OAK TREE MEETING AT SANTA ANITA : Bertrando Wins Norfolk by Nine, Earns Trip to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile

The last time Bertrando had run, in the Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 11, Gus Headley had to resort to sneaking under the fence to see him.

Headley, 15, goes to school in Arcadia, and couldn’t travel to Del Mar on a weekday. Then, because of his age, he was denied admission to the off-track betting facility at Santa Anita. So he took the low road.

“Isn’t that something?” said Bruce Headley, Gus’ father and Bertrando’s trainer. “He’s got an owner’s license, but he still had to sneak in.”

Gus Headley owns a small piece of Bertrando, whose major owner is his breeder, Eddie Nahem, an art dealer from Rancho Santa Fe.

There is nothing sneaky about Bertrando. He led the one-mile Del Mar Futurity all of the way in winning by 3 1/2 lengths and on Sunday at Santa Anita he ran farther and won by even more, scoring a nine-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Norfolk Stakes.

The easiest victory in the 22-year history of the Norfolk earned Bertrando a trip to Churchill Downs, where he will run in the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 2.

It will cost Bertrando’s owners--young Headley, Nahem and Marshall Naify of San Francisco--a $120,000 supplemental fee to run the colt in the Breeders’ Cup, which has had 49 races, none won by a California-bred. The Juvenile is the same distance as the Norfolk.

In a field of nine, Bertrando was coupled with Turbulent Kris because of overlapping ownership and paid $5 as the favorite in a crowd of 19,260. Ridden by Alex Solis, Bertrando was timed in 1:42 4/5, the same time that Best Pal had in winning the stake last year.

The Norfolk extended Bertrando’s undefeated streak to three races, all under Solis, and the purse of $164,820 increased his earnings to $370,865.

Solis rode Snow Chief to victory in the 1985 Norfolk. “Snow Chief always tried hard and was all heart,” Solis said. “This horse is just incredible, the way he does everything so easily. He felt like he was just walking. He has such a long stride. He does everything perfect, and I’m sure he will only get better.”

Zurich, who was last, about 10 lengths behind, early in the race, finished second, as he did in the Del Mar Futurity. He was three-quarters of a length ahead of Bag, who went off at 3-1 after winning a maiden race by 16 lengths at Del Mar and a sprint stake at Fairplex Park. Thinkernot finished fourth, at 50-1, and Turbulent Kris, Bertrando’s entrymate, was fifth.

Bag was jumping shadows down the backstretch and through the stretch, and might go to the Breeders’ Cup. “He would have finished second without all that jumping around,” said the colt’s trainer, Jerry Fanning. “He was right where I wanted him (in third place) early. The winner can really run. When my horse tried to make a move, the other horse just took off.”

Bertrando is a son of Skywalker, a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, and Gentle Hands, a 14-year-old mare who died while foaling a daughter by Skywalker this spring.

“This is by far my biggest win,” said Bruce Headley, who took out his first trainer’s license in 1959. “It’s also the most lengths I’ve ever won a race by, even in a claiming race. I thought we’d be on the lead, but I thought Bag would be real close.”

Through an opening half-mile of 45 4/5, Richard of England, winner of the Sunny Slope Stakes at Oak Tree on Oct. 2, was closest to Bertrando, with Bag next, two lengths behind. On the turn, Bag was still third, with Richard Of England dropping back. He wound up seventh.

Jockey Gary Stevens complained about Zurich. “He’s gotten lazy on us,” Stevens said. “He has natural speed, but he’s not showing it now. I didn’t think I was going to get anything going down the backside. I rode him hard just to get second, and he was one tired horse when we got back.”

Horse Racing Notes

The most one-sided win in the Norfolk before Bertrando was Hawkster’s seven-length victory in 1988. . . . Bertrando is the 11th California-bred to win the Norfolk. . . . Today, the 2-year-old fillies take over at Santa Anita, with five running in the Oak Leaf Stakes. Only four ran last year, when Lite Light won the race. La Spia and Soviet Sojourn, who ran 1-2, separated by a neck, in the Del Mar Debutante, are in today’s field. Soviet Sojourn, Wine ‘N Music and Green Vitamins are being supplemented into the race at a cost of $10,000 apiece. . . . A Northridge man, who didn’t want his name disclosed, won Sunday’s $123,294 Pick Nine with a $12 ticket.

Itsallgreektome and Opening Verse, the first two finishers Saturday in the Keeneland Breeders’ Cup Stakes, are both scheduled to return in the Breeders’ Cup, only in different races. Itsallgreektome will run in the Turf, at 1 1/2 miles, and Opening Verse will go in the Mile. . . . On Sunday at Keeneland, Wilderness Song won the Spinster, with Brought To Mind, the 2-1 favorite, running 13th in a 14-horse field. Fowda, another short-priced horse, ran 10th. . . . Trainer Ron McAnally, who remained at Santa Anita, said that Brought To Mind is still a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Jim Day trains both Wilderness Song and Dance Smartly, who’ll be favored in the Distaff.