Columnist Ralph Siraco: Derby hopefuls to square off at Santa Anita

Ralph Siraco

Monday, April 3, 2000 | 11:25 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday, and his Southern California selections run Tuesday through Friday. Write to him c/o Las Vegas Sun, 800 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89107.

It is hard to believe that the next first Saturday of the month will be Kentucky Derby day.

Saturday's turning of the calendar to April means one more full month remaining for those aspiring to partake in the first Derby of the millennium.

Two "Super Saturdays" of Derby preps remain, and the first comes this Saturday.

The richest and most important Derby prep for horses based on the West Coast, the Grade I $1 million Santa Anita Derby has been a useful steppingstone to the Kentucky Derby over its 62 editions.

The field of the 63rd Santa Anita Derby will not rival the 21 horses that entered the starting gate for the 1937 edition. In fact, it will be closer to the smallest field assembled -- five starters in 1946. The record is safe if trainer D. Wayne Lukas stays the course and runs his star filly Surfside to bring the expected field to six.

Lukas, who won his fourth Santa Anita Derby with Winning Colors in 1988, has fielded a dozen runners in the race since -- including last year's Kentucky Derby winner Charismatic, 1994 Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Tabasco Cat and 1995 Preakness winner Timber Country -- looking for number five.

Surfside is a perfect 3-for-3 this year with victories in three Santa Anita stakes outings that include her most recent win in the Santa Anita Oaks. Winning Colors used her Santa Anita Oaks victory as a springboard as well, but Surfside will find the competition much tougher this year.

Of the five boys expected in this year's field, four reside in the top five on the Daily Racing Form' s "Derbywatch" list.

War Chant will be making his fourth start in the Santa Anita Derby after a trio of well-spaced career outings. The royally bred son of Danzig, out of 1993 Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Hollywood Wildcat, boasts a perfect record while climbing the ladder of conditions.

The Deputy has been exceptional since arriving from Great Britain early this year. After winning his U.S. debut on the Santa Anita lawn, the Irish-bred switched to the main track for a gutty gate-to-wire victory in the Grade II Santa Catalina Stakes late January. He may have fired his best shot, however, while suffering his first defeat since his move from over the pond with a powerful runner-up effort in the San Felipe on March 19. He closed to within a length of Drysdale's No. 1 gun Fusaichi Pegasus in that outing.

Of all the Santa Anita Derby participants, Anees may be the most famous -- at the moment. The son of 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Unbridled made his sophomore debut in the San Felipe and finished third in a race most experts figured he needed. The 1999 Eclipse Award winner had not run since his victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Gulfstream Park last November. In addition, he had a training setback in preparation for his Derby run due to a minor injury that has since been corrected. He needs to move forward after his "tightener" if he is to keep on schedule for the Kentucky Derby.

Captain Steve represents trainer Bob Baffert's best shot at another Derby run. Mike Pegram's Captain Steve finished his juvenile year with back-to-back victories in the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs and the Grade I Hollywood Futurity before finishing third in his 3-year-old debut behind The Deputy in the Santa Catalina Stakes. A subsequent third in the March 12 Louisiana Derby has Captain Steve still searching for his first sophomore win.

And then there's Cocky. After breaking his maiden in his third career try by 13 lengths in the mud in February, the Bobby Frankel trainee was a fast-closing third to War Chant in the San Rafael in his most recent outing. Although Cocky gets a new ride in Alex Solis, the trainer's best chance to win the Derby may lie in Aptitude, who will go in the Wood Memorial.

Super Saturday II comes on April 15 with a trio of important Derby preps that include the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, the Wood and the Blue Grass.

And then ... Louisville, mint juleps and roses.