SANTA ANITA : Lukas Gets Wish as Twilight Agenda Isn’t Pressed in San Pasqual Victory

Trainer Wayne Lukas was hoping Twilight Agenda’s first race of 1992 would be an easy one and he got his wish.

The 4-5 favorite won Saturday’s $156,500 San Pasqual Handicap without having to be fully extended while carrying 125 pounds.

In winning for the 12th time in 23 starts, the 6-year-old Devil’s Bag horse beat Ibero by 3 1/2 lengths in 1:42 1/5 for the 1 1/16 miles and paid $3.60 to win. Answer Do, in his first route race since 1989, was a neck behind in third, a neck in front of Algenib, who was trying the dirt for the first time in this country.

King Drone, the longest shot in the five-horse field at 29-1, did what he was supposed to do. He collected fifth money of $3,750 by circling the track. The gray dropped far back early and stayed there, finishing 31 lengths behind Twilight Agenda.

Things figure to get progressively tougher for Twilight Agenda during the remainder of the Santa Anita meeting. There will be new faces waiting in the $300,000 San Antonio Handicap Feb. 15. Then Best Pal, Olympio, Dinard and In Excess probably will be in the field for the $1-million Santa Anita Handicap March 7.

“I was hoping for a good, solid race without having to go to the well too much,” Lukas said. “Frankly, I think this horse likes his races closer together for his best. He’d been off since Dec. 8, and he had picked up about 50 pounds.

“Now, we’re in good shape. The next race is in three weeks, and three weeks to the next. That’s nice spacing for him. I told (jockey) Kent (Desormeaux) in the paddock to just go out and ride him oblivious to the other horses, because whatever we plan is not likely to happen.”

This was the fourth consecutive San Pasqual victory for Lukas. He hopes Twilight Agenda can complete the San Pasqual-San Antonio-Big ‘Cap sweep Farma Way did last year.

“This horse is farther along at the same time, compared to Farma Way,” Lukas said. “He knows how to relax. With Farma Way at this time last year, we were thinking he had to be on the pace.”

Chris McCarron’s bad case of flu was Desormeaux’s gain. McCarron isn’t scheduled to ride again until Wednesday, so Desormeaux got the mount on Twilight Agenda, and they are now two for three together. Besides the San Pasqual, they won the Del Mar Budweiser Breeders’ Cup together. Their loss came when second to Best Pal in the $1 million Pacific Classic.

“It was an armchair ride. He just galloped,” Desormeaux said. “You could have held him with two pieces of feather. Chris said he couldn’t get him to switch leads down the backside in his previous races. I got him to switch on the backside, but when we turned for home, he was running so easy he didn’t want to switch. I hit him once to try to make him switch, then I heard (track announcer) Trevor (Denman) say they’d have to have wings to catch him. He was so full of run, there was no reason (to keep trying).”

What do eight of the 10 entrants in today’s $125,000-added California Breeders’ Champion Stakes have in common?

They all began their career in claiming races. Only Spin Bo and Never Round have never started in one.

Fabulous Champ, who won a $40,000 maiden race in his first start, is the 5-2 morning line favorite in the seven-furlong race, which was won a year ago by Apollo.

A 3-year-old son of Somethingfabulous, Fabulous Champ has never won a stakes race, but he has placed in three, including a third-place finish in the San Miguel Stakes in his last outing Dec. 28. Desormeaux again will ride for trainer Jerry Dutton.

The rest of the field, from the rail out: Bossanova (Antonio Castanon, 30-1), Megan’s Interco (Laffit Pincay, 4-1), Power Slyde (Hector Torres, 12-1), Spin Bo (Eddie Delahoussaye, 20-1), Fax News (Alex Solis, 8-1), Never Round (Corey Black, 9-2), Happy Daydream (Corey Nakatani, 15-1), Irish Twist (Frank Alvarado, 7-2) and The Drouller (Gary Stevens, 15-1).

Casual Lies, who was purchased as a yearling for $7,500, made it four victories in seven starts Saturday with a half-length triumph over Seahawk Gold in the $300,000 El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows.

Owned by Jim and Shelly Riley, and trained by Shelly, Casual Lies, a son of Lear Fan, took the lead from longshot Silver Ray in the final furlong and won in 1:42 for the 1 1/16 miles.

Ridden by Alan Patterson, Casual Lies had been third in the Hollywood Futurity last month while running at 52-1 and he earned $165,000 Saturday. He paid $10.40 at Santa Anita, where the race was simulcast.

Silver Ray, a 16-1 shot who raced with Lasix for the first time, was third, ahead of Old Master, the 5-2 second choice.

Horse Racing Notes

After winning three races Saturday, Laffit Pincay is seven victories away from becoming the all-time winningest jockey at the Santa Anita winter meet. He has 2,241 victories and Bill Shoemaker finished with 2,247. . . . Lanner, who finished last in Saturday’s fifth race at 5-2, was claimed for $80,000 by former jockey-turned trainer Frank Olivares. Since coming to the United States three races ago, Lanner’s best finish was a fifth. He has been last in his other two tries.

Wayne Lukas’ other San Pasqual winners were On The Line in 1989 and Criminal Type in 1990. . . . How bad is today’s ninth race, a $50,000 sprint for older California-bred maidens? The 5-2 morning line choice is Cad’s Caper, who was nearly 148-1 in his last start more than 10 months ago.