SANTA ANITA : On Warm Day, Serena’s Song Remains Hot

Neither the 90-degree heat, nor pressure from other horses, nor bouncing off a fence kept Serena’s Song from her appointed rounds Sunday. This sleek, angular filly, sent off the 1-2 favorite, was first to the wire by 1 1/4 lengths in the $160,200 Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita, giving trainer Wayne Lukas the right to dream outlandish dreams about his talented group of 3-year-olds.

After the third consecutive victory for Serena’s Song, and the fourth in her last five starts, Lukas said that the $150,000 yearling has the running style and ability to compete with this year’s Kentucky Derby contenders, but he’ll keep the filly within her own division rather than run her against colts. Lukas also trains two of the Derby favorites--Timber Country, last year’s champion 2-year-old male, and Thunder Gulch, who won the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.

“We’re going for the (Kentucky Derby-Kentucky Oaks) double,” Lukas said. “They tell me it’s never been done (by a trainer in the same year). It’s damn tough to do. I know I’ve had a shot several times back there, but have never been able to pull it off.”

The Kentucky Oaks, for 3-year-old fillies, will be run May 5 at Churchill Downs, the day before the Derby. Lukas has won the Oaks four times in the last 13 years, but none of the victories came in 1988, when the filly Winning Colors gave him his only Derby victory.

Serena’s Song’s only loss during the current streak came when another Lukas horse, Flanders, beat her by a head in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs in November. Flanders, winner of the Eclipse Award in a unanimous vote, was injured in the race and has all but officially been retired. Owned by Bob and Beverly Lewis, Serena’s Song has won six of 12 starts, and Sunday’s $92,700 payday lifted her earnings to just short of $750,000.

For the one-mile Las Virgenes, the meet’s hottest filly was again paired with the season’s hottest jockey. Corey Nakatani, threatening to make a runaway of the jockeys’ race if the stewards don’t slow him down, used Serena’s Song for his fourth victory of the day. In the last seven racing days, Nakatani has won 20 races--Sunday’s quadruple, four triples and two doubles. Kent Desormeaux, despite three victories Sunday, lost ground to Nakatani and trails him, 59-43.

Because Nakatani was visiting his teen-aged nephew in the hospital Sunday morning, his meeting with the stewards over a Saturday disqualification was postponed until today, with a five-day suspension a possibility. Nakatani’s mount in the El Conejo Handicap, Lit De Justice, was dropped from second to sixth because of interference in the stretch.

Nakatani has been aboard Serena’s Song for her last five starts, winning the Oak Leaf at Santa Anita, the Starlet at Hollywood Park and the Santa Ynez and the Las Virgenes at the Arcadia track. Lukas pointed out that even though the Rahy-Imagining filly has been pressed by other horses, Nakatani has seldom gone to the whip.

“I don’t need to,” Nakatani said.

Breaking from the inside post in a seven-horse field Sunday, Serena’s Song never got very far away from Cat’s Cradle and Chris Antley going down the backside. At the three-eighths pole, Antley went on with his filly, crowding Serena’s Song into the rail.

“I lost two or three lengths when we hit the fence,” Nakatani said. “But this shows the class she has. I gathered her up after that, and she came right back running again. I was on a game filly, and so I just sat on her. I knew Antley was moving too soon.”

Cat’s Cradle, second to Serena’s Song for the second consecutive race, was a neck better than Urbane, who had missed by a nose against Serena’s Song in the Starlet. Serena’s Song finished the mile in 1:35 2/5, missing Lakeway’s stakes record by two-fifths of a second, and paid $3. Carrying 122 pounds, she spotted the others between four and eight pounds.

Seconds before the start, Antley dropped his whip in the gate and went down to retrieve it. “My little filly, she’s about half the size of Serena’s Song,” he said. “She tried her heart out the whole way. Serena’s Song was just too much for her.”

Lukas is expected to bring Serena’s Song back in the Santa Anita Oaks on March 12.

“For a 3-year-old, she’s probably as seasoned as any we’ve had,” Lukas said. “She thrives on racing. We’ve given her a little breather here and there, and it seems like she does better if we keep her in kind of a steady program. We’ve had that before. Lady’s Secret (horse of the year in 1986) went through a couple of years there where she seemed to do better, and this filly has that quality. She likes to get out and race and we’re not overdoing it.”

Horse Racing Notes

Wayne Lukas’ previous Las Virgenes winners were Althea in 1984 and Life at the Top in 1986. . . . “I still think Serena’s Song would have won the Breeders’ Cup,” Corey Nakatani said, “but she drew a real bad post (No. 12 in a 13-horse field).” . . . One of Nakatani’s other winners Sunday came aboard I’ma Game Master, for trainer Randy Bradshaw, in the $71,275 Debonaire Junior Stakes. The 4-year-old gelding, who started out in $32,000 claiming company, has won six of 10 starts and earned more than $160,000. He beat J.F. Williams by three-quarters of a length, with favored Subtle Trouble running third, beaten by less than a length. . . . Bradshaw, a former Lukas assistant, is considering the San Felipe on March 19 for his undefeated Petionville, winner of the Gold Rush Stakes at Golden Gate Fields Saturday.

Lukas isn’t sure that he’ll leave Thunder Gulch at Gulfstream for the Florida Derby on March 11. . . . Trainer Bobby Frankel, who had started only a handful of horses at the meet, saddled three winners Sunday. . . .

Silver Wizard, second by a length to River Flyer in the San Marcos Handicap, is the 2-1 favorite today on the holiday card that features the San Luis Obispo Handicap. . . . Also on the betting menu, from Laurel, is the $200,000 General George Handicap. Powis Castle, winner of the Malibu on opening day at Santa Anita, is the 2-1 favorite.