Douglas Succeeds in Guiding Light Jig to a Victory

Rene Douglas and his good friend Laffit Pincay, the retired jockey, had dinner Friday night in Arcadia. Then they went to Douglas’ nearby home for the dessert, which was a taped replay of one of Light Jig’s wins earlier this year.

Douglas, whose return to Santa Anita from Arlington Park has been met with quick success, had never ridden Light Jig before, but the 37-year-old jockey and the 4-year-old filly are likely to meet again after he rode her to a four-length victory over Tangle in the $500,000 Yellow Ribbon Stakes on Saturday.

“I knew going in that she was a long-striding filly and the extra distance [at 1 1/4 miles] would help her,” said Douglas, the perennial leading rider at Arlington who’s back in California after eight years.

Light Jig, trained by Bobby Frankel, finished sixth in the John Mabee Handicap at Del Mar, a 1 1/8 -mile race. Before that, Prince Khalid Abdullah’s British-bred filly won twice at the Yellow Ribbon distance at Hollywood Park.

Douglas has had seven winners in the first four days of the Oak Tree meet.

“It’s good to be back, it’s nice to ride a filly like this, and it’s good to ride for Bobby Frankel,” Douglas said. “The main reason I left the last time is I wasn’t winning as much as I’d like, and I like to be in a place where I’m winning a lot of races.”

Favored Light Jig, winning for the fourth time in six starts since leaving France, reached the wire in 1:59 1/5 and paid $4.60.

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Frankel, represented by his assistant, Humberto Ascanio, won a second stake at Santa Anita when Lundy’s Liability, a Dubai import making his first U.S. start, beat favored Total Impact by a head to win the $500,000 Goodwood Handicap. A foul claim against the winner by Corey Nakatani, the rider of Supah Blitz, the third-place finisher, was disallowed by the stewards.

In the $200,000 Oak Leaf, Sweet Catomine earned a trip to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with a four-length win.

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Funny Cide, who had won only one stake since his wins in the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, overtook 20-1 shot Newfoundland in the last sixteenth of a mile to win the $1-million Jockey Club Gold Cup by three-quarters of a length at Belmont Park in New York.

Newfoundland had put away favored Love Of Money in their stretch duel but couldn’t hold off Funny Cide, who came from the outside under Jose Santos. Funny Cide, likely to run next in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Lone Star Park on Oct. 30, paid $7.60.

The Cliff’s Edge finished third, Love Of Money sixth and California shipper Domestic Dispute last in the seven-horse field.

Also at Belmont, Pico Central shipped in from Hollywood Park to win the double-tough Vosburgh, a $500,000 race; Riskaverse, winless this year, won the $750,000 Flower Bowl at 8-1; and Kitten’s Joy, at 2-1, outfinished favored Magistretti to win the $750,000 Turf Classic and register his eighth win in 11 starts.

Voodoo, who went off at 23-1, finished second, four lengths behind, in the Vosburgh, which also featured Cajun Beat, winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and the odds-on favorite Speightstown, undefeated in four tries this year. Speightstown finished third.

Pico Central added the Vosburgh to a list of Grade I wins that include the Carter and Metropolitan Handicaps in New York. It would cost a supplementary penalty of $200,000 to make Pico Central eligible for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint; owner Gary Tanaka’s 5-year-old may already have done enough to win the division title without running in Texas.

With Alex Solis out for a few more months, Victor Espinoza rode Pico Central for trainer Paulo Lobo.

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Perfect Drift, who had lost seven straight races since winning last year’s Hawthorne Gold Cup, was 1-2 to win the 68th running of the stake. But the 6-year-old Freefourinternet, ridden by Greta Kuntzweiler, sprang a 27-1 upset as Perfect Drift finished second.... Ashado won the $250,000 Cotillion Stakes at Philadelphia Park.... Brass Hat won the $500,000 Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park. Hasslefree and Perfect Moon, horses with California connections, ran third and fifth.