SANTA ANITA : With Three Derby Candidates, Jones Might Make Real History

The only time trainer Gary Jones ran a horse in the Kentucky Derby, it was history in the making. Sort of.

Fali Time, winner of the Norfolk at Santa Anita and the Hollywood Futurity as a 2-year-old, was 18-1 at Churchill Downs in 1984 when he was blindsided by Gate Dancer in the stretch.

In the 109 previous runnings of the Derby, stewards had never disqualified a horse, but Gate Dancer’s foul was so flagrant that the three judges dropped him from fourth to fifth place and moved Jones’ colt from fifth to fourth.

Gate Dancer went on to win the Preakness two weeks later, but brought himself further infamy, getting disqualified after running second in the $3-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Hollywood Park at the end of the year.

Fali Time never won another race, running in only three before he died of a perforated colon about a year later. But nine years after Fali Time’s ill-fated Derby, Jones is sitting on three candidates for this year’s race on May 1.

“I’ve never had this many good 3-year-olds at one time before,” Jones said. “But then, I’ve never trained for guys like (Allen) Paulson and (John) Mabee before, either.”

The Paulson prospects in Jones’ barn at Hollywood Park are Stuka and Yappy. Mabee and his wife, Betty, own Art Of Living. Both ownerships have other Derby hopefuls with other trainers. The Mabees’ highly regarded River Special is in the care of Bob Hess Jr.; Paulson’s Corby, winner of a race Wednesday at Santa Anita, is the responsibility of John Sadler, and Paulson’s filly, Eliza, is being handled by Alex Hassinger.

This overlap necessitates thoughtful scheduling by all of the trainers. Jones has penciled in three different races for his colts: The San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 27 is expected to be Stuka’s next race; Art Of Living is being prepared for the San Felipe on March 14, and Yappy is being groomed for the Sausalito at Golden Gate Fields on March 7.

Running Stuka in the San Rafael will result in a rematch with River Special, who ran from the field in the Hollywood Futurity and won by five lengths, with Stuka finishing second. River Special had a decided edge in seasoning before the Futurity, having run five times. He won two stakes in California and run a solid third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Gulfstream Park. The Hollywood Park race was Stuka’s third start and his first around two turns.

Stuka is a hot-blooded horse who on several occasions had Jones considering having him gelded.

The languid Art Of Living was as inexperienced as Stuka, with only two starts, before he won the Santa Catalina at Santa Anita on Jan. 27. To keep Art Of Living interested, Gary Stevens hit him nine times with the whip through the stretch. Art Of Living is a son of Alydar, who before his death in 1990 sired Alysheba and Strike The Gold, both Derby winners.

The same November day that Stuka made his stakes debut, winning the Hollywood Prevue Breeders’ Cup, Yappy was at Bay Meadows, winning a minor stake for his third consecutive victory. The next time out, on an off track in the San Miguel at Santa Anita on Jan. 2, Yappy was fifth, beaten by 15 lengths. Denmars Dream, the horse that won the San Miguel, faced Yappy again last Sunday in the San Vicente Breeders’ Cup, and on a fast track Jones’ colt won by a head. Trainer Ian Jory reported later that Denmars Dream had bled in the race.

“Since we made up 15 lengths on the other horse, I’d have to think that my horse just didn’t like the track in the previous race,” Jones said.

Jones has a two-race schedule in mind for Yappy, the Sausalito and the California Derby, another Golden Gate race, which will be run April 10.

“He should like the track up there,” Jones said. “And not only that, those two races are worth $350,000.”

Jones prefers to train his horses at Hollywood Park and take them by van to Santa Anita to run, and he has a special reason to keep Yappy there.

“He’s been bothered with allergies,” Jones said. “You’ve got to watch him because he’s gotten a lot of mucous in his throat. The barns at Hollywood Park seem to have better ventilation, which is what he needs for this condition.”

Yappy’s first five races have been at Del Mar, where he broke his maiden running for a $50,000 claiming tag last summer; at Santa Anita and at Bay Meadows. If his next two starts are as good as the last one, he’ll go to the Kentucky Derby off an unusual program. He will have run races over all the California tracks except the one that he regularly trains on.

Horse Racing Notes

Likeable Style, two-length winner of the Santa Ysabel Stakes last month, faces a tough task Saturday in the $150,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita. Included in the field is Creaking Board, winner of the Hollywood Starlet, and other stakes winners. The lineup for the one-mile race, starting on the inside: Incindress, Danny Sorenson riding, 117 pounds; Blue Moonlight, Eddie Delahoussaye, 117; Creaking Board, Kent Desormeaux, 123; Passing Vice, David Flores, 119; Likeable Style, Gary Stevens, 117; and Booklore, Corey Black, 117.. . .Stevens rode the Gary Jones-trained Battle Quest to victory in Thursday’s Estrapade Stakes, giving the 4-year-old filly from France her second consecutive victory in the United States.