Neil Drysdale sweeps top two spots with Sunshine Street and Single Empire

As sweet as it may be to run first and second in one of the preeminent stakes races of the American turf, trainer Neil Drysdale could not help but experience a bit of a bittersweet taste following the victory by his trainee Sunshine Street in the $400,000 San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap (G1) on April 22 as Santa Anita Park completed the final weekend of its winter-spring meeting.

San Juan Capistrano Invitational H. (G1)
Santa Anita Park, April 22, $400,000, about 1 3/4 miles, turf, firm, 2:49.06
1-SUNSHINE STREET, h. 5, Sunshine Forever-Meadow Spirit, by Chief's Crown.
2-Single Empire (Ire), h. 6, =Kris (GB)-Captive Island (Ire), by Northfields.
3-Chelsea Barracks (GB), g. 4, =Deploy (GB)-Hymne d'Amour, by Dixieland Band.

The only disappointing part was the second-place finish of Drysdale's 7-to-10 favorite, Single Empire (Ire), who was seeking his second straight victory in the 1 3/4-mile San Juan Capistrano on Santa Anita's turf course. The trainer, a candidate for the Racing Hall of Fame this year, was happy enough for his winner, who performed precisely as Drysdale had expected, according to Hall of Fame rider Jerry Bailey.

"Neil told me not to lay any worse than fifth, which I did," Bailey said with a chuckle as he added, "in the five-horse field." And the rider added: "Actually, Neil didn't give me any specific instructions except to get him to turn off and gallop along until I asked him (for a closing kick). And he said that when I did ask him I should be sure to have him on the outside and in the clear."

There was no doubt about that last part as Bailey and Sunshine Street, second betting choice in the race at 2.10-to-1, came rolling five wide into the stretch. "I did take a beating going around the turn as far as losing ground was concerned," Bailey said, "but he was going so smoothly I didn't want to change it."

That worked, too, as the five-year-old bay son of Sunshine Forever went right on past the leaders and opened up daylight on the field. Stablemate Single Empire, who traveled a troubled path around the turn for home, tried to make up ground on the rail as the field moved through the last furlong, but Sunshine Street held him safe by a solid two lengths. Finishing third was Chelsea Barracks (GB).

The time of 2:49.06 was nowhere close to the stakes record of 2:44.56 set by Marlin in 1997. In fact, the early pace inspired race caller Trevor Denman to comment: "Why, they're barely trotting," even though the race started on Santa Anita's downhill course and turned onto the main turf course.

Both Drysdale and jockey Kent Desormeaux were distressed by the trouble that Single Empire encountered midway through the turn for home.

"Sunshine Street had a nice, clear run on the outside, but Single Empire-Kent said that when he came through (at the three-eighths pole), he got hammered and he felt it kind of knocked the breath out of the horse," Drysdale said. "The horse to the outside (of Single Empire) was lugging out the whole way so Kent went through on the inside, but then the horse came back in and slammed him really hard, almost turning him sideways. He ran the rest of the way just on guts."

Latte in Santa Barbara

On April 23, Caffe Latte (Ire) took the $250,000 Santa Barbara Handicap (G2), final race of the filly and mare turf series, but not without a terrific battle from 1.90-to-1 favorite Happyanunoit (NZ), who came into the 1 1/4-mile race off of a long layoff. The winner, trained by meet leader Bob Baffert and ridden by meet-leading jockey Corey Nakatani, held a three-quarter-length edge over the runner-up as they hit the wire in 2:00.51.

Santa Barbara H. (G2)
Santa Anita Park, April 23, $250,000, 1 1/4 miles, turf, firm, 2:00.51
1-CAFFE LATTE (Ire), f. 4, Seattle Dancer-Debbie's Next, by Arctic Tern.
2-Happyanunoit (NZ), m. 5, =Yachtie (Aus)-=Easter Queen (Aus), by =Rajah (Aus).
3-Country Garden (GB), m. 5, Selkirk-=Totham (GB), by Shernazar (Ire).

Happyanunoit, trained by Robert Frankel and piloted by regular rider Brice Blanc, bounded away from the gate to take an easy lead in what was expected to be a paceless field. She built the lead to 3 1/2 lengths down the backstretch while Caffe Latte strode along in fourth place. Caffe Latte started a bold move going into the final turn, moved to second at the mile marker, and stuck her head in front in midstretch. But Happyanunoit was not about to give up.

The leading pair, never threatened by the rest of the field, battled stride for stride until deep stretch, where Happyanunoit grudgingly conceded the fight to Caffe Latte. Country Garden (GB) was four lengths back in third, followed by Spanish Fern, Histoire Sainte (Fr), and Marie de Bayeux (Fr).

"This afternoon I rode her with a lot of confidence," Nakatani said. "Bob (Baffert) put cheater blinkers on her, and she has been focused ever since. Even with Happyanunoit and Spanish Fern in there, I was convinced she was the best filly."

Still, he agreed that Happyanunoit was game through the stretch. "I knew Happyanunoit was a tough filly and that she wasn't going to give it up," he said. "When I came to her, I wanted to make sure that I had enough horse for a battle. ... I was very fortunate to get the job done."

CLOSERS-On the San Juan Capistrano undercard, the Valiant Pete Handicap for California-bred sprinters and named for the late breeder-owner Pete Valenti, Full Moon Madness, trained by Robert Marshall and ridden by Desormeaux, sat just off the early pace in the six-furlong race, took the lead in midstretch from Lesters Boy, and bounded home a 2 1/2-length winner. Love That Red, at 4-to-5 the heavy choice in the five-horse field, failed to show his normal speed and was edged for second place by Champs Star. The time was 1:08.93. ... As the season wound down, the race for the riding title came front and center as Desormeaux battled Nakatani. However, Nakatani had a runaway day on April 23 with six victories to pretty much clinch the title, 80-to-71, going into the closing-day program on April 24. The victory explosion also put him in the Santa Anita record books as one of eight riders to capture six wins on a single card. ... Nearly as prominent as the jockey race is the season all-time winning jockey Laffit Pincy Jr. has had. The 53-year-old Racing Hall of Fame rider, who broke Bill Shoemaker's record of 8,833 victories last fall at Hollywood Park, had 59 wins in 2000 going into the final day, and his lifetime total at that point stood at 8,920. ... There has been no doubt for some time about the top trainer at the meet. Baffert won his fourth straight Santa Anita training title, maintaining a double-digit lead over Bill Spawr.