LOS ALAMITOS : Joe Anderson, Leading Driver in ‘91, Makes His First Start Here Tonight

Joe Anderson, the leading driver at the 1991 Los Alamitos harness meeting, returns to California from his winter base in Chicago this week, making his 1992 Los Alamitos driving debut in tonight’s first race.

Anderson has spent the last six months racing on the Chicago circuit and is shifting the bulk of his stable to Los Alamitos--and his San Jacinto farm--for the next couple of months. At the end of April, the stable will redivide with the top horses going back to Chicago and the rest transferring to the Sacramento meeting. By August, the whole Anderson team will be back at Los Alamitos for the fall meeting.

“I’ll probably end up sending 10 or 15 horses to Sacramento,” said Anderson, 41, of Brea. “We’ll be back at Los Alamitos with a strong group of horses in the fall. I look for a very big meeting then.

“There’s a lot of opportunities (in Chicago),” he said. “It’s been limited on the West Coast, but it’s getting better. I want to maximize the earning potential for my horses in both places.”

In Chicago, Anderson put the finishing touch on the best season of his career. He won 260 races in 1991, including a record 185 races at the 121-night Los Alamitos meeting. For comparison, second-place driver Ross Croghan had 124 victories at Los Alamitos. Anderson added 75 victories from August to the end of the year in Chicago and finished the year with almost $1.4 million in earnings, the highest in his 15-year career and almost double his 1990 figure.

“Chicago’s been very good to us,” said Anderson, who also has three drives on Thursday’s program. “Every horse we brought back here went beyond our expectations. We didn’t know if the horses would be competitive. My plans were to spend only three months, but we stayed (almost six).”

Anderson remained in Chicago through the early part of this year because some of his stock was still eligible for series races in Chicago. He returns to a California harness track that has changed considerably in the last year. There are a significant number of new horses at Los Alamitos and a cast of tougher drivers that probably will make Anderson’s chances of repeating as top driver virtually impossible.

Wednesday’s card is the 15th night of a 53-night meeting and Anderson has spotted leading driver Rick Kuebler 23 victories. Therefore, Anderson’s focus has shifted to winning some of the lucrative Los Alamitos series held over the next two months.

Anderson and Frank Ranaldi, who serves as trainer of Anderson’s horses as well as bloodstock agent, have been busy preparing several horses from New Zealand for upcoming races. The impact of ready-to-race New Zealand horses on the Los Alamitos horse population is as strong as ever. Trainers Robert Gordon and Tim Diliberto also have started many New Zealand horses.

Ranaldi and Anderson traveled to New Zealand in late November and early December and purchased 10 new horses, many of whom are preparing to qualify at Los Alamitos. The horses’ progress was set back initially by a delayed flight to the United States, and more recently, by the rainy weather, which has slowed the training at Los Alamitos.

Ranaldi, who is from Perth, Australia, goes to New Zealand three or four times each year.

“It’s nonstop,” he said. “I get out of the plane, jump in the agent’s car and go straight to the track or the training farms. I’ll have a bunch of horses lined up, train them, and the ones I like I buy. We have an agent there who does the scouting on a full-time basis.”

Some of the horses returning with Anderson from Chicago were some of the top older horses at Los Alamitos last summer. Noble Hero, who won the Fireball Series final last June in 1:53 3/5 will be back and should start within three weeks, according to Anderson. King Strike, who was a finalist in last year’s Great Western Pace and paced a mile in 1:54 at Hawthorne, also will return.

Stand By and Positron have separated themselves from the rest of the invitational pacing classes one month into the spring meeting. Stand By, a New Zealand-bred 6-year-old mare, has won three of her first four American starts, all in the fillies and mare invitational pace.

Positron, a 5-year-old horse, also has won three of his first four starts this year, including two victories in the invitational class.

Both horses were impressive winners last weekend under different circumstances. Stand By was leading the filly and mares invitational into the clubhouse turn last Friday night when Bag A Few moved up on the outside and tried to take the lead. She pulled past Stand By and moved over to the rail, but her left wheel hit Stand By’s front right hoof.

Stand By briefly was thrown off-stride, but driver Steve Warrington not only got the mare back on stride but also went on to win the race in 1:56 4/5. The order of finish did not change after a steward’s inquiry because Bag A Few finished third.

Trainer Robert Gordon said later that Stand By, who is owned by Robert and Loreta Staats of Los Angeles, came out of the race in good shape but might not race this weekend because the filly and mares invitational will be written with a condition that excludes her for one week. Instead, she has the chance to race against males Saturday night in the winners over $10,000 division.

“She was OK,” said Gordon, who is tied with defending champion Paul Blumenfeld for the trainer’s lead with 22 victories. “She’s raced very well so far. She keeps that up, she’ll have a hell of a year.”

Gordon said he didn’t want to race her against males yet, although that appears to be a possibility if Stand By continues to show excellent form.

Positron is having an equally impressive year for owner Andrew Taylor of Whittier and the husband-wife training and driving team of Denise and Tim Maier. Positron won his second invitational of the meeting last Saturday, coming from off the pace to beat Noble Fella and Positive Spriti in 1:55 4/5, a fast time considering how recent rains have slowed the track. On Feb. 1, Positron won the invitational in 1:53, the fastest time of the season.

Los Alamitos Notes

Because last Wednesday’s card was canceled because of rain, tonight’s program includes the $17,500 Seal Beach Series final for California-bred colts and geldings. Larry’s Levity, a three-time winner at the meeting, including the first two divisions of the Seal Beach Series legs, should be among the favorites despite his No. 12 post position, which leaves him on the second tier of starters. In last Thursday’s $17,500 Westminister Series final for California-bred fillies and mares, Sassy Sandy came from off the pace to win in 1:59 4/5. . . . Tonight’s fourth race is the $15,000 invitational trot and has attracted a strong cast which includes, from the rail, Frederique, BH Dynamite, Symphony Fund, Gallant Max, Primrose Lane and Magic Moose.