A FAIR SURFACE AT OAK TREE

The main track at Santa Anita during opening week at the Oak Tree meet really could not have been any fairer in terms of the running styles of the winners.

This, of course, is quite encouraging because the Breeders’ Cup will be held for the first time this year on a synthetic track. The main track at Santa Anita is a new Pro-Ride surface. For the first five days of the Oak Tree meet, the Pro-Ride surface was as bias-free as it gets.

The afternoon temperature at Santa Anita during the opening week of the Oak Tree meet was in the mid- to high 90s. I think it’s actually a good thing that the weather already was so brutally hot because the Pro-Ride surface now has shown how it performs in extreme heat. Better that than for Oak Tree to have avoided hot weather until the Breeders’ Cup, only to then find out whether or not Pro-Ride could handle extreme heat satisfactorily.

Let’s take a look at where the winners came from in the 34 races run on the main track during the week. I’ve divided the winners into six categories with regard to where they were early in the race: Wire to wire, duel, press, stalk, midpack and rally from the back of the back.

ALL RACES

6 wire to wire
4 duel
2 press
9 stalk
5 midpack
8 far back

Now let’s see what happens when we reduce it from six to three more general categories:

ALL RACES

10 early speed (wire to wire and duel)
11 off the pace but not far back (press and stalk)
13 rally from well off pace (midpack and far back)

What about the differences, if any, between sprints and routes?

SPRINTS

4 wire to wire
3 duel
1 press
6 stalk
4 midpack
5 far back

ROUTES

2 wire to wire
1 duel
1 press
3 stalk
1 midpack
1 far back

Again, lets reduce it to three more general categories:

SPRINTS

7 early speed (wire to wire and duel)
7 off the pace but not far back (press and stalk)
9 rally from well off the pace (midpack and far back)

ROUTES

3 early speed (wire to wire and duel)
4 off the pace but not far back (press and stalk)
4 rally from well off the pace (midpack and far back)

These numbers are remarkable in illustrating the fairness of the Pro-Ride surface during the first week of the Oak Tree meet. You will rarely see results with the winners so evenly divided in terms of where they were early in a race, whether it’s dirt, turf or a synthetic surface.

The Pro-Ride surface also didn’t seem to have an inside or outside bias.

Hopefully, the Pro-Ride surface will be like this for the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 24-25.

While the Pro-Ride surface did play so evenly during the first week of the Oak Tree meet, not every horse handled it. According to comments from some of the riders, some horses did not get a hold of the track because it was loose, especially in the first couple of days of the meet.

Horseplayers have discovered that they must evaluate each synthetic track individually, just as we all know that no two dirt tracks are found to be exactly alike. For instance, if a horse likes Keeneland’s Polytrack, it does not necessarily portend success on Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin sent Regal Ransom to Santa Anita to run in last Sunday’s Grade I Norfolk Stakes. A winner at first asking in a seven-furlong maiden race at Saratoga on Aug. 25 while recording a 93 Beyer Speed Figure, Regal Ransom finished eighth as the 7-5 favorite in the Norfolk while earning a 67 Beyer.

According to McLaughlin, Regal Ransom had trained extremely well on Polytrack during the summer. Yet, jockey Alan Garcia told McLaughlin that Regal Ransom “was spinning his wheels” on Pro-Ride in the Norfolk.

“No two synthetic tracks are alike, whether it’s Woodbine or Arlington or Hollywood Park or Keeneland,” said McLaughlin, who saddled Invasor to win the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Classic on the dirt at Churchill Downs.

It looks like it will behoove Breeders’ Cup bettors to especially respect horses who already have performed well on the Pro-Ride surface, such as Zenyatta (winner of the Grade I Lady’s Secret Stakes), Cost of Freedom (winner of the Grade I Ancient Title Stakes), Stardom Bound (winner of the Grade I Oak Leaf Stakes), Well Armed (winner of the Grade I Goodwood Stakes) and Street Hero (winner of the Grade I Norfolk Stakes).

As if it’s not enough that Zenyatta now will take an eight-for-eight record into the Oct. 24 Ladies’ Classic, she looks even more formidable from the standpoint of having a “home court advantage” in winning the key Ladies’ Classic prep held on the Pro-Ride surface.

I honestly thought that Zenyatta might be vulnerable in the Lady’s Secret. On paper, it appeared a distinct possibility that a razor-sharp Hystericalady would have an ideal pace scenario. It looked like Hystericalady, with the only early zip in the field, would be able to control the pace, putting stretch-running Zenyatta at a disadvantage.

Sometimes, when a rider keeps a stretch runner closer to the pace than usual, the horse’s late kick might be blunted. Or, if the rider lets the stretch runner lollygag early, there might be too much work left to do in the late stages in trying to catch an uncontested pacesetter.

Hystericalady did indeed set a leisurely pace, carving out early fractions of :24.26, :48.32 and 1:11.45 while being rated. (In the Goodwood on the same card, the early splits were :23.26, :46.81 and 1:10.31).

Zenyatta, with regular rider Mike Smith aboard, was just 2 1/2 lengths off the lead in the Lady’s Secret while trailing in the field of four. When Smith asked the 4-year-old filly to go on the far turn, Zenyatta generated a tremendous closing kick. Zenyatta zoomed to the front with a little less than a furlong to go, then quickly drew out to win by 3 1/2 lengths.

Despite being under only a moderate hand ride late, Zenyatta ran the final sixteenth in a remarkable 5.91 seconds. She then galloped out so strongly that she was far in front before reaching the clubhouse turn.

Owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, Zenyatta is trained by John Sherriffs, who certainly has done a superlative job with the big Kentucky-bred daughter of Street Cry. The filly stands “a little over 17 hands,” meaning she is taller than Forego at the same age (16 hands, 3 3/4 inches), Native Dancer at the same age (a shade over 16 hands, 1 inch), Seattle Slew at the same age (16 1/2 hands), Kelso at the same age (16 hands) and Secretariat when he was a sophomore (16 hands, 1 1/2 inches).

Zenyatta’s final time in the Lady’s Secret was 1:40.30. She earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure, matching her career-best figure posted in the Grade II Clement L. Hirsch Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 2.

In the winner’s circle after the Lady’s Secret, I asked Jerry Moss if there was even the slightest possibility that Zenyatta would run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic instead of the Ladies’ Classic.

“No,” Moss said firmly and without the slightest hesitation.

“I am sure you are going to get peppered by that question, especially the way she won today,” I said.

Moss said that probably is true considering he already had been asked the question five times on his way down to the winner’s circle.

With Zenyatta going in the Ladies’ Classic, it will add considerable cachet to the Friday Breeders’ Cup card. Most likely, she will be the heaviest favorite of the 14 Breeders’ Cup races. At this point, I’d look for her to be 2-5.

Zenyatta was 3-5 in the Lady’s Secret. That actually was a generous price for a filly with a seven-for-seven record going into the race. One wonders if she will ever be 3-5 or higher ever again unless she’s facing males.

Veteran trainer Henry Moreno joins those of us who have been awed by what we have seen from Zenyatta.

“She does things easy,” Moreno said when asked about Zenyatta during the Del Mar meet. “She kind of floats along, and when the rider asks her, she has another gear.”

Moreno has trained such female stars as Tizna, Jalousie II and Sangue. Tizna, a multiple Grade I winner, won the 1976 San Gorgonio Handicap despite carrying a burdensome 132 pounds. To this day, it’s the most weight ever carried to victory on Santa Anita’s main track.

There has been only one other time that a horse has won a race at Santa Anita while carrying that much weight. Round Table also packed 132 pounds when he took the 1959 San Marcos Handicap.

CURLIN IN CALIFORNIA

Curlin, who has won seven straight dirt races, arrived at Santa Anita last Sunday afternoon following a plane trip from New York. The 2007 Horse of the Year is scheduled to have his first workout on Pro-Ride next Monday. The Kentucky-bred Smart Strike colt has not lost a main-track race since finishing third in the Haskell Invitational on Aug. 5, 2007.

Owned by Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables and trained by Steve Asmussen, Curlin won last Saturday’s Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on a sloppy track by three-quarters of a length. With that victory, he became the first “$10 million man” in terms of North American-based Thoroughbreds. Curlin increased his career earnings to $10,246,800, enabling him to move past Cigar, who banked $9,999,815.

Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who conditioned Cigar, was asked Tuesday to comment on Curlin breaking the earnings record.

“I was pleased to sit and watch a good horse run,” Mott said. “Cigar held the record for 12 years. If we think we can hold one of these records forever, we’re just kidding ourselves.

Curlin earned a 111 Beyer Speed Figure in last Saturday’s Jockey Club Gold Cup. He had recorded a 112 when victorious in the Grade I Woodward Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 30. Curlin was assigned a 114 Beyer when he won the 2007 Jockey Club Gold Cup as a 3-year-old. His top figure is his 119 when he took the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic by 4 1/4 lengths on a sloppy track at Monmouth Park.

HORSE BITS

Here are the Beyer Speed Figures for the other Grade I winners from the past weekend: Cocoa Beach a 99 in the Beldame Stakes, Dynaforce a 104 in the Flower Bowl Invitational, Black Seventeen a 108 in the Vosburgh, Grand Couturier a 112 in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, Red Giant a 112 in the Clement L. Hirsch Turf Championship, Cost of Freedom a 110 in the Ancient Title Stakes, Stardom Bound an 87 in the Oak Leaf Stakes, Wait a While a 97 in the Yellow Ribbon Stakes (compared to her 109 when she won the same race as a 3-year-old in 2006), Well Armed a 105 in the Goodwood Stakes and Street Hero an 86 in the Norfolk Stakes…Three-year-old star Big Brown worked five furlongs Tuesday in 1:04.21 on Aqueduct’s main track. It was his first recorded workout since he won the Monmouth Stakes on the turf Sept. 13. Winner of this year’s Grade I Florida Derby, Grade I Kentucky Derby, Grade I Preakness Stakes and Grade I Haskell Invitational, Big Brown is slated to make his next start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He is to be sent to Santa Anita a few days before the Classic. Whereas I’d previously had some doubt that Curlin would run in the Breeders’ Cup (as noted last week), it’s looking increasingly more likely that we will see both Curlin and Big Brown in the Classic.

After Zenyatta kept her unblemished record intact last Saturday, European superstar Zarkava is scheduled to run this Sunday in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in France. The 3-year-old filly is six for six. No filly or mare has won the Arc since Urban Sea in 1993…Peppers Pride, undefeated in 16 lifetime starts, is entered in a six-furlong allowance race this Saturday at Zia Park. She is bidding to become the first North American-based Thoroughbred to win 17 consecutive races. Peppers Pride currently shares the record for most wins in a row by a North American-based Thoroughbred with Citation, Cigar (who won the Dubai World Cup during his 16-race winning streak), Mister Frisky and Hallowed Dreams…According to the Racing Alamanac, Camarero holds the all-time record for most consecutive victories. He won 56 straight in Puerto Rico in the 1950s before finally losing. The great Hungarian-bred mare Kincsem won all 54 of her races in the 1800s to establish the all-time record in terms of a winning streak by an undefeated Thoroughbred…Treasure Trail worked five furlongs Tuesday from the gate in 1:05.44 on the training track at Saratoga. It was the unraced filly’s 11th recorded workout this year. The daughter of Pulpit and Vertigineux is a half-sister to Zenyatta, multiple Grade I winner Balance and stakes winner Where’s Bailey. Consider yourself warned.