SANTA ANITA : Cat’s Cradle Is in Form--Last to First (by 14)

Given that Cat’s Cradle had finished a badly beaten last in her previous start, the California Cup Juvenile Fillies, she was almost a cinch to win the $109,250 California Breeders’ Champion Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.

The 3-year-old Flying Paster filly’s history is to follow a bad race with a good one--and she didn’t deviate in her first appearance of 1995.

Relishing the sloppy going, the 9-5 favorite rolled home 14 length in front of Sound Wisdom for her fourth victory in seven starts.

Ridden by Chris Antley and trained by David Hofmans for owner Georgia Ridder, Cat’s Cradle shook off 3-1 third choice Lisa Mac before a half-mile had been run and went on to win in 1:24 2/5 for the seven furlongs.

“She loved (the track),” said Antley, who lost his whip at the start. “David told me the day she worked with a bunch of horses on an off-track, she was the one who handled the sloppy going.

“I don’t know what happened to her in the Cal Cup (on Oct. 29), but she threw in one poor race for me at Del Mar. David wasn’t specific, but he must have found something. She ran. I mean, she really ran today.”

The Marty and Pam Wygod duo of Sound Wisdom and Grant Maker finished 2-3; then came 3-1 second choice Venetian Peach, Tabled With Saros, Lisa Mac and Danny’s Sister. The third member of the Wygod entry, and the most highly regarded of the three fillies, Magic Fantasy, was scratched earlier in the day.

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The much-maligned Santa Anita turf course will be replaced in two phases as soon as the current meeting ends on April 24.

Knocked by horsemen and jockeys because of its high sand content, which many horses are unable to handle, the course is expected to be finished in time for the Oak Tree meeting, starting in early October. The second stage of the replacement will be done on the hillside part of the course in the spring of 1996.

“We will use a soil mixture with less sand,” Santa Anita President Cliff Goodrich said. “It will provide a more stable running surface and produce significantly less sand throw.

“This may result in more days when races will have to be transferred to the main track or not carded during rainy periods, but the horsemen have let us know that the type of racing surface is the more important issue.”

The cost of replacing it and growing new grass on the oval section of the course is estimated to be more than $1.5 million.

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Cardmania, winless in three starts since winning the San Carlos Handicap last year, is the 5-2 favorite to retain his title today in the $150,000 seven-furlong race.

Finder’s Fortune was scratched Saturday from the field of 10, and because of the rain, there could be other horses dropping out of the Grade II sprint. Kingdom Found will probably be scratched because trainer Gary Jones said this week that the 5-year-old isn’t fond of the mud.

Cardmania, winner of the 1993 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, one of his three victories the past two years, has shown an affinity for off tracks--he won the 1992 Potrero Grande in wet going at Santa Anita. Eddie Delahoussaye will again ride the 9-year-old gelding.

The rest of the field: Malibu Stakes winner Powis Castle, D’hallevant, Softshoe Sure Shot, Letthebighossroll, Concept Win, Subtle Trouble and Polar Route.

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Because of a horse shortage caused by continuing bad weather, Bay Meadows will not have racing Wednesday, so Santa Anita will offer simulcast betting on eight races from Gulfstream Park in Florida.

Santa Anita will show races 4-11 from Gulfstream, with post time for the first race at 11:19 a.m. Santa Anita’s first post will be 12:30 p.m.

Bay Meadows, which will be open for simulcasts from Santa Anita and Gulfstream, is scheduled to resume racing Thursday. Its meeting winds up Jan. 16. The lack of horses is evident on today’s card there, with only 51 entered in the nine races.

Horse Racing Notes

Strodes Creek, who will start in next Saturday’s San Fernando Stakes, worked a mile in 1:43 2/5 before Friday’s first race. He ran with the 3-year-old A.J. Jett, who is nominated to the El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows on the same day. . . . Eddie Delahoussaye was off his mounts again Saturday because of illness. . . . There were four correct tickets in the National Best Seven Saturday, each worth $19,213.80. The total handle was the smallest, $75,387, since the bet started on May 31.