For California, Horses, Almost Awesome Derby

Five days after trainer Wayne Lukas continued his remarkable Triple Crown roll, some afterthoughts on the 122nd Kentucky Derby:

--Anybody who listened to that fellow from New York tell the ESPN audience hours before the race to throw out the California horses “as usual,” didn’t come close in the superfecta. The first four finishers were all stabled at Santa Anita at the start of 1996 and made at least one start there.

--For a race that really didn’t have anyone licking his chops in anticipation, it was the best Derby in recent memory and only the third time in the last 20 runnings that the horse in front at the eighth pole didn’t win.

--The Derby meant back-to-back heartbreaks for Chris McCarron. In McCarron’s previous race, Petit Poucet looked like a winner in the Early Times Turf Classic, only to be beaten by Mecke. Then came Grindstone to edge Cavonnier.

What probably cost Cavonnier the win was being inadvertently hit in the face early in the stretch by the whip of Craig Perret, the rider of fourth-place finisher Halo Sunshine.

--Alyrob, who never really got involved Saturday, is back in his stall at Wally Dollase’s barn at Hollywood Park. He’ll make his next start in the Belmont Stakes or the Cinema Handicap on turf at Hollypark on June 8. The son of Alysheba figures to move up on the grass, and he also looks as if he’ll get better with age. Perhaps it was unfair to think he could win the Derby, given his lack of seasoning.

Grindstone also didn’t have much seasoning, but at least he had shipped a couple of times before and had run in two other derbies.

--Trainer Nick Zito was baffled by the performance of Louis Quatorze, who finished 16th. “Why he didn’t run at all is a complete mystery,” he said. The answer is simple: The colt isn’t very good.

--Sonny Hine and his wife made a lot of noise last week, after their Skip Away drew Post 17, about how the Derby field contained a lot of horses who didn’t belong. Then, Skip Away went out and ran like a horse that had no business in the race. There was no easy trip over a wet track--as in the Blue Grass--this time. Hine used the universal excuse afterward. He said his colt didn’t handle the track.

--It was surprising to hear Matty G was returning to California. Given the incredible stamina he showed Saturday, it was thought he might go on and try the Indianapolis 500.

--A suggestion to Hollywood Park management for next year: Run in the afternoon the day before the Kentucky Derby. It was a bit much for everyone involved to be at the track until past 11 p.m. on Friday, then, if you wanted to see the first simulcast from Churchill Downs, be back at about 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

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Horse Racing Notes

Fastness, who ran second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile last year and who finished his year with a record-setting performance in the Citation Handicap, is considered a probable starter for Sunday’s $125,000 Inglewood Handicap. Trainer Jenine Sahadi has named Corey Nakatani to ride the 6-year-old, which means Gary Stevens will stay with the streaking Tychonic. . . . Rhythninjava remained unbeaten in three starts at Hollywood Park with a 7-1 upset in the $71,200 Hollywood Wildcat Stakes on Wednesday. Ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye for trainer L.D. Francis and owner Warren Williamson, the 4-year-old Java Gold filly led every step of the way and completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:41 4/5. Real Connection, the 7-5 favorite, rallied for second. . . . There is a Pick Six carryover of nearly $82,000 for today.

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Triple Crown Ratings

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No. Horse Starts 1 2 3 Earnings 1. Grindstone 6 3 2 0 $1,224,510 2. Cavonnier 14 6 3 2 1,104,157 3. Unbridled’s Song 8 4 2 0 1,223,000 4. Prince Of Thieves 7 2 1 1 237,080 5. Editor’s Note 15 3 4 2 455,534 6. Skip Away 11 3 3 2 587,360 7. Halo Sunshine 9 2 2 3 287,525 8. Roar 10 4 1 3 475,385 9. Alyrob 6 2 0 1 53,000 10. Diligence 9 4 2 0 235,900

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Advisory panel for The Times’ Triple Crown Ratings: Racing historian Jim Bolus; Tom Durkin, track announcer in New York and Florida; and Chris Lincoln, racing telecaster for ESPN.