THOROUGHBRED RACING : Caganich’s Winners Are Rare, $94.80 Payouts Are Even Rarer

Barbara Caganich trains her horses from what might be called the high-rent district of the Hollywood Park backstretch. Caganich is surrounded by Charlie Whittingham, who is in the Racing Hall of Fame at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Willard Proctor, who has a right to be.

On July 2, however, there was reason to walk right by Whittingham and Proctor and their fancy horses to seek out Caganich, who did more than simply saddle two winners in one day for the first time in her brief training career. Both of her winners paid the same for a $2 ticket--$94.80--and Whittingham, in his 60-plus years as a trainer, probably never has done that.

Caganich’s first $94.80 winner, in the second race, was White Heart, a first-time starter running for a $32,000 claiming price. Then, in the ninth race, she saddled the other 46-1 shot, Eagle Rock Pass, who beat $14,000 claimers.

Both horses are owned by John Valpredo, the Bakersfield breeder who doesn’t like to give his age but is at least a septuagenarian.

“I got Barbara started three years ago,” Valpredo said. “Gave her six horses to train at Los Alamitos.”

“It was 10 horses,’ Caganich said.

“No, it was six,” Valpredo insisted.

“Ten, John,” Caganich said.

“OK, maybe it was 10,” Valpredo said.

There was agreement that one of the horses was Petronack, an 8-year-old gelding who is still running.

Petronack is Caganich’s favorite.

“I call him the bionic horse,” she said. “He’s been on the vets’ list 10 times, and that ought to be some kind of record.”

On July 1, running with $10,000 claimers, Petronack finished fourth at Hollywood, which is good enough for a piece of the purse. With six victories, six seconds and six thirds in 58 starts, Petronack has cranked out earnings of $80,000 the hard way.

He has accounted for a paycheck the last 10 times he has run, and he isn’t as unsound as it seems, Caganich said.

“In front, he’s got one leg shorter than the other leg,” she said. “So just to look at him walk, you might think there’s something wrong.”

Caganich and Valpredo combined to tell the odd story about Valpredo becoming the owner of White Heart.

George O’Bryan, better known as a jockeys’ agent, owned a mare, Isabelle’s Quillo, and sent her to Old English Rancho in Ontario, Calif., to be bred to Bolger.

Another stallion standing at the farm is Dimaggio, whom Valpredo named and raced almost 20 years ago.

“I saw Joe DiMaggio hit tremendous homer after tremendous homer in the Pacific Coast League and just had to name a horse after him,” Valpredo once said.

The equine Dimaggio had leg problems, just like the slugger. But he did win the Hollywood Juvenile in 1974 and earned more than $170,000.

By mistake, Isabelle’s Quillo was bred to Dimaggio, a near-black stallion who resembles Bolger. A blood-typing analysis confirmed that the Isabelle’s Quillo foal was sired by Dimaggio.

O’Bryan, expecting a Bolger offspring, wasn’t interested in the horse who became White Heart.

“I bought the horse for $6,000, just to keep them out of court,” Valpredo said.

Caganich majored in political science at USC.

“I’ve always liked the races,” she said. “When I was in college, I worked the races in around my classes.”

Her first contact with the race track was taking reservations in the Turf Club at Hollywood Park. She worked for Valpredo at his farm before her training career began.

“I didn’t bet on either horse,” Caganich said of the $94.80 payoffs. “I never bet on my horses. I saddle my horses, and then I get excited leaving the paddock and never make it to the windows.”

One thing almost certain about Del Mar: Paseana is going to race male horses in the season that opens there on July 29.

One thing not so sure about Del Mar: Best Pal running in the $1-million Pacific Classic.

“I think you can make a better case for Paseana running against the boys than you could for Bayakoa,” said Ron McAnally, the trainer of both Argentine-bred horses.

Bayakoa was voted the country’s best older filly or mare in 1989 and 1990, but as the favorite against males in the Santa Anita Handicap in 1990, she finished last in a 10-horse field. That summer, at 1-2, she was second to Quiet American in another open race, the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar.

“We ran her in the Big ‘Cap mainly because Santa Anita encouraged us to, and it was a mistake,” McAnally said.

Paseana, undefeated in five starts this year, is expected to make one more start at Hollywood Park, on July 19 in the Vanity Handicap, a race that Bayakoa won in 1989. She is a leading candidate for horse-of-the-year honors, what with Best Pal’s future iffy, the male handicap division lacking depth and the 3-year-olds unable to sort themselves out during the Triple Crown series.

McAnally is a veteran at orchestrating horse-of-the-year campaigns, having won national titles with John Henry in 1981 and 1984.

“I don’t think much of the older horses,” McAnally said. “It’s anybody’s year. That’s the reason we took a shot with Ibero (still another import from Argentina) in the Hollywood Gold Cup.”

Ibero was 24-1 and ran fifth on June 27 as another longshot, Sultry Song, won the Gold Cup.

The last female voted horse of the year was Lady’s Secret in 1986.

Best Pal was sailing along on a horse-of-the-year course going into May, having weathered a cracked hoof, but then he suffered his first defeat of the season, running fourth in the Pimlico Special, and he hasn’t run since then because of a splint-bone injury.

Trainer Gary Jones said Best Pal began walking the shedrow under tack this week. The race in which Jones would like him to run, the $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 30, was won by Best Pal last year.

“It will be tight getting him ready for that race, but we’re going to try,” Jones said. “But we can’t lose one day between now and then. If the slightest thing throws us off, he won’t make the race.”

Horse Racing Notes

Neither Paseana nor Best Pal is eligible for the Breeders’ Cup and their owners would have to pay six-figure penalties for them to run. Paseana and her sire were not nominated, which means it would cost $200,000 to run in the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Distaff and $600,000 in the $3-million Classic. Best Pal’s fee to run in the Classic would be $360,000.

Kent Desormeaux, who could have tied Laffit Pincay’s Southern California record of seven victories on one card when he won six times last Friday night at Hollywood Park, took off a winner, Tark the Shark, to ride another horse in the same race. Pincay rode seven winners on a program at Santa Anita in 1987. “Usually, I don’t look too far in advance when I’m riding,” Desormeaux said. “The day before (his six-victory night), I thought I might win four and I didn’t win any. The next night, I just came to ride them as they came up. That’s when they always run good. When you think you’re going to win, it’s like being 9-5 all the time. There’s pressure being 9-5. If you can act like you’re 20-1 when you’re 9-5, then you’ve got this game licked.”

A field of eight, headed by Sunday Sally, was entered Thursday in Saturday’s $100,000-added Landaluce Stakes. Sunday Sally will be ridden by Desormeaux and was assigned 119 pounds for the 48th running of the six-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies. Others entered were Zealous Connection, who will be ridden by Martin Pedroza and was assigned 116 pounds; Blue Moonlight, Alex Solis, 116 pounds; Medici Bells, Chris McCarron, 116 pounds; Dance For Vanny, Eddie Delahoussaye, 116 pounds; Irish Bloomin, Patrick Valenzuela, 116 pounds; Sweet Mama, Pincay, 116 pounds, and I’m An Issue, Corey Nakatani, 114 pounds. If all eight entries go to the post, the total purse will be $109,800 and the winner will earn $64,800.

Fly Till Dawn, among the 18 horses nominated to the $250,000-added Sunset Handicap on July 26, worked six furlongs on the turf in 1:14 4/5 handily on Thursday morning. . . . Trainer Lewis Cenicola nominated Silver Screen winner Natural Nine to the $200,000-added Swaps Stakes on July 25. . . . Vladimir Cerin, who nominated Treekster to the Swaps, said he is considering other options. One is the $500,000 Haskell Invitational. The 1 1/8-mile race is scheduled for Monmouth Park on Aug. 2