SANTA ANITA : Darby Dan Filly Lets Trainer Do a Victory Dance

Santa Anita is a week away from concluding its longest meeting--94 days--and no one could blame Gary Jones if he wished it was even longer.

Dance O’ My Life’s victory in Sunday’s $209,600 Santa Anita Budweiser Breeders’ Cup was the 11th stakes success of the season for Jones, who leads the meeting with 36 victories, putting him 10 ahead of Ron McAnally with six racing days left.

A 4-year-old daughter of Sovereign Dancer, Dance O’ My Life has won her two starts since coming to California and is the first horse Jones has trained for Darby Dan Farm.

After going wire-to-wire while setting very slow fractions April 3, the 9-2 second choice showed versatility Sunday. Well-positioned throughout by Chris McCarron, she caught 9-1 shot Only Yours in the final yards to win by a half-length in 1:34 2/5 for the mile on turf.

Gravieres, the 1-2 favorite, never fired and finished sixth. She had two victories and a second in her previous three races in the United States. She had broken out in hives about 10 days earlier.

“She was pulling nice going into the turn,” jockey Gary Stevens said. “I was real confident and happy with my position. I was laying right outside of (McCarron). I started creeping up, but she made up no more than a couple of lengths and dropped the (bit) right out of her mouth. She never picked it up again.”

McCarron had no such problem with Dance O’ My Life, who competed in New York, Florida, New Jersey and Kentucky before coming west.

“It’s an honor for me to train (for Darby Dan),” Jones said. “They had three fillies in the East that were all knocking heads and they wanted to separate them. They are nice people to be associated with.

“Chris rode this filly absolutely perfect.”

Only Yours finished a neck in front of Crystal Gazing, then came Vieille Vigne, D’Or Ruckus, Gravieres and Sassy La Femme, a maiden.

Fly Till Dawn, who is not expected to be in the race, was assigned highweight of 121 pounds for Sunday’s $500,000 San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap at about 1 3/4 miles on the turf.

Miss Alleged is next on the list at 118, and the 1991 Eclipse Award winner as the nation’s top female turf performer is scheduled to start for trainer Charlie Whittingham. Second to Kostroma in the Santa Barbara Handicap in her last start, Miss Alleged will be trying to provide Whittingham with his 15th victory in the San Juan and his first since Nasr El Arab in 1989.

Others invited to the Grade I race: Provins (116 pounds), Theatre Critic, Wall Street Dancer, Bye Union Ave. and Missionary Ridge (114), Aksar, Cool Gold Mood and Passagere Du Soir (113) and Berillon, Crystal Moment, Houmayoun and Irish Empire (112).

Horse Racing Notes

With six racing days left, Alex Solis leads Kent Desormeaux and Eddie Delahoussaye by two winners in his quest for his first Santa Anita jockey title. Solis has 92 winners after a double Sunday. . . . Apprentice Jose Fuentes was given a five-day suspension by the stewards, beginning Thursday, for “failure to make the proper effort to maintain a straight course “ while riding Mr. Bubbly in Saturday’s first race.

Delahoussaye is one of six riders nominated for the 1992 Mike Venezia Memorial Award, which is given to the jockey who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship and citizenship. The other nominees are Jerry Bailey, Angel Cordero Jr., Nick Santagata, Mike Smith and Pat Day. Past winners are Venezia, who was honored in 1989 after he was killed in a racing accident in October of 1988, Bill Shoemaker and Chris McCarron.