Disappointed Desormeaux Rides Astra to Gamely Win

The news from New York was dour for jockey Kent Desormeaux, but at Hollywood Park on Sunday he tried for the best antidote, riding the late-running Astra to a half-length win over Happyanunoit in the $240,950 Gamely Breeders’ Cup Handicap.

Desormeaux, who learned that his Kentucky Derby winner, Fusaichi Pegasus, is injured and won’t be able to run in next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, rode Astra for the first time, the door opening when Corey Nakatani stayed with Caffe Latte in the 1 1/8-mile grass race. Caffe Latte, who had won both of her starts this year, finished fourth in the five-horse field.

“I told Kent to put our horse into the race, but not to move too soon,” said Simon Bray, who trains Astra for Allen and Madeleine Paulson. “This filly has a powerful punch, and Kent rode her right to instructions.”

Astra has won four in a row and six of seven starts overall. The Gamely, her first Grade I win, was run in 1:48 4/5, four-fifths of a second slower than the stakes record. Astra paid $9.60 as the third choice among four betting interests, earning $157,170. Happyanunoit, the even-money favorite, couldn’t protect her lead in the stretch and finished four lengths ahead of Tout Charmant in third place.

Allen Paulson, 78, is battling cancer and has cut back drastically on his expansive racing and breeding operations, but he still has 36 horses with the British-born Bray, who worked as an assistant to Bill Mott when he trained Cigar, horse of the year in 1995 and 1996, for the Paulsons.

“When the Paulsons called [about 18 months ago] it took me about five seconds to make that decision,” Bray said. “We’ve liked this filly from day one, and now we know she this can run against the best.”

Bred by Paulson, Astra is a 4-year-old daughter of Theatrical, Paulson’s Breeders’ Cup Turf winner, and Savannah Slew, an 18-year-old broodmare who died recently while in foal to Theatrical.

Horse Racing Notes

Frankie Dettori, who suffered a broken ankle in the crash of a light plane in England last Thursday, will be replaced by Chris McCarron this weekend on Sheik Mohammed’s horses at Ascot. Among the horses McCarron will ride is Best Of The Best in Saturday’s Epsom Derby. . . . Yukata Take, Japan’s premier jockey, begins riding at Hollywood Park on Wednesday. Take, 31, has won more than 1,800 races.