Surachai Again Hits Paydirt in Dayjur

Trainer Randy Bradshaw talks about his 5-year-old sprinter, Surachai, as if the horse is ready for the Super Bowl.

“He’s like a fullback,” Bradshaw said. “You give him the ball and you know he’s going to get some yardage for you.”

Surachai gave Bradshaw all the real estate he needed on Monday--5 1/2 furlongs on turf--and won the $84,990 Dayjur Handicap on the final day of Hollywood Park’s 31-day fall-winter meet.

The Dayjur is named after the horse who was voted horse of the year in England, but jumped a shadow at Belmont Park and lost the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Sprint by a neck to Safely Kept.

The last few jumps made the difference Monday as Surachai, who was last on the turn, overtook longshot Try Jory and won by two lengths over Destiny’s Venture, who also put in a late run.

The win, worth $53,350 to Surachai’s owners and breeders, Edmond and Sharon Hudon, hiked the horse’s total to $657,061.

The California-bred son of Slewpy and Corvettin has posted seven wins, nine seconds and six thirds in 25 starts. He won the Dayjur by two lengths last year, and this time he went off favored and paid $3.80 for $2. Surachai, clocked in 1:02 3/5, carried high weight of 120 pounds, three more than Destiny’s Venture.

At the five-sixteenths pole, Surachai gave jockey Alex Solis pause.

“He stumbled about three or four times,” Solis said. “So I had to wait a little longer before I asked him to run. He tries hard. When I got him in the clear, he finished strong.”

The win was Solis’ 22nd of the meet but he finished second in the jockey standings to Garrett Gomez, who won twice Monday and finished with 24 wins. Eddie Delahoussaye won 21 races.

This was Gomez’s second meet title, and his first in California, where he began riding a year ago. Gomez rode Destiny’s Venture in the Dayjur.

The training title was shared by Neil Drysdale and Paul Aguirre, who finished with 10 wins each, Aguirre saddling one winner Monday.

Drysdale is finishing up a banner year, having won 28 stakes. With $6.3 million, the Drysdale outfit ranks fourth on the national purse list.

The Hollywood meet was marred by cold, wet weather, with on-track attendance--an average of 7,443 fans a day--about the same as last year. But overall betting averaged $9.1 million, up about 4.5% from last year and a record for the meet. For purposes of comparison, last year’s statistics don’t count the Breeders’ Cup, which was run at Hollywood.

“It was a big challenge following a Breeders’ Cup year, but we were pleased,” said R.D. Hubbard, Hollywood’s board chairman. “I think we’ve established ourselves as the players’ track.”

Starting in January, following state legislation, there will be simulcasting of full cards from Aqueduct and South Florida tracks, concurrent with the Santa Anita meet and at Hollywood Park as a satellite facility.

Horse Racing Notes

SLM Big Daddy, becoming only the third horse to win successive runnings of the Champions of Champions for quarter horses at Los Alamitos, is expected to be named world champion, the breed’s highest honor. SLM Big Daddy, ridden by Jacky Martin, won the $350,000 race Sunday night, beating Deposit Cash by 1 1/2 lengths at 440 yards in 21.53 seconds. Previous back-to-back winners of the Champion of Champions were Refrigerator, who won three in a row starting in 1992, and Dash For Cash, who won in 1976 and ’77. The race was first run in 1972. Before Sunday, SLM Big Daddy had been beaten in five of eight starts this year and the Champion of Champions was his first win since August. Owner Steve Mitchell said that SLM Big Daddy will race one more year. His career totals are 23 wins in 42 starts and purses of $936,864. . . . When Santa Anita opens Saturday, Randy Bradshaw will run Artax against Event Of The Year, Sea Of Secrets and Old Topper in the $200,000 Malibu Stakes. Artax won the San Felipe at Santa Anita last season, beating Real Quiet, the eventual Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. Artax was third in the Santa Anita Derby and 13th in the Kentucky Derby. After that, multiple leg injuries sidelined him until he ran second to Sea Of Secrets in an allowance race at Hollywood Park in November.

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A Look Back, Ahead

FINAL HOLLYWOOD PARK LEADERS *--*

JOCKEY Mounts 1st 2nd 3rd W% $% Gomez 137 24 22 16 .18 .45 Solis 124 22 18 22 .18 .50 Delahoussaye 99 21 15 18 .21 .55 Desormeaux 81 17 20 7 .21 .54 Flores 100 13 18 16 .13 .47 Pincay 108 13 14 18 .12 .42 Nakatani 55 13 8 13 .24 .62 Espinoza 76 11 20 5 .14 .47 Smith 70 11 6 12 .16 .41 Puglisi 52 10 10 10 .19 .58 TRAINER Starts 1st 2nd 3rd W% $% Aguirre 33 10 7 5 .30 .67 Drysdale 28 10 4 4 .36 .64 M. Stute 43 9 9 3 .21 .49 Mitchell 41 9 7 6 .22 .54 Gallagher 27 9 4 3 .33 .59 West 26 8 5 4 .31 .65 McAnally 33 8 2 5 .24 .45 Harrington 29 8 2 3 .28 .45 Baffert 47 7 10 11 .15 .60 Mandella 24 7 2 5 .29 .58

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SANTA ANITA PARK FACTS * Opening day: Saturday.

* Schedule: 84 racing days, usually Wednesdays through Sundays, with special Monday racing Dec. 28, Jan. 18 (Martin Luther King Day), Feb. 15 (Presidents’ Day), April 5 and April 19 (closing day). No racing on three Wednesday dates: Jan. 20, Feb. 17 and April 14.

* Post times: Weekdays 1 p.m.; weekends, holidays and Mondays 12:30 p.m.

* Special post times: Opening day, noon; Super Bowl Sunday (Jan. 31), 11 a.m.; Strub Day (Feb. 6), noon; Big ‘Cap Day (April 3), noon; Twilight Fridays (April 9 and 16), 3 p.m.

* Gates open: Two hours before first post on weekends, holidays and Mondays, except opening day gates open at 9 a.m.; weekdays they open 1 1/2 hours before first post.

* Admission: General $5, Club House $8.50, Turf Club and box seats $10 weekdays, $15 weekends.

* Parking: General $3, preferred $5, valet $8.