SANTA ANITA : McAnally Bets on Rain, Wins With Paseana

The San Gorgonio Handicap hadn’t been taken off the grass because of the weather for 18 years, but trainer Ron McAnally, who has been around Santa Anita long enough to know that it can rain any time, had an inkling about this season’s running of the stake.

“When we nominated Paseana (the deadline was Dec. 26), a lot of people thought we were crazy,” McAnally said. “But if the race had been run on the turf, we wouldn’t have run. Some of the best turf fillies in the United States are at Santa Anita now.”

Two of them--Flawlessly and Kostroma--stayed in the barn because the $130,375 San Gorgonio became a dirt race, and three other scratches reduced the field to four. In sloppy going, Paseana splashed past Agirlfromars before the field had completed the backstretch, and the 5-year-old mare won by 2 1/2 lengths, with Laura Ly second, 16 lengths ahead of Reluctant Guest. Agirlfromars simply finished the course, beaten by 41 1/2 lengths.

The time for 1 1/8 miles was 1:53 4/5, with favored Paseana paying $3.20 and earning $77,250 for her owner, Sidney Craig of Carlsbad, who paid about $325,000 for her when McAnally completed the deal early last year. For the second consecutive Sunday, heavy rain kept the on-track crowd under 12,000.

Paseana is another Argentine-bred who has successfully made the transition to racing in the United States under McAnally’s care. Bayakoa came from South America to win Eclipse Awards for best older filly or mare in 1988-89, and last year Festin earned more than $2 million. Bayakoa’s earnings were more than $2.8 million.

It took McAnally and his assistant, Eduardo Inda, two trips to Argentina before they bought Bayakoa, and Paseana also wasn’t purchased until McAnally had a second look.

“The first time I went to possibly buy her, she was a heavy favorite in a Grade I stake race and finished out of the money,” McAnally said. “I found out later that she had pulled a muscle in her hip.”

Last May, McAnally again visited Argentina to accept the equivalent of an Eclipse Award for his work with South American horses. He still liked Paseana, who had recovered from the injury, and the price was nearly the same.

Paseana had won on the dirt in Argentina, and McAnally started her on the main track in California. Her first time out, Paseana finished second to La Charlatana in the Manta Stakes at Santa Anita last October, and then she won the Silver Belles Handicap by 5 1/2 lengths at Hollywood Park on Nov. 23.

Chris McCarron has been aboard for all three of Paseana’s starts here. “It’s weird how they (Argentine horses) all handle the mud,” McCarron said Sunday. “Bayakoa loved it. They all seem to get better with age, too.

“I had to go about seven wide in the first turn to keep the spray from hitting her. It was like someone was throwing it with a shovel. She was climbing badly. They can’t see with that stuff hitting them, and they think they can get over it and see by raising their heads up, but they can’t. I was on my fourth set of goggles at the end, and I was second and in the clear most of the way. Two other races today, I finished on my last pair and couldn’t see at the wire.”

McAnally sidestepped a direct comparison between Bayakoa and Paseana at comparable stages of their careers. “They’re two different types of fillies,” the trainer said. “Bayakoa was a speedball, and it took us a while before we could get her to settle down. This filly will let you do whatever you want with her.”

Paseana will remain on dirt at Santa Anita, following a pattern that McAnally used for Bayakoa. She went to Oaklawn Park three consecutive springs for the Apple Blossom Handicap, a stake she won in 1989.

Horse Racing Notes

Chris McCarron had been named on Flawlessly for the San Gorgonio, with the understanding that he would switch to Paseana if Flawlessly was scratched. . . . McCarron won the San Gorgonio last year with Royal Touch. . . . Ron McAnally’s first San Gorgonio victory came with Miss Magnetic in 1980. . . . Silver Beauty , another McAnally trainee from Argentina, won an allowance race at Santa Anita on Friday. Silver Beauty also rain in a race that was switched from grass to dirt because of rain. She is owned by Frank and Jan Whitham, who raced Bayakoa.

Another McAnally distaffer, Queens Court Queen, doesn’t like an off track and she was scratched from Saturday’s La Centinela Stakes. . . . McAnally said that Sea Cadet would run next Saturday in the Kyne Handicap at Bay Meadows. . . . Olympio, winner of the Malibu on opening day at Santa Anita, is scheduled to run in the San Fernando Stakes on Feb. 18.