Walden Enjoys a Double

Sunday couldn’t have turned out any better for trainer Elliott Walden--as far as his 3-year-olds go.

About an hour after his Ecton Park splashed to a 6-1 upset over Belmont Stakes winner Lemon Drop Kid and five others in the $300,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga in New York, Walden saw favored Menifee beat Cat Thief and Forestry in a close finish to capture the $1-million Haskell Invitational Handicap at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.

Making his first start since finishing eighth in the Belmont, Menifee won by a half-length over Cat Thief in 1:48 for the 1 1/8 miles with Forestry, who was looking for his sixth consecutive victory for trainer Bob Baffert and owners Aaron and Marie Jones, another half-length back in third.

However, Unbridled Jet, a 20-1 shot trained by Bill Mott, was probably best in the Haskell. He lacked room while trying to rally between horses in the stretch, then was finishing best of all on the outside once jockey Heriberto Castillo, Jr. got him in the clear. He was only beaten by 1 1/2 lengths.

This was the fifth victory in nine starts for Menifee, the 3-2 choice who was again ridden by Pat Day for owners James Stone and Arthur Hancock III. The son of Harlan pushed his earnings to $1,522,000.

Ecton Park, who is owned by Mark Stanley, tracked the pacesetters from the outside and took the lead nearing the stretch and drew away to win by a little more than five lengths in 1:49 2/5.

Lemon Drop Kid, who had been idle since his upset in the Belmont, was second, two lengths ahead of Badger Gold, the longest shot in the field at 35-1. Vision And Verse, the 2-1 favorite, was sixth.

“I wasn’t sure how he was going to handle the wet track,” jockey Alex Solis said of Ecton Park. “I was just hoping he would handle it, but he loved it. He was very impressive.”

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Manistique is no longer perfect in California. The 1-5 favorite against only four opponents in the $300,000 Chula Vista Handicap at Del Mar on Sunday, the Unbridled filly lost for the first time in nine starts in her home state.

A Lady From Dixie, a 7-1 shot who had been beaten nearly 27 lengths in her only other try in a graded stakes, outlasted Manistique and Yolo Lady to win in 1:43 2/5 for the 1 1/16 miles.

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Wayne Lukas, who this year became the first trainer to surpass $200 million in earnings, will be inducted into Racing’s Hall of Fame today at Saratoga.

Along with Lukas, who has trained 19 national champions, won 12 Triple Crown races and 13 more in the Breeders’ Cup, those being inducted are jockey Russell Baze, who has had 400 or more winners in seven consecutive years, and horses Exceller, Miesque and Gun Bow.

Horse Racing Notes

Hollister, a first-timer trained by Mike Puype for Gary Biszantz’s Cobra Farm, Inc., had to be euthanized after suffering a broken right foreleg in the stretch of Sunday’s sixth race. Jockey Emile Ramsammy escaped injury. . . . Elmhurst, the 1997 Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner, was third in his comeback in Sunday’s seventh. It was the first start for the 9-year-old gelding since June 28, 1998.