SANTA ANITA : McCarron’s Loss Is Stevens’ 4th Win

When morning-line favorite Stormy But Valid was scratched from the $104,700 Las Flores Breeders’ Cup Handicap shortly after Saturday’s fourth race was made official, Gary Stevens was left without a mount in the feature.

Not for long.

Saying he wasn’t feeling well, Chris McCarron went home after the third, leaving Las Flores entrant Classic Value riderless.

Within the hour, 1990’s leading rider picked up the mount on the 5-year-old Copelan mare, and a little while later, Stevens had his first stakes victory of the year and his fourth winner for the day.

Classic Value’s two-length beating of 11-10 favorite Devil’s Orchid was also the first Santa Anita victory for trainer Bill Cesare, the former NFL defensive back who brought his horses from Arlington Park this fall.

In scoring her second consecutive victory and ninth in 21 appearances, Classic Value, the 8-5 second choice, sat just off longshot Wakia for the first half-mile, drew clear early in the stretch and completed the six furlongs in 1:10 1/5.

Obviously, owner Fred W. Hooper’s homebred enjoyed the off track and her task was made considerably easier with the declaration of Stormy But Valid.

“There’s nothing wrong with her,” trainer Brian Mayberry said. “I just didn’t want to take any chances. I’m really sorry I didn’t get to run her because I think she’s better now than she was last year. She’s stronger, more workmanlike and more amenable to rating.

“I watched a few races and talked to some of the riders and they thought the track was going to get deeper.”

Stormy But Valid, the defending Las Flores champion, will make her next appearance in the $150,000 Santa Monica Handicap in two weeks, which is also where Classic Value is headed.

Stevens is one of the jockeys Mayberry spoke with before scratching.

“I told him this afternoon the track was in the drying-out stage,” said Stevens, who leads the Santa Anita standings with 17 victories, five more than McCarron. “It was not unsafe, but getting stickier and heavier, and he made the decision. Stormy But Valid will run in the mud, but she doesn’t improve on it.’

This was the second consecutive off-track victory for Classic Value. She won by 4 1/2 lengths in the slop at Arlington Park last September.

“I’m glad the favorite scratched,” Cesare said, “but I think if we’d had different circumstances the first time we met (Dec. 22 at Hollywood Park) it would have been closer. She beat us a half-length and and we got hooked in a speed duel.

“She relaxed nicely today. She’s never done that before. A little maturity may be helping. I’ve had this mare a long time. She’s been good to me and Mr. Hooper’s been good to me. I can’t wait to call him.”

Winless with his first eight starters at Santa Anita, Cesare hopes to make California his home.

“Right now, I’d like to stay,” he said. “I’d like to pick up some other owners here and stay because this is where the best racing is. We’ll see at the end of this meeting.”

Devil’s Orchid, who finished three lengths ahead of Hasty Pasty, lost for only the second time in seven starts on the main track.

“I had dead aim, but my filly got a little tired,” jockey Russell Baze said. “At the head of the stretch, I thought I had a chance, but inside the eighth pole she started getting tired. It wasn’t from lack of trying; she really dug in.”

A decision is expected in a matter of days after a lengthy hearing Saturday at Santa Anita in the continuing Del Mar Derby saga.

Last August, Tight Spot was disqualified from first and placed last in the derby, elevating original runner-up Itsallgreektome. The stewards’ decision was appealed by Tight Spot’s connections, and after a hearing, referee Steve Schwartz, who was appointed by the California Horse Racing Board, recommended the stewards’ decision be overturned, and Tight Spot was again declared the winner.

This prompted a protest to the CHRB by Itsallgreektome’s connections--owner Jheri Redding and trainer Wallace Dollase--and, after hours of testimony and countless replays of the start of the derby, another ruling should be forthcoming within a few days, according to Schwartz.

Apprentice Omar Berrio and longshot players found the mud to their liking.

Berrio, a 22-year-old Panamanian, won the second race aboard 39-1 shot Harrow Whip, beating My Lucky Son in a photo finish, then came back in the third on Mariona, a Chilean-bred mare who was making her first start since Oct. 7.

Mariona paid $81.80, 20 cents more than Harrow Whip, a 4-year-old Naevus colt who was claimed by trainer John Ivory for $16,000 Nov. 29 at Hollywood Park.

Horse Racing Notes

Gary Stevens had high praise for the main track, which was surprisingly fast considering two days of rain. “The bottom is unbelievable,” he said. “In the six years I’ve been here I’ve never seen it so good. The track stayed very consistent. The new superintendent (Steve Wood) is a godsend. He’s doing a great job with it. Wide, middle, inside, I’m getting the same traction everywhere. It’s very consistent.” . . . Stevens’ other winners were Spring Twist, Perky Slew and Whadjathink. . . . Trainer Michael Whittingham had a double with Ms. Aerosmith and first-time starter Whadjathink.