.”

The irony was not lost on Black.

“How about that, Jorgie!” Black said when he returned to the jocks’ room. “Two European horses and a couple of old European riders.”

Velasquez grinned and shook his head.

“You’ve got to quit picking on me,” Velasquez told Black. “I’m old enough to be your dad.”

Not only did Black and Putting beat Velasquez for first money, they may have compromised his early position in the race as well.

At the start Colway Rally stumbled and found himself at the back of the field as they made their way down the hillside onto the main course.

“I wanted him behind horses,” Velasquez said. “But not quite that far behind. Luckily, I was able to get a good position.

“Then, all of a sudden everybody got off the rail,” the rider added. “My horse saw daylight and took off.’

The last horse to angle away from the rail was Putting, and Black was delighted when he saw Colway Rally pull Velasquez to the lead. After that, things went smoothly for the winner. At the head of the stretch, longshot Two Moccasins politely faded away to give Putting a clean run at the leader.

Canani, who broke a frustrating three-month stakes drought with his sweep, credited the addition of blinkers to Putting’s equipment for the victory. Putting had not won in nearly two years, while turning in respectable races to such top horses as Great Communicator, Pranke and Lively One.

In his most recent start, Putting was beaten by a nose by Splendor Catch in a Jan. 4 allowance race at Santa Anita.

“That was his last chance,” Canani said. “I hadn’t put blinkers on him before because he had been running good, even without winning. But he was cheating on me. The other day he had the length of the stretch to go by that other horse.”

At the same time, Canani is convinced Colway Rally deserves the benefit of the doubt. The 6-year-old son of Final Straw cut a chunk out of a front foot when he stumbled and still ended up finishing second for the third time in three North American races.

“You wait and see,” Canani vowed. “He’s going to turn out to be a nice horse around here.”

Horse Racing Notes

Putting, owned by Jay Goldinger of Beverly Hills, paid $19 to win. Canani’s third San Marcos starter, Prince Ruffian, finished sixth. . . . Laffit Pincay won four straight races Sunday, beginning in the second with Zoe Akins and ending with Sam McGee in the fifth. . . . Wayne Lukas won two races Sunday to move into a tie at the top of the trainer standings with Brian Mayberry. Lukas provided Pincay with Autumn Beauty, a half-brother to 1979 Del Mar Futurity winner The Carpenter, and then snapped Pincay’s win streak with Blushing John’s half-brother Five on Five in the sixth race.

Assyrian Pirate put himself in the picture for the top 3-year-old races of the meeting with a four-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile seventh race. The California-bred son of Pirate’s Bounty is trained by Lewis Cenicola. . . . Champion mare Bayakoa moved a step closer to her 1990 debut with an effortless seven-furlong workout Sunday morning, timed in 1:27. Trainer Ron McAnally will nominate the Argentine mare to the Feb. 4 Santa Maria Handicap. . . . Two local Derby candidates also worked Sunday. Sunny Slope Stakes winner Pleasant Tap went a mile in 1:40 and Hollywood Juvenile Championship winner Magical Mile went a half-mile in :48 1/5.