Gourmet Girl Surprises the Field at Oaklawn

Given that four of the 11 fillies and mares had made their last start at Santa Anita, it wasn’t too much of a surprise that a shipper from California won the $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap on Sunday at Oaklawn Park.

However, Gourmet Girl probably would have been the last of the locals anyone would have expected to win the Grade I at the track in Hot Springs, Ark.

Fifth of seven in last month’s Santa Margarita Handicap, behind Lazy Slusan, Spain and Critikola, all of whom ran Sunday, Gourmet Girl tracked the pace set early by overmatched longshot Asher, then kicked away to win clear in 1:42 for the 1 1/16 miles.

Trained by Pico Perdomo for owner Gary Tanaka, the 6-year-old Cee’s Tizzy mare won for only the second time in her last 16 starts. Ridden by Calvin Borel, she was 10-1 only because she raced coupled with Dreams Gallore, a mare also owned by Tanaka who had won in her March 12 comeback and had been a stakes winner at age 3 in 1999.

In earning her first graded stakes victory since she took the 1999 Milady Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Hollywood Park, Gourmet Girl earned $300,000 and went over the $1-million plateau for her career. A winner of eight of 31 races lifetime, she has collected $1,045,373.

Lu Ravi, a 10-1 shot, finished second, nothing new for the 6-year-old mare at Oaklawn Park. She has been the runner-up in all four of her starts at the track, including last year’s Apple Blossom Handicap.

Lazy Slusan, another 10-1 outsider and the upset winner of the Santa Margarita on March 10, was third after racing wide throughout under jockey David Flores.

Spain, a filly who was second in the Santa Margarita, finished a distant fourth as the 2-1 second choice and defending champion Heritage Of Gold was never a threat under jockey Robby Albarado. She wound up 10th as the 8-5 choice.

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Jockeys Tyler Baze, Chris McCarron and Eddie Delahoussaye combined to win eight of the nine races at Santa Anita on Sunday.

With victories aboard Jenna’s Joy in the first, Inter Zone in the fourth and Captian Bell in the ninth, Baze moved to within eight victories of leading rider Laffit Pincay Jr. in the jockey standings. With six days remaining in the meet, Baze trails, 66-58.

McCarron, meanwhile, scored with Amersham in the second and Romanceishope, who had to survive a stewards’ inquiry, in the eighth and is now within five wins of 7,000 in his career.

Along with a victory on Jeds Knight in the sixth, Delahoussaye won both of Sunday’s stakes.

Properly spotted after an ill-fated try in the Florida Derby, 3-5 favorite Trailthefox outran 2-1 second choice Crescendo to capture the $105,800 Zany Tactics Stakes.

Four races later, Go Go, the 9-10 favorite, overcame a poor start to win the $109,500 Las Cienegas Handicap.

Trained by Patrick Biancone for a partnership, Trailthefox, who had finished 12th of 13 at 62-1 in the Florida Derby, pressed the pace from the outside, then took charge in the final sixteenth to win by a length in 1:16 3/5 for the 6 1/2 furlongs.

It was the fourth win in 10 starts for the California-bred son of Foxtrail. Go Go now has two victories and two seconds in four races at Santa Anita.

“It was exciting, it was a good horse race,” Delahoussaye said. “Patrick’s done a great job with him and he came back as sharp as he could be.”

Go Go, a California-bred daughter of Falstaff trained by Warren Stute, won for the fifth time in her last six starts. Her only defeat during that streak came in last month’s Irish O’Brien when she was beaten a nose by La Feminn in arguably the best race of the Santa Anita meet.

Last after the slow break, Go Go came wide into the stretch and eventually collared pacesetter Separata to win by two lengths in 1:13 2/5 for the 6 1/2 furlongs on turf.

“She’s getting better, isn’t she?” said Stute. “I thought she might be last coming down the hill. She broke bad and I thought maybe she didn’t like the track or something, but Eddie is the greatest.”

Notes

Early Flyer and Startac, both scratched from Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby, will run in Saturday’s $200,000 California Derby at Bay Meadows. Startac, who disappointed as the odds-on favorite in the El Camino Real Derby on March 10 at Golden Gate Fields, worked six furlongs in 1:12 1/5 Sunday morning at Hollywood Park for trainer Simon Bray. . . . Bienamado, who is returning to the grass after failing to threaten in the Santa Anita Handicap, was given top weight of 122 pounds for Saturday’s $400,000 San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap. . . . Bold Answer ($18.60) won the $113,500 Appalachian Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland. . . . Outofthebox, a distant fifth as the favorite in Saturday’s Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah, will not run in the Kentucky Derby because of an injury to his right hind leg. Outofthebox had finished second to Monarchos in the Florida Derby and, before that, was a troubled second to Songandaprayer in the Fountain Of Youth.