Fourty Niners Son wins San Luis Rey

Although 5-2 favorite One Off finished last Saturday in the $200,000 San Luis Rey Handicap at Santa Anita, the Grade II had a satisfying ending for trainer Neil Drysdale.

Fourty Niners Son, the other horse the Hall of Fame trainer started in the race, ended a five-race losing streak with a one-length victory in his first collaboration with jockey Garrett Gomez.

In winning for the first time since he took the 2005 Clement L. Hirsch more than 18 months earlier, the 6-year-old Distorted Humor horse tracked the slow pace set by longshot A.P. Xcellent, got the lead into the stretch and went on to win in 2:27.50 for the 1 1/2 miles on turf.

Owned by breeder Tom Baxter, Fourty Niners Son, the 3-1 second choice, has six wins in 19 starts and half of his victories have come in Arcadia. In addition to the San Luis Rey and Hirsch, he won an allowance race locally on April 17, 2005.

The win was the third in the race for Drysdale, who wasn’t on hand to see Fourty Niners Son emulate what Prized (1990) and Single Empire (1999) had earlier done for the trainer. He was en route to the United Arab Emirates where he will saddle Obrigado in the $5 million Dubai Sheema Classic Saturday at Nad al Sheba.

“The horse did everything I expected him to do,” Gomez said. “I wanted him to get into the race sooner, so I kind of shoved on him a little bit coming down the hill. I didn’t want to be head and head for the lead, but when Victor [Espinoza on A.P. Xcellent] slowed it down like he did, I had no options.

“He was comfortable where we were and turning for home, he laid his body down and really went to running.”

Notable Guest, the 7-2 third choice, finished second, a nose in front of Prospect Park.

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Rebounding from the first loss of his career last month in Arkansas, Hard Spun, the 5-2 second choice, was dominant in the $500,000 Lane’s End at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

Winning for the fifth time in six starts, the 3-year-old Danzig colt won by 3 1/4 lengths over 12-1 longshot Sedgefield in his first experience with a synthetic track. Mario Pino rode Hard Spun for Fox Hill Farms, Inc. and trainer Larry Jones. On Feb. 19, Hard Spun had finished fourth in the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, a track Jones has been saying the Pennsylvania colt simply did not like.

Hard Spun will probably return in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 14 at Keeneland, which also has a synthetic track.

“He seems to like Polytrack and Keeneland is almost like home,” Jones said. “We definitely want one more prep” before the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

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Maryfield, ridden by Jorge Chavez and trained by Doug O’Neill, overcame a slow start and rallied for a 2 1/4 -length victory in the $158,500 Distaff Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Aqueduct.

A race earlier, Control System remained unbeaten in three starts with a 3 1/2 -length victory in the $109,600 Cicada Stakes.

bob.mieszerski@latimes.com