General Challenge, Baffert Lead Santa Anita Winners

Now that Santa Anita’s 63rd season is over, here are one man’s opinions on the bests of the meet (the winners in voting done by members of the local media are in parentheses when different):

Older horse, horse of the meet--General Challenge (The Deputy). Despite his flop at 1-5 in the San Bernardino Handicap earlier this month, the 4-year-old won the Strub Stakes and the Santa Anita Handicap, a double that had not been completed since Best Pal did it in 1992.

Older filly/mare--Manistique. Although she missed the Santa Margarita Handicap, the oversized daughter of Unbridled continued to be the queen of a weak division in California by virtue of her win in the Santa Maria Handicap in February.

Grass horse--Dark Moondancer. He just missed in the San Marcos Handicap in his first start of the year, then won the San Luis Obispo Handicap and San Luis Rey Stakes. Owned by Charles Cella and trained by Ron McAnally, Dark Moondancer missed the San Juan Capistrano reportedly because of illness, but he probably would have won had he run; it was the slowest ‘Capistrano in 11 years.

Grass filly/mare--Caffe Latte. After making a successful 2000 debut for trainer Bob Baffert and owners Robert and Janice McNair in an allowance race, the 4-year-old filly knocked off Happyanunoit, arguably the best older female turf performer in the country the latter part of 1999, and Santa Ana winner Spanish Fern, in Sunday’s Santa Barbara Handicap. Unlike Tuzla, Caffe Latte is a female turfer on the way up for Baffert.

Three-year-old--Fusaichi Pegasus (The Deputy). The $4-million colt didn’t stay in town for the Santa Anita Derby, but he won an allowance race impressively and beat The Deputy in last month’s San Felipe Stakes. In addition to the Derby, The Deputy also won the Hill Rise on turf and defeated High Yield and Captain Steve in the Santa Catalina, but Fusaichi Pegasus beat him the only time they met.

Three-year-old filly--Surfside. She proved herself a Kentucky Derby pretender with her fifth in the local Derby, but the daughter of Seattle Slew was the best of her sex before an injury sent her to the sidelines. She won the Santa Ysabel, Las Virgenes and Santa Anita Oaks for trainer Wayne Lukas and owner Bill Young’s Overbrook Farm.

Sprinter--Kona Gold. A narrow loss to stablemate Son Of A Pistol in the San Carlos Handicap kept the veteran from sweeping his three local starts. He knocked off rival Big Jag in the El Conejo Handicap in January, then earlier this month, dominated his foes in the Potrero Grande Breeders’ Cup Handicap. At the moment, Kona Gold has to be considered the best sprinter in the country.

Claimer--Brite Nite (Dixie Loe). After being claimed for $32,000 by trainer Bill Spawr for owners Robert and Kathleen Verratti on Jan. 12, the High Brite gelding won three in a row while facing increasingly tougher competition, and two of the victories were by 11 lengths. Besides Dixie Loe, who won four in a row, others deserving of mention are Roman Cuzzin, an old war horse who also captured four in a row before shipping north, and the filly Cee Dreams.

Trainer--Baffert. He won his fourth consecutive training title in Arcadia with 40 wins and was tops in stakes victories with eight, but it should not be forgotten that Spawr and Bobby Frankel, his closest pursuers, both won at a higher percentage.

Jockey--Corey Nakatani. He won his second local title in style, winning a personal-high six races on Sunday. Nakatani was the leader most of the way and concluded with 82 wins. Kent Desormeaux finished second with 71 winners, Victor Espinoza had 62, Laffit Pincay Jr. 59 and David Flores 52. Chris McCarron led the riders in stakes victories with 11.

Race of the meet--Santa Anita Derby. There were probably more exciting races, but this one stands out because of the pre-race controversy involving Baffert’s facetious comments about Jenine Sahadi, the fact it featured six quality 3-year-olds and because, in the immediate aftermath, no legitimate excuses could be made for any of the losers.

Achievement--Sahadi’s work with The Deputy. Winner of only a maiden race in Europe when he arrived in this country, The Deputy won three of his four starts in Arcadia and should be the second betting choice behind Fusaichi Pegasus in the Kentucky Derby on May 6.

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El Cielo, the 11-10 favorite, continued his love affair with Santa Anita’s hillside turf course with a one-length victory over King Slayer in the $132,400 San Simeon Handicap Monday.

Trained by Craig Dollase for a multiple partnership, the 6-year-old gelding now has six wins in nine tries on Santa Anita’s unique course. Ridden by Jose Valdivia, Jr., El Cielo completed the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:12 3/5.

King Slayer, an 8-1 shot, beat Scooter Brown, the pacesetter and 2-1 second choice by a half-length, then came Accomplice, who is also trained by Dollase, Robynhood and Profound Secret.

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Santa Anita set a record for total and average daily handle, but the average attendance on-track was down 12.8% from last year.

The total handle was $1,039,579,354, up 4.6% over the 1998-99 meet, and the average daily handle was $11,949,188, but the average daily attendance was 10,880 this year compared with 12,482 last year, and the average daily handle on-track was down 2.6%.

Horse Racing Notes

Funeral services will be held at noon Wednesday at Forest Lawn in Glendale for longtime horse owner-breeder Betty Johnston, who died April 21 after a long illness. Johnston, 86, and her late husband, Elwood, were the founders of Old English Rancho. . . . Local thoroughbred racing will resume Friday night when Hollywood Park begins its 65-day meet.

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Hollywood Park Facts

* Meet: Friday-July 24 (65 days).

* Post Times: 1:10 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, May 5 and July 24; 12:10 p.m. July 9; 1 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays; 7 p.m. every Friday except May 5.

* Significant Races: $1.26-million Gold Rush Day, Sunday; $250,000 Milady Breeders’ Cup Handicap, May 28; $300,000 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap, May 29; $250,000 Gamely Breeders’ Cup Handicap, June 4; $250,000 Californian, June 11; $350,000 Shoemaker Breeders’ Cup Mile, June 18; $300,000 Vanity Handicap, June 25; $250,000 Beverly Hills Handicap, July 2; $1-million Hollywood Gold Cup, July 9; $500,000 Swaps Stakes, July 23.

* Leading Rider in 1999: Alex Solis (57 winners).

* Leading Trainer in 1999: Ron McAnally (25 winners).