LOS ALAMITOS : Baychaino Doubles Career Earnings With 1 Win

Trainer Chuck Treece claimed the biggest purse of his career with Baychaino’s wire-to-wire win in Sunday’s $100,000 Marathon Invitational Handicap at Los Alamitos.

Racing from the rail post position with Carlos Aguilar in the saddle, Baychaino faced the toughest assignment of his young career in the handicap--the richest 870-yard race in the nation.

A crowd of more than 4,000 backed Baychaino down to the 8-5 co-favorite alongside thoroughbred sprint star Hilco Scamper. Although the Merridoc gelding was going after his third consecutive victory at the 870-yard distance, two things bothered Treece.

“I didn’t like being in the one hole,” said Treece, one of the top 10 trainers at the Los Alamitos summer meet. “And I was worried about running against older horses. I didn’t think he had the speed to compete with these horses. I was happy to see him get out on the lead quickly.”

Baychaino was the youngest of the eight horses invited to contest the Marathon. Co-favorite Hilco Scamper was in his sixth year of racing, while Baychaino, a 3-year-old, opened his career last year.

Baychaino won by 1 1/2 lengths with a time of 44.49 seconds. The clocking was the fastest of the season for 870 yards and very close to the track record of 44.41 seconds. (Charts, Section C.)

Baychaino, owned and bred in Oregon by Carl Alleman, earned $55,000 for the Marathon score. The victory more than doubled his career earnings to $97,000, with eight wins in 21 starts. It was the horse’s second stakes win this year after capturing the Pap Handicap on July 13 at Los Alamitos.

Sables Defender checked in three-quarters of a length in front of third-place finisher Six Shooter Tex--a 25-1 long shot.