California connection strong again
One of the first things I learned about horse racing is that when certain trainers come to town, attention must be paid.
In other words, if you have no strong convictions about a race in which one of these guys is represented, go bet. And if said trainer is spotted in the paddock, bet with both hands.
This was mentioned after Flying Partner, trained by Charlie Whittingham, won the 1982 Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park. Twice a winner of the Kentucky Derby in his 70s, Whittingham seldom ventured outside California, where he enjoyed a Victorian rein. Whittingham, however, gave a leg up to Bill Shoemaker on Miss Musket in the 1974 Fantasy before the Hall of Fame jockey’s
100th victory in a $100,000 stakes, a feat Oaklawn duly recognized. Whittingham and Shoemaker, then 47, won the track’s premier race for 3-year-old fillies a third time in 1988 with Jeanne Jones.
Less camera shy than Whittingham, Woody Stephens often accompanied his horses to Oaklawn for major races. A native Kentuckian, Stephens made his reputation on the East Coast and liked to kid New York visitors that “the buildings get taller when you cross the Hudson River.” Two of his biggest victories came at Louisville’s Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, taking the centennial Kentucky Derby (1974) with Cannonade and leaving a hospital bed to watch the ill-fated Swale (1984) win for Claiborne Farm.
One who enjoyed the night life, Stephens talked horses with a stranger outside a Hot Springs hotel bar on the eve of the 1983 Arkansas Derby. Woody was in town to saddle Caveat, a last-out second to Exile King in a stirring Oaklawn allowance prep 10 days earlier. For some reason, he rambled on about Chumming, a million-dollar yearling in his barn who never did much on the track. Caveat finished second at Oaklawn to Sunny’s Halo, who three weeks later won the Kentucky Derby, but gave the beloved Stephens his second of five straight Belmont Stakes victories.
Neil Drysdale’s name is sure to draw a blank with some Oaklawn racegoers today when he sends out Vexatious in the
45th Fantasy. Back in California, where the Englishman has won major races for three decades, Drysdale’s name in the program has long held magic. The masses know him as the trainer of 1992 Belmont Stakes winner A.P. Indy and 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus.
A former assistant to Whittingham, Drysdale knows how to bring a horse up to a major race without tipping his hand. He trained one of the great fillies ever to run at Oaklawn, Bold ‘n Determined winning the Fantasy in 1980 and the Apple Blossom Handicap in 1981. Some will argue yet that Bold ‘n Determined deserved the Eclipse Award as
3-year-old filly champion in 1980, when she won six Grade 1 races including the Kentucky Oaks but was outvoted by Genuine Risk despite beating the Kentucky Derby winner by a nose in New York.
Sired by Giant’s Causeway, Vexatious was produced by Dream of Summer, the 2005 Apple Blossom winner at age 6 for trainer Juan Garcia. The mile-and-sixteenth distance should be to Vexatious’ liking after finishing third in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks in her stakes debut. She’s the early 7-2 second choice in the Fantasy to Oaklawn performer Benner Island.
“When we shipped her into Fair Grounds, it was a couple of days before the race and decided it was best to come here a little earlier to get acclimated to the track and let her settle in a bit more,” Drysdale said. “Her dam, Dream of Summer, is proven here and hopefully it translates with this filly. She’s handled everything well so far.”
Jerry Hollendorfer, who like Drysdale is a Hall of Famer, made his reputation as the king of Northern California racing. As racegoers at Santa Anita and Del Mar have learned, Hollendorfer’s horses run equally well in what
Californians call the Southland. Occasional forays to Oaklawn have resulted in Fantasy victories for Blind Luck (2010) and Lite Light (1991). Overdue national attention has come his way in recent years thanks to champions Shared Belief and Songbird, the latter’s record perfect save for a nose defeat to the great Beholder in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita.
Hollendorfer was unlucky not to have Songbird ready for last year’s Kentucky Oaks (won by both Lite Light and Blind Luck) and then recently had to stop on probable 2017 Oaks favorite Unique Bella. At the top of his game, the 70-year-old Hollendorfer won Oaklawn’s Grade 3 Honeybee last month with It Tiz Well and seeks his third Fantasy victory today with Spooky Woods, ridden by California sensation Flavien Prat.
With John Sadler in town to saddle champion Stellar Wind in the Apple Blossom, it makes you wonder who’s minding the store at Santa Anita. Not to worry: The California sharpies will be watching the Oaklawn races. Attention, after all, must be paid.