Mister Frisky Has West Rolling : Santa Anita Derby: He remains unbeaten and might be Southland link to another Kentucky Derby victory.

Although the owners of Mister Frisky have turned down several offers for their 3-year-old colt, both here and in Puerto Rico, he has unofficially been taken away from them.

“He is no longer our horse,” said Marta Fernandez, who races Mister Frisky with her husband, Jose. “He belongs to all of Puerto Rico.”

In another way, Mister Frisky also belongs to those in the crowd of 44,837 at Santa Anita Saturday who sent him off the 3-5 favorite in the $500,000 Santa Anita Derby. He didn’t disappoint them, remaining undefeated with a 4 1/2-length victory.

Florida-bred, Puerto Rican-raced and now California-trained by Laz Barrera, Mister Frisky won his 16th consecutive race and could give the West Coast a link to a fifth consecutive Kentucky Derby winner--after Ferdinand, Alysheba, Winning Colors and Sunday Silence.

Barrera’s Derby record includes victories with Bold Forbes in 1976 and Affirmed, an eventual Triple Crown champion, in 1978. Like Mister Frisky, Bold Forbes started his career in Puerto Rico.

Having beaten the best in the West, Mister Frisky must contend with the Eastern standouts, led by Summer Squall--who has lost only once.

“I think I will have a good shot,” said Barrera, who received Mister Frisky from the Fernandezes after he won 13 races in Puerto Rico. “I like my position. Summer Squall? They are rushing him too much. They have had to be too pushy with him. After this race, I don’t have to rush. Now everybody back there has to worry about who can beat Mister Frisky.”

Out of action for 6 1/2 months because of broken leg, Summer Squall’s final Derby prep will be at Keeneland next Saturday in the Blue Grass, which will be the colt’s third start in four weeks.

Mister Frisky has equaled Citation’s 16-race winning streak, which came in the 1948 and 1950 seasons, with a year off in between because of an injury.

Mister Frisky, a $15,000 purchase by Jose Fernandez at a 2-year-old auction as a gift for his wife on their 21st wedding anniversary, has handled every question with a positive answer.

“When he won going five-eighths (of a mile), they wondered whether he’d go six furlongs,” Barrera said. “Six furlongs, they asked about seven furlongs. Seven furlongs, they said he might not make a mile. A mile, they wondered about a mile and an eighth (Saturday’s distance). And I think he can get a mile and a quarter (the Kentucky Derby distance).”

Under Gary Stevens, Mister Frisky earned $275,000 in the Santa Anita Derby--slightly more than his purse total for all 15 previous races. The winning time was 1:49, two seconds slower than the stakes record.

Video Ranger, a $40,000 purchase out of the maiden claiming ranks in January, finished second at 36-1, the biggest price on the board. Video Ranger beat Warcraft by a half-length. The trainers of both horses indicated that the Kentucky Derby was a possibility.

Real Cash, the second betting choice at 3-1, couldn’t hold off Mister Frisky leaving the far turn and, despite running fourth, 6 3/4 lengths behind the winner, probably will run another race before his Derby fate is determined.

Mister Frisky, who had won the San Vicente and San Rafael at Santa Anita, paid $3.20, $3 and $2.60. Video Ranger paid $11.20 and $4.80 and Warcraft $3.

In the walking ring before the race, Mister Frisky became excited by the crowd, and he swung around, leaving the horse path and sending photographers, owners of other horses and paddock visitors scurrying on the inside part of the ring. It took handlers on both sides to get him to the track.

“He’s a nice horse around the barn, but when he comes to the track, he wants to fight,” Barrera said.

Breaking inside of Warcraft, who drew the outside, Mister Frisky was able to move toward the rail in the run to the first turn, and by that time he and Stevens were close behind Real Cash and Angel Cordero, who had taken the lead from the No. 1 post.

All Barrera told Stevens before the race was not to let Real Cash get too far ahead of Mister Frisky. Down the backstretch, Mister Frisky was never more than a length or two behind, Real Cash setting a moderate pace. Music Prospector was third, on the inside, but the horse in better position appeared to be Warcraft, who was a close, threatening fourth.

On the far turn, Mister Frisky ranged to within a half-length of Real Cash, then slipped back to a length off the lead. At the five-sixteenths pole, Mister Frisky pulled to the lead. Cordero knew he was in trouble and whacked Real Cash six times on the right flank. That didn’t help, as Mister Frisky went past and widened his lead.

Stevens hit Mister Frisky with his whip just once, at the top of the stretch. “This horse is very intelligent and is getting smarter all the time,” said Stevens, who scored a Santa Anita-Kentucky Derby double with the filly Winning Colors in 1988. “At the quarter pole, he automatically accelerates now. He knows that pole.”

Video Ranger, who trailed by 12 lengths early, passed the others but was never dangerous. Warcraft was unable to put in a late rally.

“At the quarter pole, I knew I was riding for second money, and I couldn’t even hang on for that,” said Chris McCarron, Warcraft’s jockey.

Trainer Charlie Whittingham, who had won the Santa Anita Derby with Temperate Sil in 1987 and Sunday Silence last year, was running Warcraft for the sixth time in about nine weeks.

“We were trying to catch up,” Whittingham said. “My horse ran a good race, but he hung. I think it’s still a wide-open year. The bubble is bursting (for other horses) all over the country, but this (Mister Frisky) is one bubble who’s staying alive.”

Asked how good Mister Frisky was, Whittingham said: “He just keeps winning, doesn’t he?”

Horse Racing Notes

Laz Barrera said that Mister Frisky would be flown to Kentucky next Saturday. . . . Barrera said he considered it an omen when he heard that Mr. Frisk, an 11-year-old gelding, had won the Grand National Steeplechase in England earlier in the day. . . . Affirmed also won the Santa Anita Derby for Barrera. “I can’t compare Mister Frisky with Bold Forbes and Affirmed, because it’s difficult to compare horses,” Barrera said. “Affirmed was quiet and relaxed. Mister Frisky is smart, the way Affirmed was.” . . . Video Ranger might run in the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields April 21, according to trainer Ian Jory. . . . Mister Frisky was not nominated to the Breeders’ Cup and would have to be supplemented to the $3 million Classic at Belmont Park this fall at a cost of $360,000.