A Gift Horse That Certainly Won’t Be Looked in the Mouth

Fiji looks to be the gift that will keep on giving.

A recent present from Prince Fahd Salman to the triplet daughters of his brother, Prince Ahmed Salman, Fiji was an impressive winner in her first graded stakes race on Saturday.

Sent off the 19-10 favorite against five other fillies and mares, Fiji and jockey Kent Desormeaux sat off the extremely slow pace set by Golden Arches, then kicked away in the final furlong to win the $160,800 Santa Ana Handicap by 4 1/2 lengths in 1:49 4/5 for the 1 1/8 miles.

The way she won suggests there will be many more stakes victories in her future.

Shake The Yoke, the co-second choice at 5-2, finished second, a length clear of Golden Arches. Then came De Puntillas, Real Connection, who probably was making her last start, and Donna Viola.

Fiji, a 4-year-old Rainbow Quest filly, is a nose away from being unbeaten in five starts. After winning her first two races in England, she lost by inches in her U.S. debut after breaking slowly and stumbling at the start.

“I had a feeling [jockey Chris] McCarron [on Golden Arches] might go to the lead,” said winning trainer Neil Drysdale. “I told Kent if [McCarron] doesn’t go to the lead to take it, and if he does, settle back.

“She settled well off the lead. She’s getting better, improving with each race. If everything’s going well, we’ll come back in the Santa Barbara [Handicap on April 18].”

Ahmed Salman, the man behind The Thoroughbred Corp., was typically enthusiastic after Fiji’s win.

“I’m working on having another set of triplets now,” he said. “It’s something between the family, but if [Fahd Salman] has any other potential stakes winning horses, I’ll have another set of triplets.

“Neil has done a wonderful job with this horse, and Kent is a genius. I think we’ll promote him to Sheikh Kent now.”

Shake The Yoke--second to Drysdale-trained Dance Parade in last month’s Buena Vista Handicap--was victimized by a lack of pace. The fractions were 25 1/5 and 50 seconds, 1:14 3/5 and 1:38 1/5 for the mile. This means the winner ran her last eighth of a mile in 11 3/5 seconds, which makes it nearly impossible for other horses to make up ground.

*

The $250,000 San Luis Rey Stakes will be something of a local rarity when it is run for the 47th time this afternoon.

The prep for next month’s $400,000 San Juan Capistrano will have a full field of 12, and such a large cast is seldom seen in stakes races anymore.

Storm Trooper, who found room late to win the San Marino last month, is the 3-1 morning line favorite for the San Luis Rey, a Grade II which is run at 1 1/2 miles on turf.

Jerry Bailey will ride Storm Trooper, who, along with 4-1 second choice Prize Giving, is trained by Drysdale.

Trainer Charlie Whittingham, whose horses have won this race nine times, will be represented by Verglas, beaten by a head by Storm Trooper in the San Marino.

*

Santa Anita will hold its first international jockey challenge when a team of four European and four American riders compete in a four-race series today.

The challenge will take place on races 3-6 on the 10-race program, and mounts were assigned by team captains Lester Piggott and Bill Shoemaker.

Former rider Piggott’s European team is made up by Olivier Peslier, Kieren Fallon, Michael Kinane and Frankie Dettori. Shoemaker chose the American lineup of Bailey, Gary Stevens, Eddie Delahoussaye and Laffit Pincay.

*

Santa Anita stewards Ingrid Fermin, Pete Pedersen and Tom Ward ruled that purses will be redistributed in the races in which two Wayne Lukas-trained horses that tested positive for scopolamine, a prohibited substance that is a depressant.

The two horses are Magic Cat, second in a maiden race on Jan. 11; and Love Lock, winner of the Santa Ysabel the same day for owner Michael Tabor.

This means that the connections of Nonies Dancer Ali, who was second in the Santa Ysabel, will receive the top prize of $63,660.

Horse Racing Notes

Leading trainer Bob Baffert added to his total with three winners Saturday and has 40 for the meeting, seven off the record set by Gary Jones during the 1975-76 season. . . . Frisk Me Now, the 2-5 favorite, won the $200,000 Widener Handicap by a neck at Gulfstream Park, beating 7-2 second-choice Sir Bear. . . . Wasatch, recently purchased by owner Frank Calabrese and trained Marty Wolfson, scored a 7-1 upset under Jerry Bailey to win the $150,000 Gotham Stakes on Saturday at Aqueduct. Wasatch, a 3-year-old son of Time For A Change, had won two of six starts in California racing for trainer Mike Puhich. In the Gotham, he ran the mile over a sloppy track in 1:36 2/5 and won by 2 1/4 lengths. Dr J, a 13-1 shot, was second and 5-2 favorite Late Edition was third. . . . Jockey J.C. Gonzalez will begin a three-day suspension on Friday after being cited for altering course without sufficient clearance while riding Electric Green in Thursday’s fifth race. Electric Green won the race, but was not disqualified.