Santa Anita’s Seventh Not All It’s Advertised

No running time was posted for the seventh race Wednesday at Santa Anita, because the starting gate was positioned in the wrong place, resulting in the horses running a few yards less than a mile.

The stewards ruled that all of the horses had the same chance to win. They permitted the result to stand and ordered that the purse money of $42,000 be distributed and betting payoffs be made.

Marvelous Wonder, the second choice in the betting, paid $7.20 for $2 after beating favored Queen High by two lengths.

Thoroughbreds race from a running start, with the clock not starting until they reach the starting pole. The run up to the mile pole for a grass race at Santa Anita is from 67 to 161 feet, depending on the position of the inside rail.

“Because of where the gate was,” steward Tom Ward said, “the run to the pole was eliminated, and the horses also ran about three or four yards less than a mile.”

Ward said that he had received no complaints from the trainers who had horses in the race.

In feature races at Santa Anita on Wednesday, Moscow Changes, after a maiden victory at Del Mar and seconds at Del Mar and Bay Meadows, won the Desert Wine Sales Stake; and Madame L’Enjoleur, third in the Oak Leaf on Oct. 10, was the winner of the Very Subtle Sales Stakes. Madame L’Enjoleur was the first of jockey Eddie Delahoussaye’s three winners on the card.