Sharp Cat Will Show Colts Claws in Santa Anita Derby

Winning Colors, Wayne Lukas said, was like Babe Didrikson Zaharias in racing plates. Sharp Cat is more like Elle Macpherson.

“Sharp Cat reminds you of somebody tall and willowy, like a model on a runway,” Lukas said. “She’s like a 6-footer, long and lean, with a good walk.”

Trained by Lukas, tomboy Winning Colors in 1988 became the third filly to win the Santa Anita Derby. A month later, she became the third filly to win the Kentucky Derby.

Lukas hopes Sharp Cat will follow the same path, the first step coming Saturday when she runs against nine colts in the 60th Santa Anita Derby.

“When you try to catch lightning in a bottle, it usually turns out negative,” Lukas said. “But all the reasons for running a filly against colts are in place for this filly. You add them all up and it’s worth the risk to put her in this race.”

Lukas, who has trained the last two Kentucky Derby winners and seven of the last eight Triple Crown race winners, nominated 22 colts for this year’s Triple Crown, but four weeks before the May 3 Derby at Churchill Downs is down to three prospects. Sharp Cat is easily the best of those.

Running against her own sex, she has won seven of 10 starts and earned almost $800,000. At Santa Anita this winter, she has toyed with the other fillies, winning three races by a total of 25 lengths.

Sharp Cat has never run Saturday’s distance of 1 1/8 miles, but then neither have all but one of the colts she’s facing. Sharp Cat’s jockey, Corey Nakatani, who has ridden her in four of the victories, says that even the Kentucky Derby distance, which is an eighth of a mile farther, shouldn’t be an obstacle.

“She’s got tactical speed, which is really good,” Nakatani said. “I really think she can go a mile and a quarter, and I don’t think she’ll be intimidated by colts. I do know that she really dominates.”

Sharp Cat has scored all of her victories by running out front or closely stalking the leaders. There will be no courtesies extended because of gender Saturday. The attitude of Bob Baffert, the trainer of Silver Charm, is typical.

“We’ve got to put pressure on the mare,” he said. “We’re not going to let her run by herself. If nobody wants to run with her early, then we’ll have to. We’ll go toe to toe with her if that’s what’s needed. Then if we’re still locked up with her in the stretch, we’ll see who’s made of what. Maybe our strategy ought to be forcing Nakatani to go for the whip.”

The last time Nakatani struck Sharp Cat with his stick, in the Las Virgenes Stakes on Feb. 15, Lukas’ filly didn’t appreciate it. She ducked to the outside, and Nakatani temporarily lost his right stirrup before they reached the wire, a comfortable 5 1/2 lengths in front. In the Santa Anita Oaks, on March 9, Nakatani hand-rode Sharp Cat to another 5 1/2-length victory.

Sharp Cat, who was bred by John Franks, a four-time winner of the Eclipse owner-of-the-year award, is a daughter of Storm Cat and In Neon, an enormous mare who earned more than $100,000 on the track. Storm Cat, whose career was curtailed by injury after he was nosed out by Tasso in the 1985 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, is a son of Terlingua, the brilliant filly who ran in the 1979 Santa Anita Derby, the first year Lukas participated in the race.

Terlingua, the first filly to run in the Santa Anita Derby in 17 years, was a factor early before finishing fifth, beaten by seven lengths by Flying Paster. Lukas, a newcomer to thoroughbreds after having switched over from quarter horses, now says that he erred in throwing Terlingua into the Santa Anita Derby. Another of his fillies, Life’s Magic, finished fifth in the 1984 running.

“It takes an exceptional filly to run against colts,” Lukas said. “A filly has to be doing well going into the race, and she has to have a running style that puts her close to the pace. You can’t beat colts with a filly by coming from out of left field. Then you need to evaluate the group of horses that you’re trying to beat. At Saturday’s distance, I think Sharp Cat is as good as anybody in her class.”

After Saturday, Lukas will not have to drag Sharp Cat’s owner, Prince Ahmed bin Salman, to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. The 38-year-old Salman, a member of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia, has never started a horse in the Derby and is said to be passionate about getting there this year.

Richard Mulhall, the former trainer who is the prince’s racing manager, paid $900,000--a record for an unraced 2-year-old filly--when he bought Sharp Cat for the prince a year ago. The filly had already been sold at auction twice before that, for $82,000 and $205,000. Mulhall said that he would have bid more if necessary to acquire Sharp Cat.

“She doesn’t have to win Saturday to go on to Kentucky,” Lukas said. “I’d say that if she finished first, second or third, the Kentucky Derby would be a good option. The three of us will all get involved in that decision. But I know how the prince feels about the Derby. All the votes won’t carry equal weight when it comes down to that decision.”

Horse Racing Notes

Wayne Lukas said that Robert Copelan, a Kentucky veterinarian, will evaluate Boston Harbor in about four months and determine whether the colt returns to racing or is sent to stud. Boston Harbor, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the champion 2-year-old male in 1996, was preparing for the San Rafael Stakes when he broke down at Santa Anita and underwent surgery on his left foreleg on Feb. 24.

“The truth is that the only way you make money in this game is by selling and breeding horses, not by racing them,” Lukas said. “Thunder Gulch [his Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner in 1995] could have come back after he was injured, but it was an economic decision. Look at Grindstone [last year’s Derby winner, retired less than a week after the race]. When you think about breeding him to 80 mares at [$20,000] a pop, and you look at a 4% premium on insurance if you want to keep him racing, it’s not a very tough decision about which way to go.” . . .

Pat Valenzuela’s application for a jockey license has been denied by the California Horse Racing Board. Valenzuela, who hasn’t ridden since October, is expected to appeal and request a hearing. . . .

P.T. Indy has been added to the Santa Anita Derby field. Others expected to run are Sharp Cat, Free House, Bagshot, Silver Charm, Hello, Classic Credential, Effect, Steel Ruhlr and Swiss Yodeler.

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Santa Anita Derby

How the 20 fillies have done in the Santa Anita Derby:

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Year Horse, Place 1993 Eliza, 3rd 1988 Winning Colors, 1st 1984 Life’s Magic, 5th 1979 Terlingua, 5th 1962 Lincoln Center, 13th 1961 Fun House, 14th 1960 Darling June, 8th 1959 Silver Spoon, 1st 1951 Nothirdchance, 8th; Greek Pass, 11th 1947 Hubble Bubble, 8th 1946 Honeymoon, 3rd 1945 Busher, 2nd 1939 Ciencia, 1st; Sweet Nancy, 6th 1937 Brown Jade, 4th 1936 Gold Seeker, 3rd 1935 Panfouflet, 4th; Ann O’Ruley, 7th; Toro Nancy, 10th

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