OAK TREE : A Wild Ride Ends Lukas’ Slump

With about three furlongs to run in the $107,800 Linda Vista Breeders’ Cup Handicap Saturday at Santa Anita, Gary Stevens thought he was on another Wayne Lukas loser.

Going more than a mile for the first time and able to control things on the front end, Mahaska opened up on A Wild Ride and Stevens approaching the stretch.

“I thought I was running for second money,” said the nation’s leading rider. “When (Mahaska) shot away at the three-eighths pole, I thought it was all over.”

A bit later, it was Lukas’ winless streak at Oak Tree that was over.

After appearing to be home free, Mahaska, an 8-1 shot, faded in the final furlong and A Wild Ride took full advantage, drawing away to win by 2 3/4 lengths in 1:42 for the 1 1/16 miles.

In the process, the 3-year-old Wild Again filly provided Lukas with his first victory of the meeting after 38 misses. Orlanova, the 9-2 second choice, completed the exacta, moving past Mahaska in the final yards.

“I knew the law of averages was going to catch up pretty soon,” Stevens said of Lukas’ slump. Dallas Stewart, a Lukas assistant, saddled A Wild Ride for her fourth victory in 14 appearances.

“Even at the quarter pole, I didn’t think I had a shot,” Stevens said. “But the other filly hit a brick wall between the eighth and sixteenth poles and mine finished nice and steady.

“It surprises me that this filly has done so well sprinting because she feels like a mile and quarter filly. She’s got that kind of stride. She feels like a typical turf filly.”

Orlanova, an improving daughter of Conquistador Cielo, rallied from last to be second. Although she might be better on the turf, she demonstrated she can handle either surface.

“She feels good on both the dirt and the grass,” jockey Robbie Davis said. “She got off a little slow and I wasn’t able to get any position going into the first turn. The best thing was I was able to save ground. She finished real well.”

As did Stevens, jockey Gary Boulanger thought Mahaska was going to score her fourth consecutive victory at her fourth track. Previously, she had won stakes at Exhibition Park in Canada, Los Alamitos and Fairplex Park.

“I really liked my chances at the five-sixteenths pole,” Boulanger said. “But at the eighth pole, she started to really shorten up. With a route under her belt, she’s going to improve. I was really pleased with the way she relaxed going 1 1/16 miles for the first time.”

Boulanger, who tried unsuccessfully to break into the local jockey colony last winter, said he will try again. He was the leading rider at Longacres with 196 victories. “My agent from up there (Washington), Stan Puhich, is here with me,” he said. Boulanger and Mahaska’s trainer, Mike Puhich, came back to win the ninth race with 14-1 shot Honest John.

Dead Heat, the longest shot in the field at 18-1, was fourth in the Linda Vista, followed by Variety Spice, Lifthigh The Cross, Nasers Pride, Vaguely Charming and Mama Simba.

Proving his fondness once more for the Bay Meadows turf course, The Medic beat Pleasant Variety to win the $100,000 Tanforan Handicap Saturday in a race simulcast at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Ron Warren Jr. and trained by Gary Jones, The Medic’s ninth victory in 38 lifetime starts was his second at Bay Meadows in seven weeks. On Sept. 3, he beat Mister Sicy and Shining Steel by two lengths in the San Francisco Handicap. In between he had finished third at Santa Anita in the race won by Exclusive Partner, who equaled the world record for 1 1/8 miles on grass.

His victory Saturday wasn’t so clear cut. With less than a furlong to run, four of the five entrants--The Medic, Pleasant Variety, Esker Island and Variety Road--were spread across the track, but the first two asserted their superiority in the final yards.

The 7-5 favorite locally, The Medic, a 6-year-old son of Sweet Candy, paid $4.80 here and $5.20 up north. The $55,000 check pushed his earnings to $821,530 for owner Edward Giammarino.

Horse Racing Notes

Prepping for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, Lite Light worked six furlongs in 1:14 1/5 Saturday morning for trainer Henry Moreno. The Majestic Light filly was the easy winner of the Oak Leaf in her last start. . . . Fourteen casino race books in Nevada handled $211,263 Saturday as they began commingling their wagering pools with Santa Anita’s. This allows patrons at the race books the opportunity to bet on Oak Tree races without limits on the size of wager or odds and allows them to participate in the Pick Six and Pick Nine. Canterbury Downs and Birmingham Turf Club began commingling Oct. 10.

For the record: The first California Cup will be held Nov. 3, not Oct. 27. . . . Due to longshots Distinctive Noble, Record Hitter, Serious Toy and Grand Award, no one was able to select six or even five winners in the Pick Six. There is a carryover of $97,813.29. There will also be a mandatory payout in the Pick Nine. . . . Russell Baze rode three winners.