SANTA ANITA : Frequent Flier Red Bishop Runs 1 3/4 Miles to the Winner’s Circle

Home is anywhere the races are for Red Bishop, who added to his international accomplishments Sunday when he beat Special Price by a head in the $400,000 San Juan Capistrano Handicap at Santa Anita while the 7-10 favorite, Sandpit, was running fourth.

Red Bishop, a 7-year-old Kentucky-bred who races for Sheik Mohammed, the minister of defense of the United Arab Emirates, has a passport that’s stamped all over. He had run only once in the United States before Sunday--finishing second at Aqueduct in November--and arrived for the Capistrano a week ago, after a 26-hour trip from Dubai that included a stop in Amsterdam.

The Capistrano was Red Bishop’s 10th victory in 27 starts, the others coming in Dubai, England, France and most recently Hong Kong, where in December he won a $510,000 race by almost three lengths over Urgent Request, who arrived in California last month and won the $1-million Santa Anita Handicap.

“When I saw that he had beaten Urgent Request over there, I expected a lot of him,” said Richard Mandella, who saddled Sandpit. Mandella’s 6-year-old was undefeated in his last four U.S. starts, losing only in the Japan Cup since starting the stateside streak last September at Del Mar.

Sandpit was in a perfect spot for the race of about 1 3/4 miles, sitting just off the front-running Square Cut for the first 1 1/4 miles. Sandpit and Corey Nakatani went to the lead at the top of the stretch, but the distance was too imposing. Red Bishop, in third place early, made the lead in mid-stretch, then dawdled as he has sometimes done, giving Special Price, at 13-1, the chance to make a serious run at him.

Mike Smith, who has led North America in purses the last two years, was aboard Red Bishop for the first time. Sheik Mohammed’s racing manager, Simon Crisford, said the New York-based Smith was hired because they weren’t sure about the availability of the California jockeys. Smith had ridden in an international jockey competition in Dubai two years ago.

Red Bishop, trained by Saeed bin Suroor, was able to run Sunday because the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture recently gave its approval for horses to ship from the United Arab Emirates. Red Bishop, a son of Silver Hawk and La Rouquine, was bought as a yearling in Kentucky for $100,000 before he began his globe- trotting. Sunday’s $220,000 victory increased his earnings to more than $1.2 million. His time was 2:48, three seconds slower than the stakes record, and he paid $7.20 to win as the second choice, becoming one of the oldest winners of the San Juan Capistrano, which was first run in 1935. The only older horses to win have been a pair of 8-year-olds, Niarkos in 1968 and Mashkour in 1991.

Special Price, a French import ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye, made a solid U.S. debut, finishing a length ahead of Liyoun, the third-place horse. Next in the field of eight came Sandpit, who was beaten by about three lengths.

Sandpit had won twice at Santa Anita while going 1 1/2 miles, in the Oak Tree Invitational last fall and in the San Luis Rey last month. He carried 122 pounds Sunday, three more than Red Bishop, but both Mandella and Nakatani attributed the loss to the extra distance.

“He should have been able to carry the weight going that far, but he got a little tired,” said Nakatani, thwarted in his bid for an eighth Grade I victory at the meet.

The beginning and the end of the San Juan were hairy for Smith. “He was very tough to load,” the jockey said. “I guess he was feeling his oats, and there wasn’t a lot of room back there to get him in the gate. I stayed busy with him down the stretch, because he has a tendency to pull up when he makes the lead. I saw Eddie D. coming and I said, ‘Come on, wire.’ ”

Speaking in French, Namour Habib, the owner of Special Price, told Delahoussaye before the race that his gelding had an eighth-of-a-mile run.

“It turned out that this horse had a good quarter-of-a-mile run,” Delahoussaye said. “I could have moved him out on the turn and started getting better position. He (Habib) is a very nice man and he apologized to me afterward. I said, ‘Well, we both learned something.’ I did have some traffic problems, and if we had moved earlier, I probably could have moved him around. If I’d have gone with him and had the momentum, I probably would have caught the other horse in a jump or two.”

Sheik Mohammed recently sent a large draft of horses to New York, where they’ll be trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, a former assistant to Wayne Lukas. One of the horses, Treasurer, was nominated for the Triple Crown series, but Crisford said Sunday that the colt wouldn’t have enough time to prepare for those races.

Red Bishop will hit the road again. He’s to be shipped to England, for a summer campaign.

Horse Racing Notes

Frenchpark, scratched from the San Juan Capistrano, is 7-2 on the morning line for today’s San Jacinto Handicap, the feature on the meet’s final program. The 9-5 favorite in a four-horse field is Regal Rowdy.