Raintrap Adds to Frankel’s Grass Record

The season is ending just about the way it began for trainer Bobby Frankel, with more success over a Santa Anita grass course that’s received some of his harshest criticism.

His sixth grass stakes victory of the meet was provided by Raintrap in Sunday’s $400,000 San Juan Capistrano Handicap.

“It’s not the Kentucky Derby, but it’s got me very excited,” Frankel said. “This is a great race to win.”

The 57th Capistrano could have been the stage for another beat-the-males performance by favored Windsharp, who was trying to become only the third female to win the stake. But instead the 5-year-old mare finished second, one length behind Raintrap, an outcome that left trainer Wally Dollase walking off the track muttering displeasure with Eddie Delahoussaye’s ride.

Raintrap, who paid $11.40 as the fourth betting choice in a field of seven, was able to lope along on the lead under Alex Solis, and had enough left in his tank to withstand the late runs by Windsharp and Awad, who finished third, beaten by 1 1/2 lengths. The time for the distance of about 1 3/4 miles was 2:48 2/5. Raintrap, coming from France to win the Rothmans International at Woodbine in October of 1994, ran infrequently after that because of a variety of problems and didn’t win again until Frankel raced him with Lasix, the bleeders’ medication, in a minor stake six weeks ago. The Capistrano was only Raintrap’s eighth race in the last 18 months.

In fact, Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms had put out the for-sale sign on Raintrap, but when no one wanted to pay enough for the 6-year-old English-bred as a stallion prospect, Frankel kept training him. The British-bred son of Rainbow Quest and Suntrap, a Roberto mare, won for the ninth time in 21 starts and earned $240,000. He carried 115 pounds, one less than Windsharp and four less than the top-weighted Awad.

“The turf course has been better the last week,” Frankel said. “I think the rain helped it. This horse likes to run when there’s a little give to the ground, and he might not care for Hollywood Park’s grass course for that reason. I’m thinking of sending him back East after this.”

With no other speed in the race, Frankel told Solis to go to the front.

“I felt that if he was left alone on the lead, we had a chance,” Frankel said. “At the three-eighths pole, when we drew away, I felt pretty comfortable. He out-galloped them the rest of the way. I never felt that the distance was a problem.”

Frankel and Solis had won the San Juan Capistrano once before, the trainer with Mashkour in 1991 and the jockey with Dahar in 1986.

“The key to winning [Sunday’s] race was to keep the horse real relaxed,” Solis said. “So I came to the conclusion to drop my stirrups three holes down so they would be longer. I wanted to make him feel like he was galloping, and it really worked out good. No, I’d never done this before. Three holes down is very long for me, because I ride very short.”

The 87-day meet ends today with the San Simeon Handicap, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint down the hill. Frankel is running a pair--Expelled for Juddmonte and Lynda Ramsden’s Chilly Billy, who is the 2-1 favorite on the morning line even though he hasn’t been out in almost nine months.

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The $199,150 Lexington Stakes, run Sunday at Keeneland, was the last important race for contenders in the Kentucky Derby on May 4. City By Night, a longshot, beat Prince Of Thieves by a nose and may be Derby bound, while favored Roar, who couldn’t last after leading most of the way, may not be ready for the 1 1/4 miles at Churchill Downs. He was third, 1 1/2 lengths behind Prince Of Thieves.

Pat Day, riding Prince Of Thieves for the first time, was trapped behind Roar on the fence through the stretch, and by the time he switched him to the outside, they were a jump short of City By Night, who paid $36.60 to win at Keeneland and $27.20 off-track in California. The time for 1 1/16 miles was 1:42 1/5.

City By Night, ridden by Shane Sellers, had won two of 10 starts before Sunday and was winless in seven stakes races. One of his victories, on grass, had come via a disqualification when he was a 2-year-old. In his previous start, he was sixth, beaten by 11 lengths in the Louisiana Derby.

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Horse Racing Notes

Tucker Slender, the official starter at Santa Anita, is on the job for the finish of the season, but his son, Jay Slender, replaced him for five days in the aftermath of the whipping of Lit De Justice before the Potrero Grande Breeders’ Cup Handicap on April 6. In interviews with Santa Anita officials and Slender, it was unclear whether Slender had been suspended, but C.N. Ray, the owner of Lit De Justice, said recently that he was told by track management that Slender was going to be disciplined. “I feel very good about the way I handled a situation with a rogue horse,” Slender said. “I’ve gotten letters from starters in three other states telling me that I handled it the right way. I only hit that horse twice. I might have used the whip to get his attention, but it only struck him twice.” Lit De Justice, a stubborn horse who is loaded with a blindfold, finished fourth in the race.