SANTA ANITA : Stevens Gets Pleasant Upset in San Luis Rey

Stakes victories haven’t been hard to come by for Gary Stevens at Santa Anita, but, realistically, he didn’t expect to add to his total in Sunday’s $323,250 San Luis Rey Stakes.

After all, he was riding Pleasant Variety, the longest shot in the field of 10 turf specialists and a loser in his past seven starts. In last month’s San Luis Obispo, he had finished seventh of nine, beaten by almost 12 lengths by Rial.

So, what happened Sunday? In one of the weaker renewals of the Grade I event, the 7-year-old Pleasant Colony horse ran down pacesetter Royal Reach in the final sixteenth and won by a bit more than a length. He covered the 1 1/2 miles in 2:24 2/5.

An $80,000 claim by owner Marty Alpert in 1989, Pleasant Variety has made a nice living--he entered the San Luis Rey just shy of $900,000 in career earnings--but most of his large checks had come when he did something other than win. He had been second or third in 21 of his 53 outings.

Pleasant Variety returned $61, $20 and $9.20 and earned another $188,250.

Ridden by Stevens for the first time Sunday, Pleasant Variety moved closer to Royal Reach, who wasn’t being pressured on the lead, down the backstretch, then caught the 5-1 shot approaching the wire.

“(Trainer) Jerry (Fanning) told me the horse was doing great and that he’d definitely get the distance,” said Stevens. “He was right and had him ready. Jerry’s been good to me over the years and he didn’t have a rider.”

The San Juan Capistrano (April 21), which also figures to come up weak, is probably next for Pleasant Variety.

“I wasn’t going to run this horse today, but when I talked to Gary a week ago and he said the grass was getting firm,” Fanning said. “This is a good 1 1/2-mile horse. A solid, old horse--very useful.

“In his last race, he got bumped real hard going into the first turn and he kind of gave up. With all this rain, the turf course has been pounded down and is actually getting better--getting firmer.”

There were no excuses for Royal Reach, who had finished third behind Rial and Intelligently in the San Luis Obispo.

“He ran awesome,” Corey Nakatani said. “I thought I had it, but the other horse just outran him.”

Laxey Bay, the lukewarm 5-2 favorite, finished last after being well-placed early. Third behind Royal Reach and First Rate for a mile, he dropped back quickly. “He relaxed good,” said Eddie Delahoussaye. “Maybe he doesn’t want to go that far.”

Mashkour, the 7-2 second choice, was third, then came Live The Dream, Hecquet, River Warden, El Senor, Valdali, First Rate and Laxey Bay.

Marquetry equaled Baffle’s course record of 1:11 4/5 when he won Sunday’s second race at Santa Anita.

Making his first start since setting the pace in the Hollywood Derby Nov. 11, the 4-year-old Conquistador Cielo colt made the lead shortly after the start of the 6 1/2 furlongs on the turf, then drew away from favored Eight Letter Man in the final furlong to win by four lengths. Alex Solis rode for trainer Bobby Frankel. Shirkee also ran the distance in 1:11 4/5 last Oct. 13.

Horse Racing Notes

According to agent Ron Anderson, Robbie Davis has returned to his native Idaho for a vacation and will be gone for the rest of the Santa Anita meeting. There have also been reports Davis will eventually go back to New York to ride. The 29-year-old jockey, who has 10 wins from 126 mounts at Santa Anita, was scheduled to ride Forty Niner Days, the upset winner of Saturday’s San Francisco Mile, but didn’t go north and was replaced by Tim Doocy. He also was replaced on Abergwaun Lad, the easy winner of Saturday’s fifth at Santa Anita, and The Cleaners, who won Sunday’s first at 14-1.

Star Of Cozzene, an impressive maiden winner March 16, has been sold to the Clover Racing Stable and has been moved to Wayne Lukas’ barn. Star Of Cozzene is being pointed for the $150,000 Garden State Stakes at Garden State Park April 13. . . . Itsallgreektome, who finished fourth in his 1991 debut in the San Francisco Mile, will probably make his next start in the Shoemaker Handicap April 28 at Hollywood Park. Prized is also pointing for that race. “He’s fine,” trainer Wally Dollase said of Itsallgreektome. “Two hours before the race, a torrential rain hit and it never stopped--a real downpour. Plus, the weights (the gelding carried 124) were not in our favor. Any time they go a mile in 1:38 4/5, you know there’s a big problem with the track.”