Surfside Does the Job, Wins Las Virgenes

William T. Young, who bred and owns Surfside, didn’t apologize because his big filly’s margin was only three-quarters of a length in Saturday’s $200,000 Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita.

“She was in front at the wire,” Young said. “That’s all you look for.”

Young, who’ll be 82 on Tuesday, was no less apologetic after his Grindstone was only a nose better than Cavonnier in winning the 1996 Kentucky Derby. If Young gets his wish, Surfside will give him another chance in this year’s Derby.

Spain, making her first start since running fourth, one spot behind Surfside, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Gulfstream Park three months ago, wouldn’t give up and ran second in the four-horse Las Virgenes. Rings A Chime also closed nicely to finish third, a half-length behind Spain, and Burning Hope was a badly beaten fourth.

The Las Virgenes was run on a muddy track, and although Surfside had won in the slop at Belmont Park last year, this was a different surface for her to till with her gigantic size-8 feet.

“She fought the track,” jockey Pat Day said. “She wasn’t comfortable. But when they came at her from both sides, and when she was in there in close proximity, she was very game. I think she was just hesitant to really put her all into it because of the footing. She wasn’t comfortable and she wasn’t confident because of the footing.”

The time for the mile was 1:37. The win, worth $120,000, was Surfside’s third in a row since the Breeders’ Cup. The daughter of Seattle Slew and Flanders, a Seeking The Gold mare, has six wins, one second and one third in eight tries and earnings of $860,230.

Surfside paid $2.40 and $2.10, with no show betting, and Santa Anita had to pay out more than $109,000 to cover all the tickets in the place pool.

This was the fifth time trainer Wayne Lukas has won the Las Virgenes. Two of his other winners--Serena’s Song and Althea--were unsuccessful in the Derby, but in 1988 Lukas won the Derby with Winning Colors, after she had run second to Goodbye Halo in the Las Virgenes.

Lukas was not worried that Spain or Rings A Chime might overtake Surfside.

“If he wanted to, Pat could have reached back and strapped her,” Lukas said. “I guess what they’re saying about the margin is that we won, but we didn’t cover the point spread. She might have been complacent in this one, but that should be easy to fix. She’s getting a great foundation, and in the next two [races] she should be forced to reach down for more, and that will give us a better feel about her.”

The option for Lukas instead of the Derby is the Kentucky Oaks for 3-year-old fillies, but before that decision is made, Surfside is expected to run against fillies again in the Santa Anita Oaks on March 12 and tackle colts in the Santa Anita Derby on April 8. The Kentucky Derby is May 6, the day after the Kentucky Oaks.

Breaking from the inside post, Surfside ran behind Rings A Chime and Chris McCarron until the fillies changed positions nearing the half-mile pole. With Surfside a length ahead at the eighth pole, Day kept looking to his left, making sure that Spain and Corey Nakatani weren’t sneaking past.

“In the stretch,” Day said, “she got to goofing around a little, and when Spain came again, my filly dug right in again. She’s a real competitor.”

Horse Racing Notes

Keeper Hill, who won the Las Virgenes at 56-1 in 1998, has gone on to career earnings of $1.6 million, but she’s still the third choice at 9-2 on the morning line for today’s $200,000 Santa Maria Handicap. The favorite is Manistique at 6-5 and Bordelaise, the Argentine-bred who won her only U.S. start, is 7-2. . . . Laffit Pincay, winning at least one race for the 10th consecutive day, rode Perfectly Clear to victory in the $50,000 Glendale Handicap at Turf Paradise. In Pincay’s streak, he rode eight of the days at Santa Anita and two at Turf Paradise. Formerly trained by Nick Zito, Perfectly Clear is now in the care of Bill Spawr at Santa Anita. . . . Royal Anthem, making his first start since running second to Daylami in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, beat Thesaurus by three lengths to win the $200,000 Gulfstream Park Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Hallandale, Fla. . . . At Bay Meadows, Globalize, ridden by Russell Baze, beat Lacey Evitan by a head to win the $100,000 Golden State Mile.