The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)UNBEATEN SWISS YODELER LEADS FIELD OF SEVEN IN DEL MAR FUTURITY
Swiss Yodeler, victorious in his five lifetime starts, will face his toughest test yet as he leads a field of seven 2-year-olds to the post for the Grade II, $250,000- guaranteed Del Mar Futurity today, the closing day of the seaside course's 43-day race meet. The winner's share of the purse is $150,000.
TIGHT JOCKEY'S TITLE RACE COMES DOWN TO WIRE IN FOUR-MAN PHOTO
In one of the most competitive jockey races in recent memory, four riders will lay it on the line in today's final race card of Del Mar's 43-day season as they pursue the 1996 riding title at the seaside course.
Alex Solis and Patrick Valenzuela are tied at the top with 42 victories each. Corey Nakatani, who has 40 winners, was awarded a stay of one day of his five-day susension to allow him to ride today in an effort to capture the crown. During Nakatani's four-day hiatus, Solis and Valenzuela swooped past him. Still with an outside chance at the title is last year's winner, Chris McCarron, who has 38 winners.
Going into the final day's racing, Solis seems to have the edge, with 10 mounts on the day. Valenzuela has six, while Nakatani and McCarron have five.
The last time there was a tie in the final rider standings was in 1950 when a couple of guys named Bill Shoemaker and Johnny Longden chalked up 60 wins apiece.
Here's the way the race shapes up today, with mounts and morning-line odds:
Alex Solis (42) - (10 mounts): 1st race, Just Plain Fancy, 2-1; 2nd, Highland Sport, 7-2; 3rd, Venus Genus, 5-2; 4th, Dollar Prospect, 6-1; 5th, Conquest, 6-1; 6th, Office Sweets, 5-1; 7th, Beau's Tribute, 5-1; 8th, Swiss Yodeler, 7-5; 9th, Benton Creek, 4-1; 10th, Fleet Dreamer, 12-1.
Patrick Valenzuela (42) - (6 mounts): 2nd race, Peppy's Lucky Boy, 4-1; 3rd, Pay the Bank, 2-1; 5th, Wolf Creek, 3-1; Danette's Hailey, 6-1; 7th, Saltgrass, 15-1; 10th, Bellesonette, 3-1.
Corey Nakatani (40) - (5 mounts): 2nd race, Nick's Flyer, 5-1; 3rd, Bacavi, 6-1; 7th, Khoraz, 2-1; 9th, Really Sovereign, 12-1; 10th, Woodmiss, 7-2.
Chris McCarron (38) - (5 mounts): 5th race, Sycamore Springs, 2-1; 7th, Smooth Runner, 7-5; 8th, General Royal, 8-1; 9th, Great Treasure, 8-5; 10th Willowick, 8-1.
MITCHELL WINS SIXTH TRAINING TITLE ; BAFFERT, CARAVA ARE CLOSE
Even though there's one more day of racing in Del Mar's 1996 season, the issue is not in doubt: Mike Mitchell has won his sixth training title where the turf meets the surf.
The victory by his trainee, Raise the Prize, in Monday's fourth race gave him 17 victories for the meet and put him out of reach of his closest pursuers, Bob Baffert and Jack Carava. Mitchell will send out one horse on today's closing-day card in hopes of adding more luster to his record.
Baffert, who has 14 winners at the meet, will saddle three horses today, but two are in the featured Del Mar Futurity so the best he can do is win two races. Carava, who has had his best Del Mar season ever, has 13 winners, and has one horse entered today.
Jenine Sahadi and Ron McAnally are tied for fourth in the standings with 11 victories each, and Robert Hess, Jr. and Walter Greenman have 10 each.
DOUBLE WINNER MCANALLY'S FUTURITY STREAK ENDS TODAY
Trainer Ron McAnally has won the past two runnings of the Del Mar Futurity, but the buck stops here today. McAnally has no horse in the race. His consecutive wins with Verne Winchell's On Target and Future Quest made him only the fourth trainer in the 48 editions of the Futurity to pull off the feat, joining Carl Roles (1963-64), Clyde Turk (1965-66) and D. Wayne Lukas (1983-84). Roles won with horses owned by Louis Rowan.
Also chalking up successive wins as owner is John and Betty Mabee's Golden Eagle Farm, who won with River Special and Winning Pact in 1992 and '93. Golden Eagle had won previously with Best Pal in 1990, making the Mabees the only owners with three wins in the race. The now-retired Best Pal, of course, went on to become the all-time money-winning champion among Cal-breds and fourth-best overall with $5,668,245.
The trainer with the most Futurity victories is Lukas, who will be shooting for his fourth win with the maiden, Gold Tribute, in today's race. Two of Lukas' wins came with fillies, Althea in 1983 and Lost Kitty in 1987, only the second and third fillies to win. The first was Clement Hirsch's June Darling, trained by Warren Stute, in 1970. Lukas' winner in '84 was Saratoga Six.
Jockey Chris McCarron, Del Mar's all-time stakes-winning rider with 106 added-money victories, has a chance, on General Royal, to move closer to the Futurity's leading rider, Bill Shoemaker, who won six times. McCarron has three to his credit, leaving him one behind Laffit Pincay, Jr.'s second-place total of four.
Today's Futurity winner will etch his name alongside some other sterling performers over the years, including Bertrando, Qualify, Tasso, Roving Boy, Gato Del Sol, Flying Paster, Telly's Pop, Baffle, Tomy Lee, Old Pueblo, Your Host and the first Futurity winner, Star Fiddle.
TODAY'S FUTURITY OWNERS RANGE FROM BIG MACS TO BEER TRUCKS
Here are some quick profiles on the owners of today's Futurity contestants:
Gold Tribute and Silver Charm: Robert and Beverly Lewis, he being a longtime Budweiser distributor; Michael Tabor, full time in racing after selling a series of bet shops in England.
General Royal: Carl Cox owns several Shell gasoline stations, both in Northern and Southern California; William Sullivan owns Coffee World shops in the Sacramento, CA, area; William Allen is a funeral director in Turlock, CA; and Jeff Bonde is a partner and trainer of the horse.
Zippersup: Mike Pegram owns numerous McDonald franchises in the Seattle area, and is extremely active in Thoroughbred ownership, with Bob Baffert as his major trainer.
Red: Jack L. Finley is a longtime rancher in the Phoenix area and raiser of quarter horses for racing. He is active in Thoroughbred ownership, also, and has been an owner with trainer Henry Moreno for many years.
Golden Bronze: Allen Pribble is a banker and Bill Thomas is a retired businessman and longtime client of trainer Mel Stute.
Swiss Yodeler: Heinz Steinmann is retired. He formerly owned a Southern California ski resort.
The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com)