Different Wins Beverly Hills

For Sid Craig, the difference between Different and Paseana is $230,000. Craig paid $320,000 for Paseana and $550,000 for Different, and that’s good for the balance of trade between Argentina and the United States as well as Craig’s ambitious racing stable.

Different has run only twice for Craig and his wife, Jenny, but they say the 4-year-old filly is more advanced than Paseana, who earned $3.1 million and won two Eclipse Awards before retiring in 1995.

After making her U.S. debut with an allowance victory last month, Different came back Sunday and won the $273,000 Beverly Hills Handicap by 1 3/4 lengths, giving his connections--the Craigs, trainer Ron McAnally and jockey Chris McCarron--a victory in the grass stake for the second consecutive year.

Last year, Alpride, an Irish-bred, won the Beverly Hills.

“This filly [Different] has me very excited,” Sid Craig said. “I think she’s better than Paseana was when we first got her. This filly seems to be much more versatile than Paseana.”

Last December, when McAnally went over tapes of Different’s South American races, versatility was the word he used in recommending the purchase to the Craigs.

“This filly can run on grass, dirt, in the mud, going short and going long,” McAnally said Sunday. “We went from a mile and a sixteenth on the dirt to a mile and a quarter on grass, but her workouts indicated that she was going to be able to do that.”

The Beverly Hills hasn’t been kind to favorites--the public choice hasn’t won since 1989--and this time it was Auriette’s turn to fall, at 7-5. She was close to the pace for a mile, but finished seventh in the eight-horse field.

Bail Out Becky, trainer Bill Mott’s invader from Churchill Downs, finished second, 2 1/2 lengths in front of Flagbird. Different, carrying 117 pounds, four less than Auriette, was timed in 2:00 3/5 and paid $8.80 as the second choice.

In Argentina, Different had won five and finished second once in six races, once winning at 1 3/8 miles on dirt by 10 lengths.

McCarron has won the Beverly Hills five times, four in the last five years.

“She’s kind of got an ugly way of going, but she goes fast,” McCarron said of Different. “She’s all race horse. I’ve worked her on both grass and dirt, and she works equally well on either surface.”

Different raced behind Grafin and Auriette early and was able to get through inside of Auriette when McCarron made his move.

“I only wanted her to sprint home from the quarter pole,” McCarron said, “so I slowed her down when I got to the turn. Then when we straightened out, we took off again. And she did take off.”

Horse Racing Notes

Auriette gave the Marty Jones barn no cause to celebrate, but at least Jones’ Gastronomical, clicking for the first time on grass, was a 3 1/2-length winner in the $66,300 Hidden Light, another stake on the Hollywood Park card. . . . Different has earned $194,050 in her two Hollywood Park races, $163,800 of it Sunday. . . . The stewards handed Chris Antley a five-day suspension, starting Friday, for causing interference in the second race on Friday night.