SANTA ANITA : Valiant Pete Is Match for Griswold

After the first match race in Santa Anita history, John Sadler couldn’t help but gloat a bit Saturday.

Valiant Pete’s trainer had every reason. His 5-year-old gelding did what most horsemen and handicappers felt he couldn’t do--beat the quarter horse Griswold.

Despite being a half-length behind after the break, Valiant Pete stayed in close contact outside the 5-year-old Merridoc gelding, then won a stretch battle by a neck in 44 1/5 seconds for the four furlongs. His time equaled the world record for the distance.

Along with satisfaction came a healthy reward for Sadler and owners John Coelho and Pete Valenti. The purse for the match was $100,000, winner take all.

“This is like winning a $200,000 stakes, so we’d be happy to keep running in these,” Sadler said.

In all probability, there will be a Valiant Pete-Griswold II. Seconds after Valiant Pete’s even-money upset, there was discussion about a rematch at 870 yards at Hollywood Park.

“Thank God, we didn’t follow the local brain trust and print media,” Sadler said. “I was getting nervous. Once they cast me in the role of underdog, I just thought we’d go along with the role. But I thought all along it would be a close race and a good race. I think some of the pre-race analysis may have been a little shallow.

“One thing that wasn’t considered is when they run a quarter horse meet, they run on a harder, faster surface. It’s hard to compare those times. I think our home ground was a key factor. I thought we may have deserved to be the second choice, but I thought it would be a very close race.

“I wanted to be close (early), no question. (Valiant Pete) can run the first eighth in 10 seconds, and I can’t believe any quarter horse can run it any quicker. We emphasized gate training for this race. My instructions to (jockey) Julio (Garcia) were to ride as hard as he could into the first turn and just ride to keep as close as you can. I thought this horse was very well suited to this race because he has such good gate quickness.”

Griswold’s connections were gracious in defeat after the 5-year-old’s three-race victory streak ended.

“I want a rematch, buddy,” trainer Dan Francisco said while shaking Sadler’s hand. “I guess we have one. That was the deal, but I don’t know when.

“My horse had trouble getting a hold of the track for the first 100 yards, but as they made the turn, I was confident. We’re not going to give him that 60-foot (running) start next time. I made a bold statement that if 60 feet would make that much difference, he was going to lose anyway. Now, I think it might have made the difference.

“It was a good race. Naturally, I wanted to win, but I’m not that disappointed. There were a lot of quarter horse people here, and I don’t want to go up there and face them. I tip my hat to John the way he prepared his horse for this race. He did a good job.”

Griswold’s rider, Kip Didericksen, like most others, was surprised how close Valiant Pete was early. Even so, he liked his position beginning the final 440 yards.

“When my horse changed leads at the head of the lane, I thought we’d be fine,” he said. “The last 80 yards, I could feel him losing his edge and the other horse took charge.”

Forest Glow sprinted to the front early and breezed to a three-length victory over Answer Do in the $108,900 San Simeon Handicap.

Ridden by Julio Garcia, the 4-year-old gray son of Green Forest and Aflicker, was clocked in 1:12 4/5 for the about 6 1/2 furlongs on the turf course.

Answer Do, ridden by Russell Baze, finished second and the defending San Simeon champion Coastal Voyage crossed the line third, but was disqualified and placed fourth. Coastal Voyage, who was ridden by Fernando Alvarado, was cited by stewards for moving in at the sixteenth pole and blocking Shirkee, who was moved up to third.

The winner returned $11.60, $6 and $4.60; Answer Do paid $4 and $3 and Shirkee returned $3.20 to show.

The victory was the fifth for Forest Glow and the $63,900 first prize boosted his earnings to $171,l97.

Horse Racing Notes

Alex Solis was off his mounts Saturday, and his status for today is indefinite after he suffered an injured left knee during Friday’s eighth race. Lady Kite, whom Solis was riding, tried to jump the dirt coming down the hillside turf course, causing Solis’ feet to come out of the stirrups. . . . Rafael Meza will be sidelined at least four weeks because of a broken left arm he suffered in a spill during Friday’s sixth race.

Pleasant Variety is the 7-2 morning-line favorite for today’s $500,000 San Juan Capistrano at about 1 3/4 miles on the turf. The field, from the rail out: Valdali, David Flores; River Warden, Jose Santos; Intelligently, Russell Baze; Peinture Bleue, Julio Garcia; Live The Dream, Solis; Mashkour, Chris McCarron; El Senor, Laffit Pincay; Royal Reach, Corey Nakatani; Star Standing, Chris Antley and Aksar, Eddie Delahoussaye. Aksar and Intelligently are also entered in Monday’s San Jacinto Handicap.