Horse Racing Capsules: Zenyatta improves to 15-0 with Santa Anita win

ARCADIA, Calif. — Zenyatta’s owners brought her back to the races so they could have some fun and the fans could enjoy the mare who loves putting on a show.

She delivered on both counts Saturday, when Zenyatta won the $250,000 Santa Margarita Handicap by 1¼ lengths, extending her career victory streak to 15-0.

"Everybody really loves her," co-owner Jerry Moss said. "Everybody’s so pleased to have her back and to root for her, and when she wins, she makes everybody happy."

The 6-year-old mare trailed a field of seven rivals going 1 1-8 miles in her season debut before unleashing her trademark late run to win under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith.

"This was a great, great race for her and it wasn’t taxing at all," Smith said. "We got enough out of this race to move forward."

In New Orleans, 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra was upset in her season debut, possibly jeopardizing the highly anticipated first meeting with Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom next month in Arkansas.

She was beaten three-quarters of a length by Zenyatta’s stablemate, Zardana; John Shirreffs trains both Southern California-based mares.

The two leading ladies of American racing were using Saturday’s races as tuneups for their scheduled April 9 showdown. Moss said he intends to run her there as planned, while Rachel Alexandra’s trainer Steve Asmussen was non-committal.

The owner of Oaklawn Park has promised a $5 million purse, but only if both the filly and the mare run.

Moss watched Rachel Alexandra lose at the Fair Grounds about 20 minutes before Zenyatta won.

"I’m sorry she lost, but she lost to a better horse," he said. "We’ll see what happens in the next race. Hopefully, she’ll come back a stronger racehorse in a month, and we’ll see the real Rachel, so to speak."

Zenyatta was timed in 1:48.20 on the synthetic surface and paid $2.60, $2.20 and $2.10 as the overwhelming 1-5 wagering favorite in her first race in four months.

Zenyatta’s path to continued perfection took a different route this time.

She appeared to break from the starting gate on her back feet before Smith settled her into last on her first trip past the grandstand. Dance to My Tune led the way around the backstretch, with Zenyatta eight lengths off the pace.

"I just have a lot of faith in Mike," Shirreffs said. "I know once he gets her in the clear, he has a good chance. She’s cut in between horses and everything, but when you have a big ‘X’ on your back, a lot of places don’t open up that normally would."

Coming out of the final turn, instead of going wide around the field — her typical move — Smith steered Zenyatta to the rail near the eighth pole. He found traffic down there, prompting announcer Trevor Denman to shout, "She has nowhere to go!"

A moment later, Zenyatta burst clear as the grandstand crowd erupted.

"Unbelievable!" Denman exclaimed.

She got by leader Dance to My Tune, and surged to the front with Smith never needing his whip.

"I cut some corners and gambled a bit, but I was confident at all times that if she needed to make room, she could," he said. "She’s a bit of a bully."

Zenyatta was the class of the Santa Margarita field, and as such, she was assigned high weight of 127 pounds — 12 to 19 more than her rivals. She was the only runner sent off at single-digit odds.

Dance to My Tune returned $19 and $9.40, while Floating Heart was another nose back in third and paid $4.20 to show.

On their way to the winner’s circle, Smith stopped Zenyatta in front of the grandstand and doffed his helmet to the heavens as the crowd cheered their hometown heroine.

"I’m like a fan," Smith said.

After soaking up the applause, Zenyatta pranced toward the jammed winner’s circle, where Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman was among those celebrating her victory.

"She’s the idol of perfection we all strive for," Moss said. "That’s about as profound as I get."

Moss and his wife, Ann, were going to retire Zenyatta after she became the first female to beat the boys in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic in November on the same track. But they changed their minds in January, putting her back into training instead of into the breeding business.

"She’s such a gift," Ann Moss said.

Zardana upsets Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds

NEW ORLEANS — America’s most famous filly fizzled out and now the most anticipated race of the year is no sure thing.

Rachel Alexandra lost her first start of 2010, beaten by Zenyatta’s stablemate, Zardana, in Saturday’s $200,000 New Orleans Ladies.

What was widely seen as a tune-up for Rachel Alexandra before her showdown with unbeaten mare Zenyatta at the $5 million Apple Blossom at Oaklawn on April 9, turned into a huge upset.

Zardana shocked the packed grandstand at the Fair Grounds Race Course, edging past the 2009 Horse of the Year halfway down the final stretch and holding on to win by 3-4 of a length.

"She was strong early and got tired," Rachel Alexandra trainer Steve Asmussen said. "I’m just disappointed she didn’t win today. It was a lack of fitness and it’s our job to have her there and I didn’t do it."

It turned out to be a great day for John Shirreffs, who trains both Zardana and Zenyatta — and watched the latter justify her pre-Apple Blossom hype by winning the Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita to improve her lifetime record to 15-0.

Now, after tourism officials in Hot Springs, Ark., had announced the printing of 50,000 trading cards of both Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra, it appears that Zardana could wind up being Zenyatta’s biggest rival instead. Asmussen declined to guarantee Rachel Alexandra’s appearance at Oaklawn next month.

"If I thought she’d get beat, I wouldn’t have run her today, so I’m definitely going to be cautious," Asmussen said.

The $5 million purse for the Apple Blossom is only guaranteed if both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta race.

Shortly before Saturday’s race, Asmussen walked Rachel Alexandra around the paddock himself, soaking in the adulation of the cheering crowd that was packing the perimeter and lining surrounding staircases to get photos of the star horse.

After going 8-0 as a 3-year-old, Rachel Alexandra was racing for the first time in more than six months but was an overwhelming 1-9 favorite, while Zardana, ridden by David Flores, went off at 9½-1.

Ridden by Calvin Borel, who also rode her to a win over males at last year’s Preakness Stakes, Rachel Alexandra broke comfortably from the No. 2 post position and quickly settled into second just outside of Fighter Wing. Borel seemed to have Rachel Alexandra calmly following Fighter Wing until easily pulling into first and moving to the rail in the middle of the final turn.

"I wanted to let her run her race early but they wanted me to wait," Borel said. "I’d have got by (Fighter Wing) any time and my filly could have gone on, but they wanted me to wait until the 16th pole."

It’s not clear if the strategy Borel preferred would have made a difference.

Zardana had the No. 3 post and quickly settled into third. She remained within four lengths of the leaders throughout and then rocketed down the final stretch.

"We had a picture-perfect trip," Flores said. "The strategy was simply to get her to relax and John (Shirreffs) said she would get the job done. I got after her pretty hard coming home but she is a real warrior."

The two leading horses ran side-by-side for much of the final stretch, with Zardana slightly ahead and holding on for her eighth career win in 19 starts.

Zardana posted a winning time of 1:43.55 on the 1 1-16-mile dry and fast dirt track on a cool, breezy day in New Orleans. Unforgotten was third in the five-horse field, 11 1-2 lengths behind Rachel Alexandra.

Zardana paid $21, $3.20 and $2.60. Rachel Alexandra paid $2.10 and $2.10 and Unforgotten paid $3.20.

-- Brett Martel

Lookin At Lucky wins Oaklawn’s Rebel by a head

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Bob Baffert took it easy on Lookin At Lucky while preparing for Saturday’s Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. That strategy nearly cost him a victory but he was content with how the top 3-year-old on the road to the Kentucky Derby fared in the 1 1-16 mile race.

"He passed all the tests," Baffert said after Lookin At Lucky recovered from a hard bump in the backstretch and won by a head over Noble’s Promise. "I wanted to prep him for the next one. I didn’t want to run him off the screen today. Even if he had run second it would have been OK."

In his first race since December, Lookin At Lucky was four wide in the turn for home and outran Noble’s Promise. Dublin finished third, three lengths back. In the backstretch, Lookin At Lucky and Noble’s Promise bumped, but both had cleared most of the field by the top of the stretch.

"I didn’t know how a young horse would react to that, but mine dug back like a real professional," jockey Garrett Gomez said. "Coming to the wire, I thought we’d get the other horse, even though mine was tiring. This race will really help my colt."

Watching a replay of the stretch run, Baffert laughed as his horse dug in beneath Gomez.

"Right here he is saying ‘Dammit, Bob, I wish you would have trained me harder for this,"’ Baffert said.

Lookin At Lucky paid $4.20, $2.80 and $2.20. Noble’s Promise paid $4.00 and $2.60 and Dublin paid $2.40.

Baffert said Lookin At Lucky would likely next race in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct or the Arkansas Derby on April 10.

"That last prep is the main thing ... but you’re not safe until you put that saddle on and hear ‘My Old Kentucky Home,"’ he said.

At Santa Anita on Saturday, Caracortado lost for the first time — falling to Sidney’s Candy and Interactif in the $150,000 San Felipe Stakes. Also, Odysseus beat Schoolyard Dreams by a nose in the $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby. Super Saver, the race favorite, was third.

Lookin At Lucky had been racing on synthetic surfaces in California but at Oaklawn ran on dirt — which Baffert said gave him a better sense of how well his horse is doing.

"This is as close as you can get to Churchill Downs. It’s nice to run on dirt. Then you know what you have," Baffert said.

And the race gave him a sense of Churchill, too, he said.

"He almost had a Kentucky Derby-type experience getting bounced around," Baffert said. "I wanted him to do what he did today. Except for him almost falling down, he did well. It’s not me. It’s the horse. It’s like a coach with a great player."

The noted trainer, inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame last year after training three Kentucky Derby winners and winning three Eclipse Awards, joked after the race that, until this year, he hadn’t had horses good enough to bring to Oaklawn Park and said with a grin, "I got too big."

He said he was last here with Miss Gibson County in 1994 and flew in for Saturday’s race with the horse’s owners. In 1998, as the 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm was healing from a bruise, Baffert said he considered bringing the horse to Oaklawn but instead sent him to Dubai. "It’s easier to get to Dubai."

Baffert also trained Conveyance, which won Oaklawn’s Southwest Stakes for 3-year-olds in February.

Dublin, the son of Afleet Alex and which finished third in both the Southwest and Saturday’s Rebel, ran wide in the first turn, struggled to within a length of the lead and then faded.

"My colt got tired, but we will fight again another day, like the first Saturday in May," jockey Corey Nakatani said.

-- Kelley P. Kissel

Odysseus rallies to win Tampa Bay Derby

OLDSMAR, Fla. — Odysseus rallied from between horses in deep stretch Saturday to win the $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby by a nose over Schoolyard Dreams.

Race favorite Super Saver was third.

Trained by Thomas Albertrani and ridden by Rajiv Maragh, Odysseus covered the 1 1-16th mile in 1:44.31 while winning by a head bob at the finish line. It was the closest finish in the Tampa Bay Derby’s 30 runnings.

Odysseus paid $6.00, $3.40 and $2.40. Schoolyard Dreams paid $5.00 and $2.80 and Super Saver paid $2.40.

"I really believed that we might have just come up short by a bob," Albertrani said.

So did Maragh, who pulled beside Schoolyard Dreams and jockey Jeremy Rose after the finish line and said, "I think you won it, Jeremy."

Racing comfortably in second entering the far turn behind Super Saver, Odysseus suddenly dropped back to fourth when passed on the outside by Schoolyard Dreams and appeared to be beaten entering the stretch.

"I thought we were beat," admitted Satish Sanan, owner of Odysseus.

But Maragh never quit on Odysseus, who worked his way back into the race and rallied between Schoolyard Dreams and Super Saver before sticking his nose in front at the wire before a crowd of 11,025.

A Kentucky-bred son of Malibu Moon purchased by Sanan’s Padua Stable at auction last March for $250,000, Odysseus finished second in his career debut Oct. 31 in only start as a 2-year-old while sprinting at Aqueduct.

The colt has since reeled off three consecutive victories. He broke his maiden Jan. 14 across seven furlongs at Gulfstream Park and then prepped for the Tampa Bay Derby by winning an optional claiming event Feb. 17 at Tampa around two turns by 15 lengths.

Odysseus appeared to be in a perfect spot down the backstretch, racing second behind a 47.02-second half-mile set by Super Saver. But as soon as Schoolyard Dreams made a bold move three-wide approaching the final turn, Odysseus backed out of the race and was suddenly losing ground.

"I thought we were in charge," Maragh said. "But suddenly (Schoolyard Dreams) swept by us on the outside. I was surprised and so was the horse and he hesitated and we were suddenly behind horses we might have been in front of.

"But he showed his class and got running again. I wasn’t sure we were going to find a path, and then it opened up just a few yards from the finish."

Albertrani said he wasn’t sure where he would run Odysseus next before the May 1 Kentucky Derby.

"I want to see how he trains over the next two weeks before we make a decision," he said. "I was hoping he would show us the same type of turn of foot he did (Feb. 17). I don’t know if he was trying to tell us something today."

Earlier on the Derby undercard:

— Diva Delite rallied four-wide entering the stretch under jockey Rosemary Homeister Jr., to win the $175,000 Florida Oaks by two lengths over C C’s Pal.

Diva Delite, a 3-year-old filly who last summer broke her maiden for a $32,000 claiming tag, has won five consecutive races and six of her last start for earnings of $285,067. She Be Wild, last year’s 2-year-old filly champion, was scratched from the race and will be trained up to the Grade I Ashland April 3 at Keeneland.

— Phola galloped by five others in midstretch under jockey Ramon Dominguez to win the scratched-filled $150,000 Hillsborough by 4¼ lengths over Cure for Sale. Phola, a 4-year-old filly trained by Todd Pletcher, covered a yielding, 1 1-8th mile turf course in 1:52.51.

Sidney’s Candy wins San Felipe at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. — Calling Sidney’s Candy a frontrunner on the Kentucky Derby trail isn’t just hype. The colt has led all the way in winning his first two races of the season.

Sidney’s Candy won the $150,000 San Felipe Stakes by a half-length on Saturday, sending 3-year-old rival Caracortado to his first loss in six races.

Sidney’s Candy covered 1 1-16 miles — the longest he’d ever run — on Santa Anita’s synthetic surface in 1:42.30 under jockey Joe Talamo.

"The plan was to get to the lead, relax and kick when they came to him," Talamo said. "We knew last summer he was a quality horse and the way he did this today was so impressive. He has the demeanor of an older horse."

Talamo finds himself with a Kentucky Derby contender less than a year after his Derby day ended in bitter disappointment. His mount I Want Revenge became the first morning-line favorite to be scratched on the first Saturday in May, with a leg injury.

Trainer John Sadler is ready to move Sidney’s Candy on to the Santa Anita Derby on April 3. He also trains sixth-place finisher Dave in Dixie, whom Sadler said didn’t handle the surface or the pace well.

"That’s kind of the plan," Sadler said about Sidney’s Candy. "We’ll see how he comes out of it."

Todd Pletcher-trained Interactif was second and Caracortado third. American Lion was fourth in the field of seven 3-year-olds prepping for Kentucky Derby consideration.

Stephen’s Got Hope was fifth and Erbeia last.

Sidney’s Candy was bred in Kentucky by diet guru Jenny Craig and her late husband, Sid. She wasn’t on hand to see the colt win his second important prep in nearly a month. Sidney’s Candy led all the way in winning the San Vicente on the same track on Feb. 15.

Sidney’s Candy paid $9.60, $5.20 and $3.20. Interactif returned $6.60 and $3.20, while Caracortado was another 1½ lengths back in third and paid $2.40 as the wagering favorite.

Caracortado ran fourth most of the way, going four-wide into the stretch, but faded late under jockey Paul Atkinson.

"He tried hard. I can’t fault him at all," Atkinson said. "They went a little bit slow early, so I had to pick it up in hopes the leader didn’t steal it on us. It cost me to ride him a little bit differently."

-- Beth Harris

You And I Forever pulls away at Gulfstream

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — You and I Forever rallied four-wide entering the stretch before pulling away from 10 others to win the $300,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap by 1½ lengths over stablemate Motovato.

You and I Forever, a 13-1 longshot, covered the mile in 1:36.83. The 5-year-old son of A.P. Indy has won four of 17 starts and $434,652. South Florida-based trainer Marty Wolfson saddled the first two finishers.

You and I Forever paid $29.40, $12.20 and $7.80. Motovato paid $5.00 and $3.60 and Cool Coal Man was third and paid $5.40.

Breaking from post 10, You and I Forever broke well but was rated by jockey Javier Castellano in eighth while Le Grand Cru was pressed through early fractions of :23.86 and :46.40.

"We had a plan going into the race," Castellano said. "There was a lot of speed in there and I wanted to be mid-pack and wait for the horses to come back to me just let my horse finish, and it worked out exactly that way."

Entering the turn, Castellano and You and I Forever started to make up ground and found themselves on the lead entering the stretch. Despite a late rally by stablemate Motovato down along the rail, You and I Forever had plenty left for the victory.

Wolfson said he liked both You and I Forever and Motovato coming into the race, but had to push the estate of late owner Edmund Gann to run You and I Forever.

"He wasn’t even going to run," Wolfson said. "A deal has been made (by the Estate of Gann) to sell the horse to interests in India as a stud prospect. I begged them (Friday night) to let me run him."

Wolfson called You and I Forever and Motovato, also a 5-year-old, "amazing horses to still be running."

"Both have had multiple surgeries," said Wolfson, before adding, "At least I get to keep Motovato."

Race favorite This Ones for Phil, winner Jan. 30 of the $200,000 Sunshine Millions Sprint, raced mid-pack down the backstretch before tiring and finishing eighth.

"The distance was probably a little bit too much for him," said jockey John Velazquez. "I thought I had set things up perfectly, but by the quarter pole I was out of horse."

Aqueduct cancels Saturday card

NEW YORK — Aqueduct has canceled the Saturday card in anticipation of high wind and heavy rain throughout the afternoon.

The scheduled feature, the $100,000 Cicada Stakes, will be run March 20.