Image Becomes Clear in Narrow Malibu Win

The elbow benders were elbow to elbow in the new bar overlooking the paddock as Santa Anita opened Friday, for the 67th time. Then, in the big race of the day, an unripened 3-year-old colt did some elbowing of his own.

Coming from fifth place, Southern Image nailed another longshot in the final jump of a surprising Malibu Stakes, giving his trainer, Mike Machowsky, the first Grade I victory of his career.

By broadcaster Kurt Hoover’s count, jockey Victor Espinoza whipped Southern Image 27 times from the quarter pole to the wire.

Espinoza said, “In mid-stretch, we got stuck behind the gray horse [Marino Marini], and I switched my stick to the left hand. That really picked him up. I didn’t know if we were going to get up, but I thought we had a chance and he really kicked in late.”

At 13-1, Southern Image was the eighth successive non-favorite to win the Malibu. Marino Marini, beaten by a head, was 33-1 and combined with Machowsky’s horse for a $522.70 payoff for a $1 exacta bet. Midas Eyes, running with entrymate Watchem Smokey as the 11-10 favorite, finished third, a length behind Marino Marini. Watchem Smokey was fifth, and the long-awaited return of Buddy Gil, this year’s Santa Anita Derby winner, resulted in a ninth-place finish.

The storm of Christmas day turned to cool, 60-degree sunshine for the opener, which drew 28,295. That bettered by a few thousand last year’s turnout, but was the fourth consecutive opener under 30,000. The last previous Friday opener, in 1997, drew almost 40,000.

Hundreds of fans were seen, souvenir calendars in hand, leaving just before the $250,000 Malibu, which was a shame because this was a stirring 52nd running. Marino Marini, ridden by Tyler Baze in his first start on dirt, battled Midas Eyes all the way around, and appeared to have the seven-furlong race won in the shadow of the wire. But Southern Image, running for only the fourth time, was relentless.

Twice, Southern Image has been sidelined by injuries this year, most recently when he missed the Super Derby in September at Louisiana Downs because of a foot bruise. Machowsky, 38, said that patience was one of the things he learned in 5 1/2 years of working as an assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella. Southern Image, winning for the third time in four starts, hadn’t started since an allowance victory Aug. 2 at Del Mar, where Espinoza rode him for the first time.

“Maybe it was a blessing he hasn’t run much,” Machowsky said. “I didn’t have to grind him up like you might do with some 3-year-olds. He’s always been a very talented horse, so I was pretty confident in him today. I just wanted him to get a good trip and didn’t want him to screw up just because of a lack of experience. He trained like nothing I ever had. He does everything very professional, and it didn’t take a lot to get him ready.”

Midas Eyes has lost three in a row while ridden by one of New York’s finest, John Velazquez. They were second to Congaree in the Cigar Mile last month at Aqueduct and eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita.

“We went way too fast too early in the Breeders’ Cup,” Velazquez said. “He ran a huge race against Congaree, and I thought he could have run even better that day. My first impression today is that he might need blinkers, because he’s still not putting it all out there. He still hasn’t figured out that he has to run the whole way.”

Machowsky, whose father, an Orange County physician, raced quarter horses, saddled his first winner on New Year’s Day in 1990. He has 28 horses in his care at Santa Anita, where he won eight races at the 2002-03 meet. Southern Image probably will run next in either the $1-million Sunshine Millions Classic on Jan. 24 or the $300,000 Strub on Feb. 7. Both are 1 1/8-mile races.

Machowsky traveled to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to honor Mandella on the day in 2001 when his mentor was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame. In the horse tunnel at Santa Anita in October, minutes after Mandella had saddled his record fourth Breeders’ Cup winner, Machowsky was there with a handshake.

“Hey, Dick,” Machowsky said, “any chance we can go retroactive on stakes money?”

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In other stakes, favored Buckland Manor’s winning streak reached three with a two-length victory in the Sir Beaufort, and Don’tsellmeshort, at 13-1, was a 1 1/2-length winner of the California Breeders’ Champion.... Pete Rose, a partner in ownership, was in the winner’s circle for Fort Point’s victory in the last race, but the 4-year-old gelding was claimed for $25,000 by trainer Rafael Becerra.