OAK TREE MEETING AT SANTA ANITA : Tired Solis Rides Ibero to Victory

Alex Solis was one tired jockey late Saturday afternoon, so much so he begged off his final mount of the day at Santa Anita.

After riding Sea Cadet to a third-place finish behind Twilight Agenda and Scan in the Meadowlands Cup Friday night at East Rutherford, N.J., Solis didn’t get much sleep before boarding a plane at 6 a.m. to return home.

Solis wanted to make it back to Southern California to ride Ibero in Saturday’s $112,000 Col. F.W. Koester Handicap on turf at Santa Anita.

Solis’ effort paid off, as Ibero, a 4-year-old Argentine-bred colt, held off favored Val Des Bois to win by a neck.

Highly regarded when he arrived late last year from South America, where he was unbeaten in three starts, Ibero was a disappointment in the early part of 1991. He won only once in his first six appearances and that victory came on a sloppy track against only three rivals.

However, an impressive victory in the Windy Sands Handicap indicated he might be starting to turn things around and he proved Saturday he can handle both turf and dirt.

Able to take the lead immediately from his inside post, Ibero, an 8-1 shot, got away with some very ordinary fractions (23 3/5, 47 3/5 and 1:10 4/5) and had enough left to hold off Val Des Bois.

Tokatee, trainer Ron McAnally’s other entrant along with the winner, was a head back in third and Repriced, the 7-2 second choice, was fourth.

“He relaxes better now than he did when he first got here,” Solis said. “He used to try to run off and go as fast as he could. Ron’s done a great job of getting him to relax. Now, he does everything perfect.

“I really didn’t expect to be on the lead. I let him come out of there and it worked out well because nobody else wanted to go to the front. When (Val Des Bois) came up to him, he kept running.”

The only surprise to McAnally was Ibero’s $18.60 payoff.

“As they were loading into the gate, I said I couldn’t believe the price on these two horses,” he said.

Tokatee, who had won two in a row at Del Mar, was dismissed at 9-1.

“(Ibero) started to turn around at Del Mar. He began to calm down,” McAnally said.

“He did get a little hot today. His regular groom wasn’t with him. He usually gives him a bath before we come over to cool him down. But they all got a little hot in the paddock.”

The 8-5 choice, Val Des Bois was trapped inside the entire trip and also wasn’t helped by the slow pace.

“If he’s on the outside, he wins easily,” trainer Bobby Frankel said. Frankel is hoping to run Val Des Bois in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, but the 5-year-old French-bred probably doesn’t have enough points to get a spot in the starting lineup.

Kent Desormeaux, the runner-up’s jockey, also felt he was on the best horse.

“He was much the best, just a victim of circumstances,” he said. “He doesn’t like being inside. He’s scared of horses. I tried to go between horses and couldn’t. He brushed the fence in the stretch and after the finish.”

Blaze O’Brien finished fifth and was followed by Anjiz, Madjaristan, Rudy’s Fantasy and Raj Waki.

Kostroma, who returned from a 10-month layoff to easily win the Osunitas Handicap last month at Del Mar, is the 9-5 favorite in today’s $137,000 Las Palmas Handicap.

The 5-year-old Caerleon mare didn’t break well in the restricted Osunitas, but circled her rivals to win by slightly more than two lengths under Kent Desormeaux. She now has six victories from 16 starts and Gary Jones was recently quoted as saying she’s the best turf mare he ever has trained.

The competition will be tougher in the 1 1/8-mile Las Palmas, which serves as the prep for next month’s $400,000 Yellow Ribbon. Her prime rivals are Campagnarde, who is perfect in two starts in this country, and the returning Free At Last, who has won three of four in the United States.

Campagnarde, trained by Charlie Whittingham, won a Del Mar allowance race by a nose July 31, then returned to score a 12-1 upset in the Grade I Ramona Handicap, defeating favored Bequest by a nose. Gary Stevens, who was aboard for her first victory, will ride the Argentine filly, who is the early 5-2 second choice. Campagnarde will be spotting Kostroma a pound (118-117).

Free At Last, a 4-year-old daughter of Shirley Heights, hasn’t raced since winning the Yerba Buena Handicap May 11 at Golden Gate. All three of her U.S. victories have been in Northern California for trainer Neil Drysdale. She worked seven furlongs over the turf in 1:26 1/5 Oct. 10 and will be ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye.

Free At Last is 4-1 and so is Alcando, the probable pacesetter who has fallen on hard times since winning the Beverly Hills Handicap at 28-1 in June. Guiza is 6-1 and Kikala rounds out the field at 12-1.

Horse Racing Notes

Ron McAnally barely missed picking up another stakes win when Queens Court Queen lost by a neck to Spinning Round in the Alcibiades at Keeneland. In her previous start, Queens Court Queen had beaten Oak Leaf winner Pleasant Stage in a maiden race at Del Mar. . . . Pat Valenzuela won three times Saturday and David Flores had two victories. . . . Today marks the halfway point of the Oak Tree meeting and there will be a mandatory payout in the Pick Nine.