Mabees Hoping That Similarities Don’t End Here

As their General Challenge gets ready to run Sunday in the $1-million Pacific Classic, John and Betty Mabee can only be reminded of their beloved Best Pal and how he won the race when it was first run in 1991.

The similarities between Best Pal and General Challenge are all over the place: Both California-breds were bred by the Mabees; both were geldings; both were 2-year-olds when they won at Hollywood Park for their first victories; both were unable to win the Kentucky Derby; both were 3-year-olds when they ran in the Pacific Classic for the first time.

After winning 18 of 47 starts and earning $5.6 million, Best Pal was retired in 1996. He died of an apparent heart attack Nov. 24 at the Mabees’ Golden Eagle Farm in nearby Ramona.

“He was much too young [a 10-year-old] when he died,” Betty Mabee said Thursday as post positions were drawn for Sunday’s race. “Most horses live to be much older, and his sire and dam have outlived him by a lot. Habitony is 25 and Ubetshedid--she’s snow-white now--is 19. It’s too bad they didn’t pass on their longevity to Best Pal. But of course they didn’t have as many hard racing campaigns as he did.”

The Pacific Classic, the signature race at Del Mar, where John Mabee is board chairman, hasn’t been won by a 3-year-old since Best Pal in the inaugural year. Only two other 3-year-olds have run in the Classic--Dramatic Gold, also owned by the Mabees, finishing third and Silver Music running fifth in 1994.

This will be the strapping General Challenge’s first race outside his own division. He might be giving away seniority, but he won’t be dwarfed by any of Sunday’s seven opponents. General Challenge won the Santa Anita Derby and finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby, then skipped the rest of the Triple Crown races to run twice at Hollywood Park. He won the Affirmed Handicap and was a close second to Cat Thief in the Swaps Stakes.

“It’s not like he’s meeting the cream,” said Bob Baffert, who trains General Challenge. “Let’s face it, this is a secondary field after Real Quiet [another Baffert trainee] and Victory Gallop got hurt. They’re one level higher than the horses in this race.”

The exception might be Malek, who has won only three of nine starts for trainer Richard Mandella, but who has been installed as the 8-5 favorite on the morning line. Malek, a 6-year-old Chilean-bred, could become the oldest horse to win the Classic. This year, the only race he has won has been the Viking Spirit Stakes here July 29. He has had three seconds and one third in the other four starts.

“Malek is the horse to beat,” Baffert said. “It’s his race to win or lose.”

Being favored in the Pacific Classic has been a bugaboo: Of the eight previous winners, only Gentlemen, in 1997, was the public choice at post time. The list of beaten favorites starts with Cigar, who was 1-10 when he ran second to Dare And Go in 1996 as his 16-race winning streak ended. Another favorite to lose was Best Pal, who ran third at 2-5 in 1993, when he tried to win the stake for the second time.

David Flores, who rides General Challenge, was not happy when his horse drew the inside post position for the 1 1/4-mile race. General Challenge, at 2-1, is second on the morning line.

Gary Stevens, who will try to win the Classic for the third time, is riding 8-1 choice Lazy Lode. Sunday will mark his first Del Mar appearance since a three-month stint in England ended last week. Stevens, now under contract to ride for Prince Ahmed Salman’s Thoroughbred Corp., which owns Lazy Lode, will hurry back to Del Mar after riding at Saratoga on Saturday.

Another Thoroughbred Corp. horse, Smile Again, will run instead in the colors of Sid Craig, who bought the 4-year-old colt for an undisclosed price Tuesday. Smile Again, still looking for his first stakes win, was second to Malek in the Viking Spirit. Smile Again switched from trainer Alex Hassinger Jr. to Ron McAnally, and Chris McCarron became available for the mount after Mazel Trick, yet another star-crossed Classic contender, joined Real Quiet and Victory Gallop on the sidelines. Mazel Trick, who is finished on the track after breaking both sesamoid bones in his right foreleg during a workout Tuesday, is scheduled to undergo surgery today.

“I feel sorry for Del Mar,” said trainer Elliott Walden, who had hoped to bring Victory Gallop from Saratoga. “The [older-horse] division has been decimated. It’s been a bad two weeks for racing, but that’s the game.”

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Chilukki, undefeated in four starts, will face six rivals Sunday in the $250,000 Vinery Del Mar Debutante for 2-year-old fillies. . . . Elliott Walden will take two shots at Saturday’s $1-million Travers at Saratoga, with the 9-5 favorite Menifee and Ecton Park, who’s 7-2 on the morning line. The Travers lineup, in post-position order: Menifee, Best Of Luck, Badger Gold, Cat Thief, Ecton Park, Lemon Drop Kid, Unbridled Jet and Vision And Verse. . . . At Saratoga today, Banshee Breeze, who has won four in a row and seven of her last eight, is heavily favored in the $400,000 Personal Ensign Handicap. The 4-year-old filly will carry 124 pounds and spot the field between six to 12 pounds. . . . Joe Who, winner of the Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar, drew the outside post in the 12-horse Fourstardave Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday. . . . In the $200,000 King’s Bishop Stakes the same day, Forestry is the 5-2 morning-line favorite. . . . Laffit Pincay’s win with Axtec in the fifth race at Del Mar on Thursday was No. 8,779. The record, held by Bill Shoemaker, is 8,833.

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Pacific Classic Field

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Horse Jockey Odds General Challenge David Flores 2-1 Barter Town Kent Desormeaux 5-1 Lazy Lode Gary Stevens 8-1 Jack Grandi Omar Berrio 30-1 Smile Again Chris McCarron 8-1 River Keen Chris Antley 10-1 Malek Alex Solis 8-5 Such Charisma Laffit Pincay 20-1

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