$5,000 Daily Double Sets Record for Santa Anita

Itaman, who was nearly 54-1, and Dollar Dance, almost 80-1, won the first two races Saturday, combining for a Santa Anita and Oak Tree record $5,000 daily double payoff. There were $132 worth of tickets sold on the 12-5 combination from the $412,922 daily double pool.

Fifth and eighth in his first two starts, Itaman, a $32,000 2-year-old maiden, added Lasix Saturday and was up to beat favored Far Best in the final strides under Adalberto Lopez. Trained by Michael Stidham, Itaman paid $109.80 to win.

A winner of one of his previous eight starts, Dollar Dance and apprentice Armando Bellido withstood a stewards’ inquiry before his $161.80 shocker became official. Fire Back, the pacesetter who had already started to tire, had to take up sharply in deep stretch, but the stewards ruled the incident didn’t alter the original order of finish.

A 3-year-old son of Buckfinder who had run long in his previous three starts, Dollar Dance had won his last sprint, but it was against $12,500 maidens at Los Alamitos in August. He is trained by John O’Hara.

The previous Santa Anita daily double high was $4,028 when King Rogers and Night Launch combined to win the first two races on Jan. 23, 1971. Bold And Saucy and Getting Even teamed for the previous Oak Tree record of $1,576.20 on Oct. 23, 1970.