Columnist Ralph Siraco: Wheelchair-bound trainer’s win tops Cal Cup day

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Oct. 18, 2004 | 10:11 a.m.

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

For the past several weeks those in the racing world have been scrutinizing every stakes race from coast to coast and beyond, searching for the newest entrant in the World Thoroughbred Championships to be held at Lone Star Park on October 30. Dozens of Breeders' Cup prep races covering each of the divisions to be represented in the eight championship races on Breeders' Cup Day have produced at least quantity if not always quality to the fields.

Pre-entries will be taken for the Breeders' Cup on Wednesday with the official declaration of entries shaping the eight championship races the following Wednesday, October 27th.

So, it was nice to get a Breeders' Cup preview break over the weekend at the Oak Tree meeting in Southern California. Hosted at Santa Anita, the 15th Cal Cup featured California-bred runners in a day of stakes races limited to Golden State competitors. And, at least most if not all the winning owners on Saturday will enjoy the spoils of a Cal Cup victory while bypassing any nonsensical notion of wheeling back for a Breeders' Cup berth in two weeks. Hopefully.

This Cal Cup had a little bit of something for everyone.

Over the 10-race Cal Cup there were great finishes, bomber prices, a pair of juveniles who broke their maidens at the stakes level and a 'feel-good' story in the centerpiece Classic.

A victory by Cozy Guy in the $250,000 Cal Cup Classic produced, by far, the most popular and emotional celebration in a busy Arcadia winners circle. The 3-year-old gelding is trained by Dan Hendricks, who until recently could have walked into the winners enclosure under his own power. Hendricks instead, maneuvered himself in a wheelchair to greet jockey Corey Nakatani and Cozy Guy as they returned from a heart-pumping stretch duel with Lava Man before prevailing in the shadow of the finish line.

Hendricks was paralyzed in July while competing in a motocross race. The 45-year-old native of Los Angeles has been training race horses on the Southern California racing circuit since 1987 after spending nine years prior to that working under the tutelage of trainer Richard Mandella. Although this victory with Cozy Guy could be his most cherished because of the circumstances surrounding the win, Hendricks counts multiple-Graded stakes winners Smooth Player, Feverish, Gray Slewpy, Reba's Gold and Don'tsellmeshort among those equines he has trained. But, winning the richest race on the Cal Cup card this year was just what the doctor ordered.

"This is great, it really picks us up," said Hendricks. While wife Samantha and their three children have handled the new challenges that Hendricks faces, the family and their strength was noticeable through the early days of his recovery. Now, philosophical about his confinement to a wheel chair, Hendricks quipped he never was much for mucking out stalls anyway. "Either I can sit at home and cry, or I can go on and deal with it," he said. After Cozy Guy's victory, Hendricks conferred,"This helps me deal with it, makes it a lot easier." And with a trackside staff at the barn as close as family, Hendricks only concern while wheeling around the backside will be avoiding that matter of which he didn't shovel anyway.

Trainer Bob Baffert had an agonizing Cal Cup Day. The seven-time Cal Cup winner sent out favorites Yearly Report in the Cal Cup Matron and Western Hemisphere in the Distaff. Together they were beaten by less than the length of his silver hair. Yearly Report lost a nose decision to pace-setter Dream Of Summer while Western Hemisphere lost a head-bob to the highest priced winner in Cal Cup history when Our Mango won the photo for a payoff of $100.20 to win.

Two first-year runners used the Cal Cup appearances to break their maidens. Texcess won the Juvenile in his second lifetime start after losing by a nose in his debut, also a stakes race at Fairplex Park. After finishing second in three previous lifetime starts, Lady Truffles put it all together in winning the Juvenile Fillies.

Although trainers Doug O'Neill and Jeff Mullins have been leading the Southern California trainers standings for several years, each were held to a single victory on Saturday. Mullins won the opener with Test The Waters in the Cal Cup Distance before he blanked in five other races. O'Neill beat himself when he finished 1-2 in the Cal Cup Sprint with Areyoutalkingtome outrunning stablemate Full Moon Madness who was recently claimed by the trainer. O'Neill could not repeat in four other Cal Cup events.

Now that we've had our breather, Wednesday will start the final stages to the Breeders' Cup.

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