Prized Defeats Steinlen, Keeps Stable in Clover : Horse racing: He wins $112,000 Arcadia Handicap, providing owners with alternative to Big ‘Cap.

It was another enjoyable Santa Anita Handicap Day for the Clover Racing Stable.

Without a representative in the main event, there was no way to duplicate Martial Law’s 50-1 shocker in last year’s Big ‘Cap.

Prized’s come-from-behind victory in the $112,000 Arcadia Handicap, Sunday’s supporting attraction, was more than satisfactory for the group headed by Barry Irwin and Jeff Siegel.

In a showdown between the heroes in the two Breeders’ Cup turf races, Prized was the clear-cut winner over Steinlen, the 1989 Eclipse Award winner as the nation’s top grass performer.

In fact, just about everybody got the best of Steinlen in his first start since he picked up his fifth straight win in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. The 6-5 favorite and the 126-pound highweight, he finished seventh, ahead of only Summer Sale and Shining Steel.

On the sidelines since he won his grass debut in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Prized, the 7-2 second choice, didn’t look like he was headed for a successful comeback himself.

With a half-mile to run, he and Eddie Delahoussaye had dropped back to last. A furlong later, they were still trailing.

At this point, Delahoussaye asked the 4-year-old son of Kris S. for some acceleration and it was forthcoming. Helped by the sizzling fractions (:21 4/5, :45 and 1:09) set by Summer Sale and On The Menu, Prized rallied along the inside through the stretch and beat 9-1 shot Happy Toss by a length with an unlucky On The Menu, the longest shot in the field at 50-1, a head back in third.

If Prized had failed Sunday, it wouldn’t have been totally unexpected. A mile isn’t his best distance--he never had won at anything less than 1 1/16 miles--and his biggest victories had come at 1 1/8 and 1 1/4 miles.

“I’m very pleased,” trainer Neil Drysdale said. “I think he shows more acceleration on the grass than he does on dirt. It should be a nice prep for the (1 1/2-mile) San Luis Rey (March 25).

“He’d been training well, but I was concerned about the distance. He settled well and came from last. When Eddie asked him to go, he went.”

Although he has won half of his 10 starts on dirt, including a victory over Sunday Silence in last year’s Swaps at Hollywood Park, Delahoussaye thinks Prized is more effective on the turf.

“He seems a lot happier on the grass,” he said. “He doesn’t struggle as much. Hollywood Park’s a good dirt for him, but he seems better on the turf.

“He ran super. He really accelerated. He’s kind and Neil’s done a great job with him. He’s more mature and he feels like a stronger horse now. I couldn’t pull him up after the race.”

There was no such problem for Steinlen. Third after a quarter of a mile, it was apparent he was in trouble early on the backstretch.

“He got tired,” said Wayne Lukas. “We ran a short horse. I thought he was tighter than he was. He needed the race. The nice thing is it’s correctable.”

Second in Bill Shoemaker’s farewell race, Happy Toss earned the place Sunday while beneficiary of a perfect trip.

“I was in a good spot all the way around,” said Fernando Toro. “It just took a champion to beat us. At the top of the stretch, I thought I had it. (On The Menu) drifted out and pushed me to the outside. But the winner was going to beat me anyway.”

Two races earlier, Warcraft, Charlie Whittingham’s best 3-year-old prospect, rebounded from a 30-length defeat in the slop with a convincing victory over Apprised and six others at 1 1/16 miles.

Able to make the lead on a very slow pace (:24, :48 3/5 and 1:13), the son of Ack Ack came away late to win by six lengths and he covered the last sixteenth in a rapid 6 1/5 seconds.

“Last time, I thought it was more the stuff (mud) hitting him in the face than it was him not getting a hold of the track,” said Chris McCarron. “He’s still green and still learning, but I feel like he has some potential.”

Magical Mile, who hasn’t been seen since winning the Hollywood Juvenile last July, will return in Wednesday’s feature, a $38,000 allowance race at six furlongs.

A son of J.O. Tobin owned by Clement Hirsch and trained by Warren Stute, Magical Mile toyed with maidens in his first start, then suffered a broken knee while taking the Juvenile by four lengths.

In his most recent work, he went five furlongs in 1:01 from the gate, a work termed breezing by the clockers. Previously, he went a mile in 1:43 1/5 Feb. 24, five days after working seven furlongs in 1:28 4/5.

Magical Mile will be ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye. Magical Mile’s rivals Wednesday include Real Cash, who finished fourth at 17-10 in the Bolsa Chica Stakes, Drag Race, who hasn’t made much noise since his surprise in the Del Mar Futurity last September, Iam The Iceman and Testtube Tommy, who were scratched from Saturday’s San Rafael Stakes, and French Seventyfive.