SANTA ANITA : Claim to Fame Climb Continues for Exchange

Bill Spawr would prefer that he not be referred to as a “claiming trainer.”

“I’m tired of hearing that,” Spawr said.

One way Spawr can rid himself of the label is to win more stakes races with horses other than those he has claimed. Spawr will have to start Wednesday, because Exchange, the 4-year-old filly he saddled Sunday to win the $100,000 El Encino Stakes, is another Spawr special from the claiming ranks.

On May 2, Spawr claimed Exchange for $50,000 out of a race she won at Hollywood Park. A month before, in her first start, Exchange ran for $32,000 at Santa Anita and won that race, too.

Sunday’s victory, by a length over Grand Girlfriend, was Exchange’s fourth in a row and seventh in 11 starts that include two seconds and one third. The El Encino was Exchange’s third stake, and now Spawr, 52, is envisioning even bigger deals: The Canadian-bred filly’s next race could be the $200,000 La Canada Stakes on Feb. 2.

Exchange is owned by Sidney Craig, whose wife, Jenny, heads a company that specializes in weight-reducing programs. The Craigs’ Paseana, who is trained by Ron McAnally, won the San Gorgonio Handicap last week.

Exchange, paying $13.60 to win before an on-track crowd of 18,560, was the distant second betting choice behind 3-2 Sha Tha in the El Encino. Sha Tha, making her first start on dirt, was a contender on the far turn before fading to eighth in the 10-horse field. Teresa Mc was also a disappointment, a three-race winning streak ending with Pat Valenzuela easing her after a traffic problem on the far turn.

Grand Girlfriend finished two lengths ahead of Damewood, who was four lengths better than Garden Gal. The time of 1:43 1/5 for the 1 1/16 miles was the slowest for an El Encino winner since 1973, when the race was run under claiming conditions.

Slip With Me, a 28-1 shot running on dirt for the second time, set a slow pace, leading until the top of the stretch. Garden Gal raced directly behind her, with Laffit Pincay keeping Exchange in the middle of the field, but not far back.

Exchange dropped in front of Teresa Mc on the turn, causing Valenzuela to check his mount. Exchange went by Grand Girlfriend in mid-stretch, winning for the fifth time under Pincay.

“She always makes me feel like she’s going to win by five,” Pincay said. “But I was whipping her, because she’s the kind who likes to wait when she makes the lead. You think she’s going to win easy, and then she makes you suffer. But she’s a better filly now. She’s running with better fillies, and she’s more willing to do things.”

Eddie Delahoussaye believed that Sha Tha, a grass stakes winner at Laurel last fall and fourth in the Matriarch at Hollywood Park in December, might win when they reached the far turn.

“Then she flattened out,” Delahoussaye said. “She was kind of jumping in the first part of the race, being her first time on dirt. I got her outside and away from the dirt hitting her and she was fine. At the quarter pole, she just spit out the bit.”

Exchange, who won $67,000, has earned more than $235,000. Spawr shifted her from dirt to grass last summer, and after four victories in six tries, she is back on the main track again.

“She’s always trained well on dirt,” Spawr said. “We had to turn her out (after Del Mar last September) to try to improve her mental attitude. Sometimes in the mornings, she would refuse to work. I’ve only got two people who can gallop her.”

After the race, Valenzuela suggested to trainer Greg Gilchrist that Teresa Mc be checked for internal bleeding.

“She started to weaken before we got in trouble,” Valenzuela said. “Then Laffit dropped in front of us. There was no reason to, but he did. That stopped us, and then I didn’t abuse her after that. Greg said to me that maybe he had brought her back too quick.”

Teresa Mc, who is stabled at Bay Meadows, won a division of the La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 29.

Horse Racing Notes

Flawlessly and Algenib, horses with grass reputations, might have dirt racing in their immediate futures. . . . Trainer Chris Speckert believes that Pleasant Tap’s sixth-place finish in Saturday’s San Carlos Handicap was partly due to his being on the rail. Pleasant Tap has done his best running while outside of horses. . . . Eleven 3-year-old fillies are entered for Wednesday’s $125,000 California Breeders’ Champion Stakes, including Don B’s Princess, winner of the California Cup Juvenile Fillies in November, and Wicked Wit, who won the Pasadena Stakes two weeks ago. Others are Jetinwith Kennedy, Dublin R Delite, Galore’s Magic, Lotta Glory Beau’s, Soap Opera Queen, Wine ‘n Music, Alpine Queen, Movie Cutie and Redsand Dancer.

Bobby Doyle, track announcer at Los Alamitos for more than 30 years, died Thursday at his Riviera, Ariz., of cancer. Doyle, who was 83, was identified with the phrase, “They’re runnin-g-g-g,” at the start of races. A Los Angeles native, he started as a jockey in Cuba and finished his riding career in the United States, riding in more than 4,500 races. Doyle was also a trainer, jockeys’ agent and clocker, and called charts for the Daily Racing Form before he began his career as an announcer in 1945. He started calling quarter horse races at Los Alamitos in 1952. Doyle’s widow, Jan, said that he had requested that no funeral services be held. Los Alamitos plans to name a race in his honor, starting this year.