OAK TREE MEETING AT SANTA ANITA : General Meeting Wins the Volante; Nine Others Bunched at the Finish

Eddie Delahoussaye, Kent Desormeaux, Corey Nakatani and Gary Stevens all felt the same way after Sunday’s $114,500 Volante Handicap at Santa Anita.

Each thought he was on the best 3-year-old in the 1 1/8-mile turf race.

No matter how the others felt, Desormeaux was the one who got the top prize in the meeting’s tightest finish.

The first 10 finishers in the Grade III Volante were separated by less than three lengths. Only Doc Of The Day and Persianalli were non-competitive.

Keeping his record perfect in two turf starts, General Meeting, a 6-1 shot, beat pacesetter Dominion Gold by a nose with 5-2 favorite Eternity Star another nose back in third. Track Monarch was another head back in fourth, a half-length in front of Native Boundary, who was three-quarters of a length better than Stark South.

Desormeaux, who was able to save ground throughout the race, thought the Volante shouldn’t have been so close.

“I think if he had (found room) earlier, it wouldn’t have been as close,” he said after General Meeting won in 1:46 3/5 over a course called good after recent rain.

“He’s kind of shy around other horses and kind of a baby. He’s not the type to bully his way around.

“With him, if you get out, you get out, and luckily we did. He came running hard.”

Stevens, who rode the runner-up, didn’t believe Dominion Gold gave his all in his first start wearing blinkers. Still, he led every step except the last one.

“I don’t think he was giving me 100 percent,” Stevens said. “After the race, I suggested maybe they cut holes in the blinkers so he can see (other horses) coming.

“But it was a big improvement. He was really a lazy horse when he came over (from Europe). Maybe he just woke up. He was much sharper today.”

Delahoussaye, who rode Del Mar Derby winner Eternity Star, finished well on the outside after being forced to go about 10-wide into the stretch. His complaint was with the placement of the auxiliary rails on the turf.

“They shouldn’t have those up with 12 horses running on this course,” he said. “I rode the best horse. He had to come around all of them and after all that, he got beat maybe a neck for the whole thing.”

Track Monarch, who was ridden by Pat Valenzuela, also wasn’t without an excuse. He was squeezed back after the start and lost position. Stark South, who was ridden by Corey Nakatani, never had a chance to show his best while trying to weave his way through traffic down the stretch.

Most of these horses will probably get another crack at one another in next month’s Hollywood Derby at Hollywood Park.

“I guess that’s where we’ll run him next, providing they don’t run Best Pal,” said General Meeting’s trainer, David Hofmans. John and Betty Mabee own both Best Pal and General Meeting.

“I decided to try (General Meeting) on the turf because of his pedigree (Seattle Slew out of an Alydar mare) and the way he travels. He has a great stride for the turf.”

Horse Racing Notes

General Meeting paid $14 to win and his fourth victory in 11 lifetime starts was worth $69,500. . . . Jockey Kent Desormeaux had three winners Sunday and Laffit Pincay had two. . . . A.P. Indy, the $2.9-million yearling and a half-brother to Summer Squall, easily broke his maiden in his second career start. A.P. Indy is trained by Neil Drysdale and was ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye. . . . Trainer Gary Jones had two winners Sunday and he leads the standings with 12, four more than Bob Hess. . . . Pat Valenzuela leads Desormeaux, 28-24, in the jockey’s race. . . . Because only three fillies were entered in last week’s Very Subtle Stakes, the race will be combined with the Desert Wine Stakes for colts and geldings Wednesday. Carrying a $163,600 purse, the Very Subtle/Desert Wine Stakes is for horses offered for sale at the 1990 Del Mar Yearling Sale and the 1991 March California Thoroughbred 2-year-olds in training sale.