There’s No Disputing This Win

For five races, Domestic Dispute ran in black-and-gold silks that had one of his owners’ names -- Winner -- on the jockey’s back. But Domestic Dispute was anything but a winner. He couldn’t do any better than fourth place.

The owners -- Chuck Winner and David Bienstock -- didn’t change silks and, like their trainer, Paddy Gallagher, didn’t despair. Finally, on Saturday, it all came together for them and Domestic Dispute. Ridden by Kent Desormeaux for the first time, the 4-year-old colt beat his former trainer’s horse, During, by a neck in the $300,000 Strub Stakes at Santa Anita. Domestic Dispute paid $30.60, the biggest payoff for a Strub winner in 11 years.

Less than a week before the 2003 Kentucky Derby, Winner and Bienstock, who have been partners in horses for nine years, paid approximately $1 million to buy the Bob Baffert-trained Domestic Dispute from Gary Garber, who bred the colt. Domestic Dispute, who had won only two of 10 starts for Garber, finished 10th for his new owners at Churchill Downs, after running in fifth place through the first six furlongs.

“He didn’t like the track back there,” Winner said in the winner’s circle after the Strub. “Then we ran him in the mud at Philadelphia Park [a ninth-place finish in the Pennsylvania Derby], but actually since then he’s given us a good race every time we’ve run him.”

Last month, though, Domestic Dispute was fourth in the San Fernando Stakes at Santa Anita, where the victorious During beat him by four lengths. Alex Solis, who had ridden Domestic Dispute that day and twice before, switched to Midas Eyes, the Strub favorite, on Saturday.

“Not many jocks were exactly running me over to ride my horse [in the Strub],” Gallagher said. “But my horse has always trained well, and I thought he deserved another chance. I’m just happy he showed up today.”

Gallagher, who had never won the Strub, was an assistant to trainer Bill Shoemaker and saddled Diazo when he won the stake for them in 1994.

“Laffit Pincay rode Diazo, so I was connected to two great people that day,” Gallagher said. “I’m delighted and happy that now I’ve won this race.”

Buckland Manor finished third, three-quarters of a length behind During, and Midas Eyes ran fourth in the 11-horse field. Domestic Dispute trailed six horses with an eighth of a mile left in the 1 1/8-mile race before he found room to make his winning burst. The winning time was 1:49, slowest for a Strub winner since the race was shortened from 1 1/4 miles in 1998.

“I had watched tapes of several of his other races, and felt like I was on the right page with the horse,” said Desormeaux, who won his third Strub. “Turning for home, I felt defeated, because I had nowhere to go. Then he got out and exploded.”

Winner got into racing in 1986. The first horse he raced in partnership with Bienstock, Fine N’Majestic, won the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields in 1995.

During, who likes to run close to the pace, was forced to work hard from the start after drawing the outside post.

“On both turns, I was wide, and I think that cost me the race,” said David Flores, who rode During. “At the top of the stretch, he started to pull away from them. He never felt [Domestic Dispute] coming. Then it was too late when he did see him.”

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Imperialism, a colt who had run his 12 previous races at Calder Race Course in Florida, came from last place to win the $150,000 San Vicente Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths over Hosco, the 11-10 favorite.

Steve Taub, the Santa Monica auto dealer, bought Imperialism after his only 2004 start, a fifth-place finish on the grass in the Tropical Park Derby on Jan. 1. Asked how much he paid for the horse, Taub said: “A lot less than he’s worth now.”

At the start of his career, Imperialism raced five times for claiming prices, and could have been bought for as little as $25,000. His three previous victories were in allowance and claiming company.

Taub bought the Kentucky-bred based on the recommendation of his trainer, 21-year-old Kristin Mulhall. She became interested in the colt when a horse owner/friend in Florida, Greg Sally, thought Imperialism might be a prospect.

Although they said that Imperialism wasn’t specifically bought as a Kentucky Derby prospect, Taub and Mulhall will see where the horse takes them. Next up is the San Rafael on March 6.

When Imperialism arrived in California, Mulhall noticed that his right eye was sunken.

“It doesn’t affect his ability to look ahead,” she said, “but it prevents him from seeing horses that come up on that side of him.”