Big ‘Cap Produces Big Flap : Horse racing: The Wicked North is handed only the third disqualification in race’s history, giving longshot Stuka the victory.

While the three stewards tried to sort out Saturday’s $1-million Santa Anita Handicap, trainer Gary Jones stood on the track, waiting to see if his Stuka was going to earn $200,000 for running second or $550,000 for being moved up to first.

“They don’t (disqualify a horse) in this prestigious of a race,” Jones said. “This is like the Kentucky Derby. They never do anything in the Derby. I was back there with Fali Time (in 1984), and (Gate Dancer) had to almost knock my horse down before (the stewards) moved us up from fifth to fourth.”

Ten minutes after the 57th Big ‘Cap was over, Jones was happy to be wrong. He leaped in the air and let out a whoop when the numbers were changed on the tote board. After The Wicked North crossed the wire, a 1 1/2-length winner in 2:00 for the 1 1/4 miles, the stewards disqualified him for interfering with Myrakalu near the three-sixteenths pole. Stuka was given the victory and The Wicked North, the 9-5 favorite, was dropped to fourth place, behind Myrakalu, a 31-1 shot.

Bien Bien, the highweight at 120 pounds, finished 1 1/4 lengths behind Stuka and was moved up from third to second. Myrakalu, who missed third place by a nose, wound up with third place.

Some in the crowd of 34,138 booed Stuka, who paid $33.40, and jockey Chris Antley, and Mrs. Mark Kelly, who was in the winner’s-circle party of Allen Paulson, Stuka’s owner, was struck on the forehead by a cigarette lighter. Mike Willman, a broadcaster standing nearby, said he was struck in the back, probably by a ballpoint pen.

Less than an hour after the race, The Wicked North’s owner, Phil Hersh, and trainer David Bernstein filed a protest over the stewards’ decision with the California Horse Racing Board. A hearing will be scheduled within 30 days.

Stuka had nothing to do with the tight quarters that caused the disqualification. The 4-year-old colt, whose only previous stakes victory came in November of 1992, was clear of the trouble on the outside. Despite Kent Desormeaux’s left-handed whipping, The Wicked North came over in the path of Myrakalu, causing jockey Alex Solis to stand up in the irons. Hill Pass, the horse who had battled The Wicked North for the lead from the start, had already tired, and he was bumped by Myrakalu.

Because Myrakalu barely missed third place, the stewards were required by the rules of racing to make a change. “The rule says that if an incident ‘costs a horse a placing,’ then a change in the order of finish must be made,” steward Pete Pedersen said. “We were lucky there wasn’t an accident. It was only a matter of inches, but that’s what this game is all about. This was a unanimous decision, and we were satisfied that there was room for the gray horse (Myrakalu) to get through, and then that room disappeared. If The Wicked North had maintained a straight course, he would have been all right.”

Pedersen was also a steward in 1982, when John Henry and Perrault ran 1-2 in the Big ‘Cap and their positions were reversed because the winner drifted out in the stretch. And he was also a steward at Hollywood Park in 1984, the first year of the Breeders’ Cup, when Fran’s Valentine was disqualified in the $1-million Juvenile Fillies and Outstandingly received the victory. Before Saturday, that was the only disqualification in a $1-million race. The only other disqualification of a winner in the Big ‘Cap came in 1952, when Intent was moved down in favor of Miche.

Desormeaux, who would have earned 10% of the winning purse, stormed out of the winner’s circle when the disqualification was announced. “Those blind . . . cost me $50,000,” he said. “In all fairness, the only people who got shafted were the fans, because they picked the winner. When I go in to see the stewards (today), and before they try to give me (a suspension), I’m going to show them where the No. 1 horse (Hill Pass) was on the fence at the point of the elbow. When we straightened away turning for home, there’s a whole horse you could fit on the rail. I came in maybe three inches. I thought the No. 1 horse was responsible. The films obviously showed this to me later. I just hope Stuka and company don’t spend the money.”

Solis saw the incident differently: “There was a lot of room for me to go through between horses, and (The Wicked North) came over right in front of me and squeezed me really hard against the other horse. I mean, (The Wicked North) was about three off the rail, and when I saw that, I went right into the hole.”

Myrakalu was running for the first time on dirt. “It was a great effort,” trainer Wayne Lukas said. “I think I had a legitimate shot to win the race.”

This has been a tough winter for Hill Pass. He was disqualified to third place after finishing behind The Wicked North in the San Antonio Handicap three weeks ago. “I felt the shoulder of the gray horse (Myrakalu) hit my horse in the hip,” said Hill Pass’s jockey, Chris McCarron. “That kind of turned my horse out a little bit and knocked him off stride a little bit. Maybe that’s why he stopped. I can only guess.”

The owner and trainer of The Wicked North took the disqualification better than Desormeaux, who rode three winners Saturday, two of them for Gary Jones.

“My horse was in the clear,” Hersh said. “It was the inside horse who came out.”

Walking down the tunnel away from the track, Bernstein said: “I thought that my horse only came in a little. It was a tough call. I don’t envy the stewards. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in their place. I just hope there’s a race down the road where we get another chance.”

Horse Racing Notes

Fly’n J. Bryan is even money and Tabasco Cat is 7-5 on the morning line for today’s San Rafael Stakes. Flying Sensation is sore and has been scratched from the race. . . . Paseana is the 8-5 favorite for the Santa Margarita Handicap. . . . In another race Saturday, Strodes Creek won for the second time in three starts. . . . Saturday’s handle of $17.4 million was the second highest in Santa Anita history. The record of $36.2 million came on Breeders’ Cup day in November. A total of $8,202,350 was wagered on the Big ‘Cap, also a record.