Horsing Around Doesn’t Make Any Sense to Sahadi

Post-position draws for big races are usually ho-hum events. They draw the names of the horses, roll some numbered pills out of a bottle and then the trainers, jockeys and horse owners make a few innocuous comments about what’s ahead.

But Thursday’s draw for the 63rd Santa Anita Derby was different. Only two of the six horses running were represented, and that’s all it took for one trainer to storm off the stage, leaving a few hundred people speechless.

“Thank God [The Deputy has] got a lot of class because there’s a lot of people around here that don’t,” Jenine Sahadi said as she threw a microphone down on the table and left.

Her remarks were a rebuttal to trainer Bob Baffert, who started the session by impishly pointing to jockey Chris McCarron, who’ll ride The Deputy on Saturday. “Who’s training the horse, you or Jenine?” Baffert said.

The draw was held outdoors at Clockers’ Corner, the Santa Anita breakfast niche at the end of the grandstand and in front of the upper stretch. Sahadi and McCarron were seated at one end of a long, elevated table and Baffert occupied a chair at the other end.

For years, Sahadi has resented backstretch innuendo that she doesn’t do all the training of her horses. She has won two Breeders’ Cup races and is trying to become the first woman to train the winner of the Santa Anita Derby.

Baffert, who felt Sahadi overreacted to his quip, speculated that his friendship with another trainer, Julio Canani, may have contributed to her outburst. Canani, when he was Sahadi’s boyfriend, employed her as an assistant trainer for three years. Then when Sahadi took out her own license, Canani became a bloodstock agent and also spent time at her barn for four years before he resumed training in 1997. Her relationship with Canani over, Sahadi married another trainer, Ben Cecil, in 1998.

After the draw broke up, Sahadi returned to Clockers’ Corner for interviews. She said that she was tired of Baffert’s brand of humor.

“I’m not interested in his comments,” Sahadi said. “There’s nothing to justify that kind of behavior. Historically, he’s done it time and time again. He did it to Sonny Hine [trainer of 1998 horse of the year Skip Away], and he’s done it to others. I did nothing to provoke him. I think he does it because it’s a [sign] of insecurity on his part. My horse is doing great and I’ve had a great day, and I’m not going to let him ruin it.”

Baffert, who has won three of the last four Santa Anita Derbies--with Cavonnier in 1996 and Indian Charlie and General Challenge the last two years--was at the center of a prerace controversy last year. He had promised McCarron the mount on General Challenge, but dumped him when Gary Stevens became available. After Sahadi stormed away Thursday, McCarron continued to sit next to her vacant chair, answering questions about The Deputy.

“I still don’t think Chris is over last year’s deal,” Baffert said. “Jenine should have known I was joking. Nobody’s got a sense of humor anymore.”

Baffert, who is running Captain Steve on Saturday, wasn’t joking when he said The Deputy is the horse to beat.

Told that Baffert liked her horse, Sahadi said: “I’m not interested in his opinion.”

Later, in the horsemen’s parking lot, Barry Irwin, whose Team Valor co-owns The Deputy with filmmaker Gary Barber, looked back on the incident with a smile.

“It was unfortunate,” Irwin said. “But I’ll say this for Jenine, when she has to speak up, she’s not afraid to. She’ll take a stand when it’s necessary.”

Baffert will be hard-pressed to win this Santa Anita Derby. Captain Steve won the Hollywood Futurity in December, but he’s winless in two starts this year, including a third-place finish, 6 1/2 lengths behind The Deputy, in the Santa Catalina Stakes. After two wins in January, The Deputy ran second, three-quarters of a length behind Fusaichi Pegasus, in the San Felipe Stakes. Fusaichi Pegasus’ stablemate, War Chant, is Saturday’s 9-5 favorite.

Horse Racing Notes

The Bob Baffert-trained Tribunal, who might have run in the Kentucky Derby with a good effort in the Lexington at Keeneland on April 22, will be sidelined at least three months because of a shin injury. . . . Trainer Ron McAnally was irked that Santa Anita closed the main track 45 minutes early Thursday morning to make way for the post-position draw breakfast. “They’ve been holding the draw in the same place for years, and it didn’t bother the horses before,” McAnally said. “They complain that their field sizes are small, then they take away training time for no good reason.” . . . Kurt Hoover was master of ceremonies for the draw. After Jenine Sahadi walked out, Hoover said: “I feel like David Letterman the night he had Andy Kaufman and the wrestler on the show.”

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Santa Anita Derby Field

The field for Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby, in post-position order:

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Horse Jockey Odds Surfside Pat Day 6-1 Captain Steve Robby Albarado 8-1 Anees Corey Nakatani 4-1 War Chant Jerry Bailey 9-5 The Deputy Chris McCarron 2-1 Cocky Alex Solis 8-1

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