Santa Anita back on track; so is Bejarano

Jockey Rafael Bejarano certainly enjoyed himself as racing resumed at Santa Anita on Saturday.

After a one-week break to renovate the troubled main track, Santa Anita offered three graded stakes. Bejarano won two of them and missed by a head in the other. The Peruvian rider, who is tied for second with David Flores in the standings, five behind leader Garrett Gomez, also won two other races.

Over a synthetic surface that definitely appeared to be slower than it had been earlier in the meet, Bejarano won from off the pace with second choice Double Trouble in the $245,000 Santa Maria and with 8-5 favorite Golden Doc A in the $250,000 Las Virgenes.

Making her first start since being purchased privately by owner Ron McCauley, and facing a field that didn’t include Country Star and Indian Blessing, California’s two best 3-year-old fillies, Golden Doc A, despite drifting out in the stretch while failing to change leads, defeated Lovely Isle and four others for the first graded win of her career.

It was the second Grade I victory for trainer Barry Abrams, who won the 1997 Del Mar Oaks with Famous Digger.

“I was confident the whole time,” Abrams said after the one-length win in 1:35.86 for the mile. “When you have the best horse in the race, you don’t worry.”

The victory in the Santa Maria came a lot easier for Bejarano.

In a field that was reduced to four starters and certainly was not the strongest Grade I in the history of Santa Anita, Double Trouble rallied from last to win by 4 1/2 lengths over 1-2 favorite Tough Tiz’s Sis.

Trained by Bobby Frankel, Double Trouble has four wins in nine starts since coming to the U.S.

Bejarano came up inches short on Heatseeker in the $250,000 San Antonio Handicap, which 14-1 shot Well Armed won in wire-to-wire fashion.

Quickly clear under jockey Aaron Gryder, Well Armed, a 5-year-old Tiznow gelding who had finished third as the favorite in the San Pasqual Handicap nearly a month earlier, had a 3 1/2 -length lead with an eighth of a mile to run, then was all out to hold on in 1:47.73 for the nine furlongs.

Trained by Eoin Harty, Well Armed won for the fourth time in 15 starts, but he is now two for four in this country.

Favorites won all four of the graded stakes on Louisiana Derby Preview Day at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

Indian Blessing remained unbeaten with a victory under Gomez in the $200,000 Silverbulletday. Other winners included another California shipper, Daytona, who led throughout under jockey Mike Smith in the $150,000 Fair Grounds Handicap, Grasshopper in the $150,000 Mineshaft and the talented 3-year-old Pyro, who rallied from last to win the $200,000 Risen Star.

bob.mieszerski@latimes.com