OAK TREE : Stylish Star Wins on Favorite Turf Course

Stylish Star doesn’t win many races--the 4-year-old filly has finished first in two of eight starts this year--but she has a perfect record running the distance of about 6 1/2 furlongs on Santa Anita’s uniquely configured downhill turf course.

When Stylish Star rallied through the stretch Wednesday and won the $85,275 Autumn Days Handicap, as the Oak Tree Racing Assn. began its 27-day season before a crowd of 42,335, it was her first victory since she took the Las Cienegas Handicap at the same distance more than six months ago.

In between, Stylish Star had a string of six second-, third- and fourth-place finishes at longer distances. This time, running on the mesh downhill footing that Santa Anita recently installed to match its main grass course, Stylish Star was timed in 1:12, a fifth of a second slower than the track record.

Stylish Star, earning $51,525 for her owners, Tom and Mickey Cavanagh, beat Tasteful T.V. by three-quarters of a length, and the same margin separated the latter from Linda Card, who was also three-quarters of a length in front of favored Devil’s Orchid. Stylish Star, ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye, carried high weight of 118 pounds and paid $9.80 to win.

Horse Racing Notes

Counting 10 off-track betting sites, the handle was $6.9 million, which was $200,000 less than last year’s opening-day total. Ray Rogers, Oak Tree’s executive vice president, estimated that about $300,000 in wagers was lost when the tote system jammed for about 10 minutes before the seventh race.

Cee’s Tizzy, who ran third in the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs on Sept. 23, broke a knee in the race. He has undergone surgery and his racing career is probably over.

Oak Tree will offer betting on Sunday’s Arc de Triomphe, France’s biggest race, which will be televised by NBC at 8:25 a.m. Sunday. Bets will be taken on Saturday at Santa Anita and during the early-bird betting period Sunday morning.