HORSE RACING PIMLICO SPECIAL : Farma Way Makes Himself at Home

The charge that Farma Way needed a California-type track to win was dismissed Saturday, when the West Coast invader made Pimlico his home away from home.

The 4-year-old colt not only won the $750,000 Pimlico Special in wire-to-wire fashion, but he also ran 1 3/16 miles in 1:52 2/5, tying the American record that Riva Ridge set at Aqueduct 18 years ago.

Farma Way beat Summer Squall, last year’s Preakness winner and Saturday’s 9-5 favorite, by three lengths, and it was 2 1/2 lengths farther back to Jolie’s Halo, who was unable to soften up Farma Way by going for the early lead. Festin was a neck back in fourth, and then came Silver Survivor, Unbridled and Reputed Testamony in the seven-horse field.

Unbridled, last year’s Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and second to Summer Squall in the Preakness, ran one of his worst races. Sent off at 2-1 as the second choice in a crowd of 18,081, he was never better than fifth and was beaten by almost 10 lengths.

Carl Nafzger, who trains Unbridled, and jockey Craig Perret had a long discussion in Pimlico’s indoor paddock after the Special. When Perret had left, Nafzger said: “If I knew, I’d say. It’s not important that he didn’t win, but what bothers me is that we weren’t in the hunt. At the half-mile pole, I thought he could still win, but when he couldn’t get past Silver Survivor (a 76-1 shot), I knew we were in trouble. When it came time to run, the horse didn’t fire.”

Perret thought the track was a factor. “When there’s a very quick track--and it doesn’t matter where--he has trouble, because the speed horses don’t come back to you,” the jockey said.

Farma Way, who earned $450,000 for owner George Bunn, ran the first half-mile in 46 4/5 seconds. “When I saw that 46 and change,” said trainer Wayne Lukas, “I took a nice deep breath with him (Farma Way), and said, ‘It’ll be hell to catch us now.’ ”

Lukas also trained Criminal Type, who set the track record in winning last year’s Pimlico Special in 1:53. Criminal Type, who now stands at stud at Calumet Farm, went on to be voted horse of the year.

Farma Way won four consecutive stakes at Santa Anita this winter, the last being the Santa Anita Handicap. His ability to handle tracks outside California was first questioned when he ran seventh in the Oaklawn Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 13, but Lukas wrote off the result because of sloppy track conditions. “They had three inches of rain in 20 minutes, and that washed the cushion off the track,” Lukas said.

Festin won the Oaklawn race, after finishing behind Farma Way twice at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Gary Stevens, Farma Way paid $14.40 to win as the fourth betting choice. Lukas couldn’t believe the lack of respect for his horse before the race. “I never felt so slighted,” Lukas said. “When I told some friends of mine at Hollywood Park what price this horse might be, they said they weren’t going to bet the horse there but would send the money East, where the payoff was going to be better.”

In satellite betting at Hollywood Park, Farma Way’s win price was $9.

Farma Way’s victories at Santa Anita also were produced on the front end. “Wayne told me to ride him just like I did in the Santa Anita Handicap,” said Stevens, who was second with Ruhlmann in last year’s Pimlico Special. “ ‘Just ride him how he feels comfortable to you, no matter where you are laying.’ He picked it up on his own around the final turn, and at the eighth pole I asked him for his best and he responded, just like he did in the Santa Anita Handicap.”

Summer Squall came into the Special off only one race this year, a 6 1/2-furlong victory at Keeneland a month ago in which he tied the track record. Pat Day, who could have ridden Unbridled, chose Summer Squall. “I was surprised Jolie’s Halo let the winner get away early,” Day said. “But my horse still ran a very big race. He kicked in in the stretch, but the winner kicked in, too. We were only a length off him, but then he beat us by a good ways.”

Under the handicap conditions of the race, Farma Way carried 119 pounds, one less than Summer Squall and three less than the high-weighted Unbridled.

In pre-race speculation, trainers had theorized that Jolie’s Halo would be on the lead. Instead, Farma Way was two lengths in front of Jolie’s Halo going down the backstretch, with Summer Squall on the rail in third place.

“This is the first time a horse has opened up on my horse,” said Robin Platts, who rode Jolie’s Halo. “He probably wondered what the hell was going on there. I tried to stay as close as I could to him, but he drew off on the backside, and I had to start riding my horse to stay with him. It looked like Gary had a lot of horse.”