Columnist Ralph Siraco: Ryafan captures prestigious Matriarch at Hollywood Park

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Dec. 1, 1997 | 10:35 a.m.

EACH YEAR at this time, there is a last-minute crunch to achieve racing milestones as the days wind down to year's end.

Just like the holiday weekend, racing was stuffed like a Butterball turkey with activity zeroing in on records and award performances. And now, in the final month of this calendar year, there's a final rush to complete the holiday shopping list of unfinished racing business.

The busy four-day holiday racing schedule provided the stage and opportunity for the records and awards.

Hollywood Park conducted the Autumn Turf Festival through the Thanksgiving weekend, and the Grade I Matriarch was one of the centerpiece events. Sunday's 17th renewal had an Eclipse Award on the line in addition to the $700,000 pot of gold at the end of the 1 1/4-mile journey over the soggy Hollywood Park turf course.

One of three important Grade I races for the older filly and mare turf specialists, this Matriarch brought together the winners of the prior pair for a rubber-match showdown and the division title.

It has been argued for several years now that the Breeders' Cup series of championship races should include an event exclusively for fillies and mares on the turf at a route distance. The position of Breeders' Cup, to this point has been the turf distaffers have that opportunity against males in either the Breeders' Cup Mile or the Turf and maintain that many European distaffers run against the "boys" throughout the year.

Notwithstanding the debate, three such championship races are conducted in America each year to serve that division and are the primaries for Eclipse Award votes in that category.

Memories Of Silver, who beat Maxzene by a neck on a surface labeled good, won the Beverly D. at Arlington International Racecourse in August. Ryafan won the Yellow Ribbon on a firm Santa Anita course at Oak Tree in October, while Memories Of Silver, who finished third, nearly went down when encountering traffic trouble after hitting the rail.

So Ryafan, who had also won the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Cup at Keeneland in her only other U.S. start, would meet Memories Of Silver, a six-time turf winner, in the Matriarch for the title hardware. However, it was anything but a two-filly race. The aforementioned Maxzene was back, in addition to the hard-knocking Real Connection, Yellow Ribbone runner-up Fanjica and multi-turf winner Yokama.

Alex Solis, Hollywood's leading rider positioned Ryafan just off the long shot pace-setter Chile Chatte through the early going, put that one away at the top of the homestretch and then withstood a stiff challenge from a hard-charging Maxzene, who rolled up to the rail in the final stages, to capture the trophy by a head. Yokama completed the trifecta as Memories Of Silver failed to muster a bid. The Bobby Frankel-trained victress has all but assured the Eclipse with a three-for-three U.S. grade turf record this year.

Jockey Jerry Bailey, who has been in "that zone" most of the year, turned a Memories Of Silver also-ran into a memorable victory with outsider Subordination in the Grade I Hollywood Derby following the Matriarch on the Hollypark carpet. Winning four of seven turf starts this year, the sophomore beat an international field for his richest victory and took down the major portion of a $500,000 purse.

Bailey made a stop at Churchill Downs on Friday before heading to Southern California and visited the winner's circle of the famed Kentucky track for the fourth time, on the day after the featured Clark Stakes, aboard winner Concerto.

Churchill Downs closed its most successful fall meeting on Saturday and no rider could have been more frustrated than jockey Calvin Borel. Borel trailed Pat Day by just one victory in the jockey standings with two days remaining and had the golden shot at winning the title when Day left to represent the United States in an all-star jockey championship in Japan. With a total of 20 chances on the final two programs, Borel failed to win a single race, allowing Day to capture an unprecedented 34th Churchill riding title.

Two other riders are approaching milestones that should be reached this week.

Jockey Russell Baze, perennial Northern California leader, is once again on his way to another 400-win year. Baze will reach that lofty plateau for the sixth consecutive year and only needs just over a dozen more wins to hit the number. No other jockey has won as many races as 400 in a year three times, consecutively or otherwise. A more important milestone for Baze, however, will come with his next visit to the winner's circle. Baze is just one victory short of becoming the 12th rider to win 6,000 career races in thoroughbred racing history.

Although Baze will reach the 400 and 6,000 plateaus soon, he will relinquish the title of the nation's leading rider in number of wins. After holding that spot for the last five consecutive years, Baze will yield to Maryland-based rider Edgar Prado who has 499 victories on the year. Prado won five races on Saturday's Laurel Park card and is in hot pursuit of the all-time record of 547 set by Kent Desormeaux in 1989 on the same Maryland circuit.