Either Way, She Saddles the Winner

Trainer Jenine Sahadi’s horses ran 1-2 Monday in the $212,100 San Luis Obispo Handicap, but the winner at Santa Anita was the longshot Shanawi, not Rainbow Dancer, who finished half a length short as the 7-5 favorite.

Rainbow Dancer might have had the better credentials but Shanawi had the stamina that was needed to hold off his stablemate. Ridden by Brice Blanc, who scored the biggest victory of his career, Shanawi paid $26 to win and earned $132,100.

Because they run for different owners, Shanawi and Rainbow Dancer were not coupled in the betting. Shanawi, bred in Ireland by the Aga Khan, won for only the fourth time in 20 starts and scored his first stakes win in the U.S. He scored his only other stakes victory in France in August of 1995, his last start before Mike Sloan, an attorney for the Circus Circus hotel-casino, and Elias Ghanem, a Las Vegas physician, bought him in a private sale.

Shanawi was one of the reasons that only five winning tickets, each worth more than $270,905.20, were cashed on the pick six. A $500,000 carry-over, a clock giveaway and holiday racing brought 34,908 to Santa Anita, giving the track its second-largest crowd of the season.

There was a stewards’ inquiry before Shanawi’s victory was allowed to stand. Shanawi moved over on Rainbow Dancer just before the wire, but the three stewards ruled that the move had not affected the outcome.

Shanawi was timed in 2:24 2/5. The 5-year-old carried 111 pounds, six less than Rainbow Dancer and Bon Point, who led at the quarter pole before finishing third, beaten by less than a length.

Four other California jockeys had ridden Shanawi before Blanc got his chance a month ago. Blanc and Shanawi finished fourth that day as Sandpit won the San Marcos Handicap.

“Brice did a good job, so I used him again,” Sahadi said. “This is a legitimate mile-and-a-half horse, and he got to run a distance that suits him. He runs at a gallop early, then makes one move. I was worried a little about bringing him back too soon after the last race.”

A sunny day turned nasty just before the San Luis Obispo, with wind and rain hitting the track and the temperature dropping. Rainbow Dancer, who hadn’t run since Dec. 1 in France, was on edge in the paddock.

“He stepped on a paper cup and started pulling some antics,” Sahadi said. “But I was thrilled with the way he ran. He was tired at the end, but I’m sure he got something out of it.”

Gary Stevens, who already had won four races on the card, rode Rainbow Dancer and also finished second in the day’s last race.

“[Rainbow Dancer] really came up empty the last eighth of a mile, which we figured,” Stevens said. “Going this distance was a tough task. He ran the last eighth on class alone.”

The French-born Blanc, who recently turned 24, won his first stake in California in October of 1995.

“This horse finished good in the San Marcos, even though he had some traffic problems,” Blanc said. “I knew that going a little bit longer would be a lot better.”

Horse Racing Notes

Alex Solis missed six mounts Monday because of a sore thumb, but he was on hand between races to accept his trophy as the 48th winner of the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. “I thank God for blessing me,” said Solis, who was wearing the silks of Snow Chief, the colt that gave him several major victories in 1987-88, among them the Preakness and Santa Anita Derby.

Solis especially thanked former rider Fernando Toro, who was his closest friend in the jockeys’ room. Toro, who won the Woolf award in 1975, was one of 16 previous winners who attended the ceremony. “I’ve known Alex since he came to California [in 1985] to ride,” Toro said. “Our families also got along very well. He has four kids now, but he only had two then, and they got along great with the four I had. I always wondered why Alex didn’t win this award sooner, but now that he has, I’m very happy for him.”

The winner of the Woolf award, named after the Hall of Fame jockey who died of injuries suffered in a race at Santa Anita in 1946, is determined by a vote of the riders who are members of the Jockeys’ Guild. . . . Solis said that he expects to be resume riding Thursday, the next racing day at Santa Anita. . . .

The blackout of California races at Nevada racebooks could result in Caesars Palace dropping the sponsorship of a $700,000 grass race this summer at Hollywood Park. “It’s still up in the air,” said Rich Rose, a spokesman for Caesars. “But it would be difficult to go ahead with the race if we’re not able to show it at our racebook.”