Palos Verdes Turns in Favor of Kona Gold

Maybe Kona Gold and Big Jag can break their personal tie in the 2001 Palos Verdes Handicap.

A year after Big Jag edged Kona Gold in the Grade II Palos Verdes--a race voted the best of the 1998-99 winter-spring meet at Santa Anita--Kona Gold turned the tables Saturday with a two-length victory.

Kona Gold, the 11-10 favorite in the field of five, was making his first start since finishing second to Artax in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Gulfstream Park last Nov. 6. He tracked the pace set by Freespool while racing along the inside, took the lead with about a furlong to run and defeated Big Jag by two lengths in 1:08 2/5 for the six furlongs.

It was the fifth time the two geldings have raced against each other, and the score stands at two victories apiece. Kona Gold finished in front of Big Jag, who was third, in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Kona Gold, a six-year-old trained by Bruce Headley, has five victories in 12 career races and the $120,000 he earned Saturday pushed his bankroll to $754,314. He has been worse than third only once and that came in the 1998 Ancient Title, a race in which he had all kinds of trouble.

Big Jag, who had finished third in the Hong Kong Sprint in his last start, wound up three lengths in front of Freespool, who had won the El Conejo wire-to-wire four weeks earlier. Longshots Old Topper and Mellow Fellow completed the order of finish.

“He always gives 100%,” said jockey Alex Solis of Kona Gold. “ I was concerned about letting [Freespool] get away because he can be very tough to catch. I wanted to save as much ground as I could to make sure I had a lot of horse for the last part and it worked out.”

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Jockey Jerry Bailey will be aboard even-money favorite Captain Steve in the $100,000 Santa Catalina Stakes today at Santa Anita and he certainly hopes things turn out better than the only other time he rode him. .

Riding Captain Steve in his debut a few races after he and Real Quiet had won the Hollywood Gold Cup, Bailey and the son of Fly So Free finished sixth.

Since then, Captain Steve has fared considerably better for owner Mike Pegram and trainer Bob Baffert.

He has won four of his last seven races and completed 1999 with easy victories in the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs and the Hollywood Futurity. Captain Steve has trained well for his first start of the year and will have only five rivals in the Santa Catalina.

The 2-1 second choice is High Yield, who finished second--four lengths behind Captain Steve--in the Hollywood Futurity. He will run with blinkers for the first time today for trainer Wayne Lukas.

Completing the field are The Deputy, Hasty Kris, Grey Memo and Woostershear. The Deputy, an impressive winner of his U.S. debut on the turf, will be making his first start on dirt.

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More Than Ready, the 9-10 favorite, remained unbeaten in six sprint races and Summer Note, the 5-2 second choice, won for the third time in as many races as they finished in a dead heat in the $150,000 Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

After a stretch-long battle, the two 3-year-olds couldn’t be separated by the photo finish camera in the Grade II race. They completed the seven furlongs in 1:21 3/5, the fastest time of the meet for the distance.

More Than Ready was making his first start of the year for owner James Scaturchio and trainer Todd Pletcher after winning five of seven races as a 2-year-old--the losses coming in the Futurity and Champagne Stakes at Belmont. Summer Note, an Illinois-bred, was making his first start for trainer Randy Morse. American Bullet finished third.

“I’m delighted with his race,” Pletcher said. “My horse was coming off a hundred and something-day layoff and he was giving [Summer Note] nine pounds and that is obviously a nice colt. I’m delighted with his performance. A win is a win.”

Horse Racing Notes

Mighty, who finished second to Captain Steve in the Kentucky Jockey Club last Nov. 27, was second in the $100,000 Lecomte Stakes Saturday at the Fair Grounds in Louisiana. Noble Ruler, a 59-1 shot, won over a sloppy track in the first major prep race for the $750,000 Louisiana Derby in March. Mighty also won the Grade III Iroquois at Churchill Downs and was second in the Sanford at Saratoga last year. . . . Trainer Bobby Frankel had a streak of consecutive victories end at six when Devon Deputy finished fourth as the 2-1 second choice in Saturday’s fifth race. Frankel won two races earlier on the card with heavily favored Promontory Gold in the first and Quianlong in the fourth. . . . Jockey Corey Nakatani, who rode Promontory Gold to victory, took off his remaining mounts because of illness. Nakatani is the leading jockey for the Santa Anita meeting with 30 victories. . . . Behrens, a four-time stakes winner in 1999, was assigned top weight of 121 pounds for next Saturday’s $500,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park. Behrens was second to Puerto Madero in last year’s Donn. Almutawakel is next on the list with 120 pounds. . . . Because of the Super Bowl, post time today is 11 a.m.