Columnist Ralph Siraco: A weekend for the dogs: Long shots have their day

Ralph Siraco

Monday, March 15, 2004 | 9:23 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

What a weekend for the three-year-old crop on the way to the Kentucky Derby as well as the Kentucky Oaks.

The two premier races that will dominate the final day of April and the first day of May have yet to find a powerhouse powerhorse. The marquee is filled with names and none has done enough to demand the top billing.

This weekend there were four significant races for those equines aspiring to the Kentucky Derby. There were two for Oaks hopefuls as well. And, there was pool No. 2 in the pari-mutuel future book wagers on each. But, forget about the future, the present is hard enough to figure out.

The future betting should have been replaced by proposition bets covering the weekend action.

Well, if you'd taken the odds, you could have owned your local race book betting the outcome of such propositions.

Trainer Richard Mandella's two juvenile sweethearts shot blanks as sophomores over the weekend. Action This Day flopped after stalking the pacesetters early in the San Felipe Stakes, finishing off the board. Prohibitive favorite Halfbrided lost her sophomore debut in the Santa Anita Oaks with no apparent excuse. She snapped her undefeated ranks with a dull runner-up effort and is now a question mark.

Trainer Nick Zito, who has won two Kentucky Derbies, sent out two of his most promising Derby prospects in Eurosilver and The Cliff's Edge. Eurosilver closed like a runaway freight train in the 7-furlong Swale Stakes as the odds-on choice and came within an eyelash of winning. Wynn Dot Comma held on to give jockey Edgar Prado his 5,000th career victory at the expense of Euro-backers.

Shane Sellers couldn't get The Cliff's Edge in gear fast enough to stay with upsetter Friends Lake while checking in third.

Although trainer Richard Violette had Swingforthefences promising for prime time, it was stablemate Read The Footnotes that was expected to win over the weekend. Read The Footnotes, second on the Derby Watch list, went into the Florida Derby off an impressive win in the Fountain Of Youth. Jockey Jerry Bailey added to the confidence of the Sunshine State choice. But, the favorite came up empty at crunch time leading the way to an upset. Swingforthefences loomed a danger on Sunday in the Tampa Bay Derby only to hang in the stretch and finish third.

Trainer Todd Pletcher, who is enjoying another banner season at Gulfstream Park, sent out Value Plus in the Florida Derby and Limehouse in the Tampa Bay Derby. Although each was given a solid chance at victory, two wins would have been a stretch. Value Plus finished second in the Florida Derby, outrunning Read The Footnotes, Tapit and The Cliff's Edge. Limehouse, who went off favorite under jockey Pat Day, won a stirring stretch duel to prevail in the Tampa Bay Derby. With his runner-up Florida Derby and the Tampa Bay Derby victory, Pletcher bettered Mandella's Action This Day and Halfbridled, Zito's Eurosilver and The Cliff's Edge and Violette's Read The Footnotes and Swingforthefences. Cash the dog again -- sweep!

Other sophomore efforts of note over the turbulent weekend include Kilgowan's upset victory in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate that paid $55.80, a third-place tightener for Minister Eric in a downhill race at Santa Anita, the victory by Preachinatthebar in the San Felipe and runner-up St. Averil -- both with solid performances and Mustanfar's second-place finish to Limehouse in the Tampa Bay Derby.

The sorority house showcased challenges to Halfbridled for the division with an eye-opening win by Madcap Escapade in the Forward Gal at Gulfstream Park and the victory by Silent Sighs in the Santa Anita Oaks at the expense of Halfbridled.

Whoof, whoof.

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