Plainly, Orville N Wilbur’s the Class of San Rafael Stakes

The trainer’s wife might be on crutches, something to do with painful toe injuries on both feet, but there’s nothing wrong with her husband or his sound-of-foot 3-year-old.

To a wave of Cincy Dollase’s crutches, Orville N Wilbur’s--named after a Manhattan Beach restaurant named after two guys from Ohio who started in bicycles and ended up flying planes in North Carolina--took the lead, wouldn’t relinquish it and rolled to a five-length victory Sunday in the $200,000 San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita.

The San Rafael was Orville N Wilbur’s first stakes win, and his third victory in five starts, and in the process he knocked off Souvenir Copy, an important stakes winner as a 2-year-old but winless in two starts this year.

Souvenir Copy, the 4-5 favorite, once trailed by about 10 lengths before finishing second in the six-horse field. Craig Dollase, son of the trainer of the winner, saddled Futuristic, who ran third, three-quarters of a length behind Souvenir Copy.

In his last race, Dollase wrote off Orville N Wilbur’s loss to inexperience, and he may very well have been correct. Fourth at 2-5 in the San Vicente on Feb. 7, Orville N Wilbur’s was flawless Sunday, shaking off Late Edition early and swishing his tail when Souvenir Copy tried to overtake him through the stretch.

“He ran like he was supposed to,” said jockey Corey Nakatani, who is married to the former Michelle Dollase, the trainer’s daughter. “He runs a lot better when you get him out there. He relaxes a lot better.

“He seems a lot like Bertrando or In Excess, horses with a lot of natural speed. We’ve been trying to rate him, but it didn’t work out, so I figured I’d send him and see where we were.”

Wally Dollase is in a nice spot, with both Orville N Wilbur’s and Prosperous Bid in his barn. Orville N Wilbur’s will go to the Santa Anita Derby on April 4, and Dollase will figure out the future of undefeated Prosperous Bid after he runs in the San Felipe Stakes--only his third race--on March 14.

The second choice Sunday, Orville N Wilbur’s paid $6.40 for $2, running a mile in 1:35 4/5, more than a second off the stakes record but the fastest San Rafael in the last five years. The winner’s purse was $120,000 for the partnership that races him.

The Out Of Place-Squalling colt’s been sold a couple of times, first in a 50% chunk to Dollase, then Prince Ahmed Salman of Saudi Arabia came along in late January and bought 80%. The remaining 20% is split up among Dollase, Mike Jarvis, Gary Margolis and Mark Schlesinger. Breeder David LaCroix, who trained Orville N Wilbur’s for his first race, a fourth-place finish at Hollywood Park last May, reportedly collected more than $700,000 out of the deals.

Trainer Bob Baffert was unclear about his plans for Souvenir Copy, who has been second twice this year after winning the Del Mar Futurity and the Norfolk Stakes last year. John and Betty Mabee, who race Souvenir Copy, also own Prosperous Bid and apparently prefer that the colts run in separate Kentucky Derby preps.

“He ran a good race under the circumstances,” said Gary Stevens, riding Souvenir Copy for the first time since they won the Norfolk in October. “He stumbled leaving the gate and it took him about 50 yards to get his feet underneath him.

“I was going to be last early, anyway, but I ended up farther back than I wanted to be. I had no alternative but to sit there, wait and hope the leader caved in. But he was just galloping out there on his own up front and he had too much left.”