• McANALLY’S SOUTH AMERICAN IMPORT FITS IN PASEANA
• FAMILIAR NAMES ON TOP IN SANTA ANITA STANDINGS
McANALLY ANTICIPATES MARE’S U.S. DEBUT IN PASEANA
It would be only appropriate should Miss Serendipity win Sunday’s $75,000 Paseana Stakes for Ron McAnally.
The 80-year-old Hall of Fame trainer conditioned the Eclipse Award-winning distaff star of the early 1990s for which the race is named, and he has entered Miss Serendipity in the mile and one-sixteenth race for older fillies and mares on the main track.
A 6-year-old Argentine-bred mare owned by Anselmo Cavalieri, Miss Serendipity is 5-5-2 from 19 starts in her native country, with earnings of $122,678. The Paseana will mark her first race in the United States. She last ran on June 29, 2013, winning a Group 1 turf event at San Isidro by four lengths under 132 pounds.
“I’m as anxious as everybody else to see her run,” said McAnally, who has been making his annual South American sojourn for four decades, foraging for fresh horse flesh. “I hope she runs well and comes back good. She’s been training well. Gary’s worked her, he liked her, and she ran well in Argentina on grass, dirt and mud, all three.”
“Gary” would be Gary Stevens, the 50-year-old Renaissance man who is tied with 48-year-old fellow Hall of Fame member Mike Smith for most stakes wins this meet at three each.
“Paseana was one of first good horses the Craigs (owners Sid and Jenny) had,” McAnally remembered. “After that we bought several more, Candy Ride and Bienvenido, a lot of good horses, and the Craigs deserved them. They were some of the best owners that anybody could ever ask for.
“I’ve been going to South America for as long as I can remember, at least 40 years. A good friend and good veterinarian, Dr. Ignacio Povlosky, got me started going there to look for horses. He worked up here for a couple of years and he also looks for horses for me in South America and he’s done a real good job. I speak with him often on the phone.”
The field for the Paseana: Halo Dolly, Rafael Bejarano, 3-1; Miss Serendipity, Gary Stevens, 5-2; Irish Presence, Tyler Baze, 20-1; Golden Production, Martin Pedroza, 8-1; Warren’s Veneda, Joe Talamo, 3-1; Stanwyck, Victor Espinoza, 7-2; and Rock and Glory, Martin Garcia, 4-1.
FINISH LINES: Through 11 racing days, the perennial leaders were on top of their respective standings at Santa Anita, Rafael Bejarano leading the jockeys with 17 wins and Bob Baffert holding a 10-8 edge over runner-up Jerry Hollendorfer, who had won with eight of 23 starters, 35 percent. Baffert started 29 runners, putting him a tick behind in percentages at 34. Bejarano also had 18 seconds and 10 thirds from 71 mounts, most of any rider at the meet. Runner-up Mike Smith, significantly more selective in his mounts with 30, had 12 wins for a sparkling 40 percent win mark . . . Citation Handicap winner Silentio, whose major goal is the Grade I Frank E. Kilroe Mile on March 8, worked four furlongs on the main track Saturday in 50.80 for Gary Mandella . . . CashCall Futurity runner-up Candy Boy worked five furlongs under Gary Stevens in 1:01.80 for John Sadler, who also sent Willard Proctor Memorial winner Kobe’s Back the same distance in 59.80 . . . Santa Monica Stakes candidate Teddy’s Promise worked six furlongs for Ron Ellis in 1:12.40, while Vosburgh Invitational winner Private Zone, prepping for the Donn at Gulfstream Park, worked five furlongs for Doug O’Neill in 59.80 with regular rider Martin Pedroza aboard. Egg Drop, winner of the Grade I Matriarch, worked five furlongs for Mike Mitchell in 1:01.20. On the turf, downhill specialist Chips All In, fourth in the Grade III Daytona on Dec. 28, went four furlongs for Jeff Mullins in 49.40 . . . Martin Garcia and Pedroza and have been suspended three days (Jan. 17, 18 and 19) for causing interference in the third and fourth race, respectively, on Jan. 10 . . . Next Monday, Jan. 20, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Santa Anita offers holiday racing and Dollar Day. Beers, hot dogs and sodas will be just a buck. Gates open at 10:30 a.m. First post time is 12:30 p.m.
