GOLDEN PICKS
FOR YOU TO KETCH -- Brothers Desormeaux gave it their best shot at 12-1 in seven-furlong test, beaten less than three lengths despite breaking from dreaded rail. Jockey Kent, trainer Keith can team for victory with better post vs. $16,000 types.
OUR GOLDEN PROMISE -- Made monster move near three-quarter mark and opened apparent unbeatable margin in mid-stretch, only to weaken in final yards at 30-1 for Mel Stute. Should leave maiden claiming ranks with similar effort at mile or over.
ALYROB -- Three-year-old son of all-time money winner Alysheba could be one of the ones on the Triple Crown trail. Showed his potential for unheralded trainer Wally Dollase in workmanlike victory at one mile. Rush to the Derby Future Book before he becomes a household name and the price goes down. Alyrob may make his next start in the SWanta Catalina Stakes on Feb. 4.
COLORADO SWINGER -- Northern California invader was well-meant vs. odds-on winner Nor'easter, and ran gamely to the wire to hold second. Seven-time winner should add to his total with similar performance vs. Cal-bred allowance sprinters.
THE HOMESTRETCH:It could be old news by now, but the CaliforniaHorse Racing Board is investigating a morphine positive, a Class I pohibited drug, found in a post-race urine test on one of Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel's horses. Reportedly, the horse won at this Santa Anita meeting. The last time a trainer was nailed for such an infraction was July 22, 1995, when Bob Hess Jr. got 60 days after one of his horses, Guide, tested positive for the illegal drug after running third at Hollywood Park on May 6. How serious is a Class I violation? "In the old days," said one prominent trainer, "they'd give you life." . . . Highlights from last Friday's first day of hearings on Corey Nakatani's post-race whipping incident on Dec. 29: Fellow jockey Corey Black, who rode fifth-place finisher Kindred Spirit in the race and was close enough to Nakatani's mount afterwards to hear the sound of a whip being used on a horse, said he later exchanged words with Nakatani in the jockeys' room. "It wasn't pleasantries," Black said. "It was a one-sided conversation." Pressed to be more specific, Black added: "I think I called him an inhumane s.o.b. I was angry at the time." Black, who noted he didn't see Nakatani hit the horse with his whip, said his horse was spooked by the sound of the whip. "I almost fell off," Black said, adding " . . . I've done it (hit horses with a whip after a race) out of frustration and been fined for it. Do I think that a fine is proper? Absolutely. It's against the rules. There have been times when I've gone what I consider over the rules and paid the price." Eva Wheeler, a pony girl who said she obtained her license in 1970, testified she saw Nakatani hit his mount, Tillie's Joy, "three times alongside the neck and face area" after the horses had crossed the finish line and were being pulled up. Tillie's Joy, a 2-year-old colt, suffered multiple fractures of his left front cannon bone shortly thereafter and had to be destroyed. He finished sixth as the 19-10 favorite in a field of 12 maidens. "All jockeys do it (hit horses with their whips after they cross the finish line)," Wheeler said, "not just Corey . . . I see it every day, but since it happened, I haven't seen it." The CHRB has filed an administrative complaint against Nakatani, allegedly for violation of the rule which reads in part that a jockey shall not hit a horse ". . . when a horse is clearly out of the race or has obtained its maximum placing . . . ." Stewards Pete Pedersen, Tom Ward and Ingrid Fermin conducted the hearing, with Black testifying for about 45 minutes. Trainer Darrell Vienna and Shauna Weeks represented Nakatani, whose mounts ranked second nationally with nearly $15 million in earnings last year. Nakatani, who has denied any wrongdoing, picked at his hands and finger nails during the two-hour session. Pedersen said a ruling probably will be rendered two days after the hearing ends. Barring undue delays, Pedersen hoped the hearing would be over by Sunday (Jan. 21). P.S. When the story broke, TV crews swarmed Santa Anita's walking ring for the press conference. There were no TV cameras on hand during the first day of the hearings, held at the track's executive offices. Guess there are few sound bite opportunities from two hours of mostly repetitious, often irrelevant testimony . . . As of Friday, no decision had been made on Best Pal's racing future. The all-time California-bred money winner with earnings of $5,668,245, finished eighth, beaten 13 lengths, in the San Pasqual Handicap. "We've looked him over and can't find anything wrong with him," trainer Dick Mandella said from his Hollywood Park headquarters. "And I haven't heard from the owners (John and Betty Mabee)." . . . Jay Cohen, who years ago left Audubon (N.J.) High School's music department to become the greatest horn blower in Southern California since Harry James, is out indefinitely after surgery to remove a bone spur in his neck. Owen Kirschner is the new man with a horn . . . Laffit Pincay Jr. update: Through the first race last Thursday, the 49-year-old Hall of Fame jockey had won 8,368 races, with 6,743 seconds and 5,700 thirds from 41,196 mounts. His mounts had earned $189,992,644, an all-time record. Pincay needed 465 to equal Bill Shoemaker's all-time victory mark of 8,833. When Pincay finished second on No Cold War in Friday's second race, he became the first rider to top $190 million in career earnings . . .
Think horse racing has an identity problem? In the voting for the 1995 Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, not one of the 30 athletes receiving votes represented racing. Jerry Bailey, Gary Stevens or Corey Nakatani, not even D. Wayne Lukas received one vote. But two guys named Danny Wuerffel and Halle Gebrselassie got votes, and if you know what their sports are, please contact Alex Trebek . . . Former jockey and agent Wayne Harris, who handled mounts for veteran Jorge Tejeira, reports the Panamanian likely will abort his latest comeback attempt. "He had an operation on his left arm, which he shattered in 1970, but so far, it's been too painful for him," said Harris. Tejeira, 47, was one of Southern California's leading riders in the early 1970s . . . D. Wayne Lukas, a gracious loser to Bill Mott in his bid for a record fifth Eclipse Award, compiled $12.8 million in earnings and won three divisional titles (Thunder Gulch, 3-year-old male), Serena's Song (3-year-old filly) and Golden Attraction (2-year-old filly). "Like I've told a lot of people," the 60-year-old Lukas said with a smile, "If I didn't win it this year, what do I have to do to win?" Answer: do just as he did in 1995, only circumnavigate Cigar . . . Sympathies to Eddie Delahoussaye, whose mother, Loula Mae, died of respiratory failure Jan. 11 in their hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana. Mrs. Delahoussaye, 69, had been ill for some time. Eddie D., one of racing's class acts, took off all mounts last Saturday, Sunday and Monday to attend the funeral, but he stayed around for Friday's last race to win on 8-1 first-time starter Case History for baby-faced trainer Mike Machowsky . . . Just Super: Santa Anita and Bay Meadows will advance post times on Super Bowl Sunday in an effort to finish their races before the 3:20 p.m. kickoff. First post at Santa Anita will be 11 a.m., 15 minutes after the start at Bay Meadows. Santa Anita has its ninth and final race set for 3 p.m. . . . The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award will be presented to Gary Stevens in a special ceremony between races on Sunday, Feb. 18 . . . Richie Silverstein, agent for Martin Pedroza, has an excellent financial profile, with a slight catch. "My accountant told me I have enough money for the rest of my life," Silverstein said, "as long as I die by Valentine's Day."
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