SANTA ANITA : Big Three Meet at Oaklawn Today

The best race at Santa Anita this weekend will be run in Arkansas.

Farma Way, Unbridled and Jolie’s Halo, the nation’s three top older horses, will get together for the first time in the $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap. The third stop in the American Championship Racing Series will be simulcast today between Santa Anita’s third and fourth races.

Five others are entered in the 1 1/8-mile event, but most of the attention will be on Farma Way, who won four stakes at Santa Anita; 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Unbridled, and Jolie’s Halo, unbeaten in six starts.

What could diminish the race is an off track. Rain is forecast for the area today, and that could open it up for the others--Bedeviled, Festin, Silver Survivor, De Roche and Primal.

None of the entrants has a mud mark in the Daily Racing Form, but Unbridled won the Kentucky Derby on a track labeled as good and was third behind Summer Squall and Land Rush in the Blue Grass Stakes when it was muddy.

Farma Way, who was wide early in the San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita, relaxed and took command of the race under jockey Gary Stevens and won with something left. In the Santa Anita Handicap, he romped home again by nearly three lengths.

After being beaten in his first start for trainer Wayne Lukas last December, Farma Way hasn’t come close to losing since then, and his versatility should enable him to continue his winning streak on the road.

“He’s the best horse I’ve ridden,” Stevens said. “He seems like he’ll come home the last quarter the same whether going seven furlongs or 1 1/4 miles. He just gallops a mile and then turns it on. I have the utmost confidence in him.”

Unbridled, the Eclipse winner as the nation’s top 3-year-old, couldn’t have been more impressive while winning his 4-year-old debut March 16 at Gulfstream Park.

Running his streak to two on that track--he won the Classic there in October--the Fappiano colt surged past Housebuster in the final sixteenth of the seven-furlong race after being far back early.

However, Unbridled isn’t known for his ability to put big efforts together, and it is conceivable he could regress. He also has to spot Farma Way two pounds, a sore point with his trainer, Carl Nafzger. On the other hand, Unbridled has matured in recent months and is definitely Farma Way’s biggest threat.

Unbeaten in two starts at 3, Jolie’s Halo is four for four this year, including three stakes victories at Gulfstream Park--in the Appleton, Donn and Gulfstream handicaps.

The Florida-bred son of Halo has never had to deal with a horse like Farma Way up front. However, he is bred to run well in mud.

Festin has the best chance for an upset. He chased Farma Way in both the San Antonio and Santa Anita handicaps, and his late-running style should earn him at least a part of the purse. If Unbridled doesn’t fire and Farma Way and Jolie’s Halo do each other in, Festin and Eddie Delahoussaye could pick up the pieces.

An off track certainly wouldn’t hinder the Argentine bred. He broke his maiden by three lengths in Argentina in his first start over a heavy track.

Fly So Free, the Kentucky Derby favorite, will be heavily favored in the $400,800 Blue Grass Stakes today at Keeneland. But like the Oaklawn Handicap, the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass could be run over an off track, and Fly So Free hasn’t started in the mud.

The Eclipse Award winner as the country’s best 2-year-old in 1990 will have only five opponents, topped by Strike The Gold, who finished second to Fly So Free in the Florida Derby.

Split Run is the morning-line favorite for the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields, which will also be simulcast today at Santa Anita.

Victorious by six and 12 lengths in his first two starts, Split Run was a disappointment in the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita. The Relaunch colt finished fifth, beaten by almost eight lengths by Sea Cadet in the March 17 stake. Alex Solis replaces Jose Santos on Split Run, who could possibly show up in Kentucky if he rebounds impressively.

Horse Racing Notes

Trainer Gary Jones has three of the seven entrants in today’s $81,150 Santa Lucia Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita. Despite a 3-5 flop in her last start at Golden Gate Fields, Fantastic Look is the probable favorite today. She is the 120-pound highweight and will be ridden by Chris McCarron. Questioning and Formidable Lady are Jones’ other horses. Vieille Vigne, Dominant Dancer, Nasers Pride and Pampered Star round out the field. . . . Jones has entered Heart of Joy and Performing Arts in Sunday’s $212,100 Santa Anita Budweiser Breeders’ Cup at a mile on the turf. The rest of the field: Spring Daffodil, Flower Girl, Land Breeze, Mahaska, Daring Doone, Estrella Fuega, Gaelic Bird and Fire The Groom. . . . Jorge Velasquez has left Santa Anita and returned to New York, but he will soon begin riding in Chicago. Velasquez had 17 winners on 213 mounts at Santa Anita.