Columnist Ralph Siraco: Big ‘Cap is a nice fit for the ‘General’

Ralph Siraco

Monday, March 6, 2000 | 9:18 a.m.

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

Racing was the common denominator this weekend in Las Vegas.

The need for speed was overshadowed by the need for a dry racing surface -- both under the hood and under the hide.

But what NASCAR and the NTRA got was not what they wanted; instead, they got what Mother Nature dished out -- rain and wet surfaces.

While the CarsDirect.com 400 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway had to be shortened because of damp conditions, the thoroughbreds raced their way through the soggy going at Santa Anita in the Santa Anita Handicap Saturday.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association's second leg of its Champions on Fox series was the Grade I $1 million Santa Anita Handicap. And, like NASCAR's main event in Las Vegas on Sunday, it was conducted between and around the weather fronts rolling through the region.

But the NTRA event was a "go" rain or shine. You see, unlike the auto races, the original source of horsepower runs on "off" tracks as well as dry ones.

And the overnight rains that drenched the Southern California area on Friday night into Saturday morning rendered the racing surface at Santa Anita "off" for the Big 'Cap racing card. Even so, the official label on the track conditions by the first post time of 12:05 p.m. on Saturday was "good," meaning the surface at the Arcadia, Calif., track had absorbed the rains and was drying out by race time.

The Big 'Cap was the fifth of 11 races on the program, and a field of eight stayed intact for the 1 1/4-mile event, with no late scratches. In the field for the 63rd edition of the race were 1999 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Cat Thief, runner-up Budroyale, 1998 Santa Anita Handicap victor Malek and recent Strub Stakes winner General Challenge. Puerto Madero, who won last year's Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park as the first NTRA Champions on Fox series winner, was also in the lineup, as was California Cup Classic winner Bagshot.

The marquee horse was Budroyale, a 7-year-old gelding making his 47th start in a career that has seen him race for a claiming tag of $50,000 as recently as 1998. He was claimed in that race by his current owners and has been in the money in 15 of 18 stakes races since, with eight victories.

Although Budroyale ran his race Saturday, General Challenge ran a better one to capture the Santa Anita Handicap and ensure there would be no Cinderella finish to this year's race.

General Challenge, a homebred gelding of California's Golden Eagle Farms, roared from behind to sweep past Budroyale, Cat Thief and others to win after spotting his competition nearly 15 lengths in the early stages.

If all the country's major stakes races were run at Santa Anita, General Challenge would be Horse of the Year every year. He has recorded five of his nine career victories over the track at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, including two of his three Grade I victories. The other was last year's Santa Anita Derby.

But General Challenge is not a candidate for frequent-flyer miles. He does not travel well. He bombed as the favorite in the Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds before the Santa Anita Derby, then as the favorite in last year's Kentucky Derby, where he finished 11th. He only bettered that showing by one when he checked in 10th in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park later in the year.

Nevertheless, General Challenge has now run two of the most impressive races of his career with back-to-back powerhouse performances in the Strub and Santa Anita Handicap. It remains to be seen if trainer Bob Baffert decides to take his homesickness-prone star on the road again. Budroyale came to work with his lunch pail again and finished second, and Puerto Madero picked up the pieces for third.

* RACING ROUNDUP: In Sunday's New Orleans Handicap, a diverse field of eight competed over 1 1/8 miles, and while Golden Missile was sent off as the favorite, it was the longest shot on the board that flashed first under the wire. Allen's Oop outdueled fellow long shot Take Note of Me to prevail at $93.60 for the win. The runner-up paid $24.80 to place, and the $2 exacta 8-3 was worth a cool $726. Ecton Park, with Jerry Bailey aboard, checked in third. ...

At Gulfstream Park on Saturday, another Breeders' Cup alumnus returned to the winner's circle. The Pan American Handicap saw 1998 Breeders' Cup Turf champion Buck's Boy bounce back from an odds-on defeat over the same turf course earlier in the meet. In January, in the Mac Diarmida Handicap, Buck's Boy was caught in a suicide speed duel that contributed to a shocking defeat. Trainer Noel Hickey reported that his turf star was so depressed after the defeat that he did not elect to run him two weeks ago in the Canadian Turf Handicap, but instead trained him up to his victory on Saturday after the horse regained his "enthusiasm." ...

Speaking of speed, at Santa Anita on Sunday, some of the fastest thoroughbreds on the planet squared off in the seven-furlong San Carlos Handicap, and trainer Bruce Headley enjoyed the luxury of having two in the field of six under his shedrow.

The trainer gave rider Alex Solis the mount on Kona Gold and placed Garrett Gomez on stablemate Son Of A Pistol -- and, surprisingly, instructed the jockeys to engage each other in a speed duel. Son Of A Pistol prevailed by a slim margin with Old Topper a non-threatening third.

* DERBY TRAIL: The much-anticipated return of War Chant occurred on the undercard of Sunday's Big 'Cap program at Santa Anita. The Grade II San Rafael pitted the Neil Drysdale-trained colt against San Vicente winner Archer City Slew and the promising Bobby Frankel-trained Cocky.

Drysdale, who has the $4 million Fusaichi Pegasus on course for the Derby, wanted to get busy with War Chant, who had already posted two sensational victories. The Danzig colt gave backers some anxious moments, but prevailed to win by a shortening margin over Archer City Slew -- who battled the winner throughout the 1 1/16-mile contest. Cocky checked in third.

It seems that War Chant, who was cruising along the rail, saw a Fox broadcasting sign on the infield at about the sixteenth pole. The inexperienced colt shied away from the sign and lost his concentration, forcing jockey Kent Desormeaux to punch his horse on the neck to get his attention. Next time around, either the sign will be off or the blinkers will be on.

* FREEBIES: Las Vegas race players will once again have three chances at $1,000 this week.

On Wednesday at the Orleans race book, the Coast Resorts free weekly contest will cover the last five races on the Santa Anita card.

On Thursday at Texas Station, another shot at a grand will cover the last three races on the Gulfstream Park racing program coupled with the first three races at Santa Anita.

On Saturday at Sam's Town, a free contest will cover the last three races at Bay Meadows and Santa Anita Park. The Sam's Town contest is scheduled to continue through June.

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