Zucker Feels No Derby Fever After Victory

No one could help but notice the tie trainer Howard Zucker was wearing Saturday afternoon at Santa Anita.

It featured the twin spires of Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, which is only a couple of months away.

“That’s as close as we’re going to get to Kentucky,” Zucker said after his Crafty C.T., the 2-1 favorite, had gone gate-to-wire under jockey Eddie Delahoussaye in the Grade II $200,000 San Rafael Stakes.

Making his third start and first around two turns, Crafty C.T. took full advantage of a track that has strongly favored speed in recent days and won by four lengths over Palmeiro in 1:35 3/5 for the mile.

Owned by Pasadena stockbroker Carl Grether, for whom the son of Crafty Prospector is named, Crafty C.T.--Grether’s middle name is Tom--provided Zucker, 52, with his first win in a graded stakes.

Crafty C.T. was purchased for $240,000 at Keeneland last spring. Provided the chestnut colt exits the San Rafael in good shape, he will return in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 7.

Should Crafty C.T. prevail that day, Zucker might have to reevaluate his thoughts about Kentucky.

“We’re having a blast with him,” said Zucker. “The horse ran to all the hype. I liked the speed holding on in some of the earlier races, but it really was a matter of whether they like this type of track. They were calling it ‘good,’ but once he ran 1:35 and change, they’re calling it fast, but he made it look fast.”

Second in his debut on Jan. 6, Crafty C.T. broke his maiden by 3 1/2 lengths on Feb. 3, but both of those races were sprints. Delahoussaye was confident the colt would handle the new game.

“You never know what to expect the first time around two turns, but he’s got so much class and his attitude is so great,” he said. “He did everything I asked him to do. He relaxed well on the lead and he was striding nicely at the end. Hopefully, he will continue to improve.”

Second behind Millennium Wind in the Santa Catalina in January, 3-1 third choice Palmeiro wound up a length clear of 5-2 second choice Early Flyer at a distance that isn’t his best.

A son of Pleasant Tap owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, Palmeiro remains on course for the Santa Anita Derby, which is an eighth of a mile longer than the San Rafael.

“We’re very happy,” said Dottie Ingordo, the racing manager for the Mosses. “We had to play their game on this track.”

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Making his first start since winning the California Cup Mile last Oct. 28, Road To Slew took the lead with about a quarter of a mile to go and went on to win the $400,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita.

Trained by Craig Dollase for owner Nick Cafarchia and ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., the 6-year-old Slewpy gelding defeated 9-1 shot Val Royal--who had been idle since winning the 1999 Del Mar Derby--by a length in 1:35 4/5 on a turf course labeled good.

This was the sixth victory in 21 starts for Road To Slew, who paid $9.80 as the 7-2 third choice. He has now won four times in nine races on the Santa Anita grass.

“He ran super today,” Pincay said after his 9,088th career win. “He hadn’t run in a while, but he really tries hard. It’s just a pleasure to ride a horse that tries as hard as this guy does. He has talent and he’s also a fighter.”

Val Royal, who was last after a half-mile, was a head in front of both Hawksley Hill, the 5-2 favorite, and Exchange Rate, who finished in a dead heat for third.

Notes

Sir Bear, a 9-1 shot, caught pacesetter Pleasant Breeze in the final yards to win the $200,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap. The 8-year-old gelding won for the 18th time in 57 starts and completed the 1 1/4 miles in 2:02 4/5 under jockey Eibar Coa. It was the first Grade I win for Sir Bear since the 1999 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. . . . Son Of A Rocket ($9.80) won the $75,000 Southwest Stakes on a sloppy track at Oaklawn Park. The race was a prep for next month’s Arkansas Derby. . . . Gourmet Girl won for the first time since 1999 in the $50,000-added Sacramento Handicap at Golden Gate Fields.