Triumph in Buena Vista Handicap will keep six-year-old Lexa in training in 2000 and out of breeding shed

Trainer Ron Ellis may have to wait a year longer to begin training the eventual racehorses produced by Lexa (Fr).

Buena Vista H. (G2)
Santa Anita Park, February 26, $162,150, 1 mile, turf, good, 1:36.17
1-LEXA (Fr), m. 6, Sanglamore-Leandra (Fr), by =Luthier (Fr).
2-Here's to You, f. 4, Bertrando-Mstoyou, by El Baba.
3-Sierra Virgen, m. 5, Stack-Forever Lady, by Forever Sparkle.

Lexa, a six-year-old daughter of Sanglamore out of Leandra (Fr), by Luthier, apparently earned another year on the track with her victory in the $162,150 Buena Vista Handicap (G2) for fillies and mares on turf at Santa Anita Park on February 26.

"I told my farm manager to call the farm manager at Three Chimneys (Farm in Kentucky, where he boards his mares)," said jubilant owner B. Wayne Hughes in the winner's circle. "I had her booked to Unbridled, and I said to substitute another mare."

Lexa tried Ellis's patience for more than a year before regaining the form that enabled her to win the Prix Corrida (Fr-G3) and Prix de Royallieu (Fr-G2) for trainer Helena Van Zuylen in 1998. Hughes purchased Lexa privately through bloodstock agent Francoise Dupuis after the latter victory 16 months ago.

Lexa did not make it to the races in this country until the final week of the Del Mar meet in September of 1999 and lost her first four United States starts before capturing the Reloy Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on grass here in her last outing on December 30.

"When she got here, the trip took a lot out of her, and she didn't acclimate for nearly a year," Ellis said. "Then she had some foot trouble here during the Oak Tree meet. I used some leather pads under her shoes to help with the concussion. Now she has finally caught on to our ways and has been doing great."

She is good enough to beat Tuzla (Fr) at a mile, a distance considered ideal for Tuzla and not long enough for Lexa. Tuzla went off as the 2-to-5 favorite in the Buena Vista, with Lexa the third choice at 8-to-1.

"I thought it was too short; I wouldn't have bet against Tuzla," Ellis said. "But she has been doing unbelievably well, and I told Wayne we should give it a shot."

Fifth in the field of six down the backstretch, jockey Brice Blanc moved Lexa behind Tuzla when the favorite launched a rally from fourth approaching the far turn. Tuzla struggled trying to wrest the lead from Here's to You (second choice at 4.60-to-1) in the stretch, and Lexa rolled by three wide to record a 1 3/4-length victory over Here's to You in 1:36.17 over a course rated as good. Sierra Virgen rallied from last to finish third, a neck behind Here's to You and a length in front of Tuzla.

Tuzla, the defending race winner and 123-pound highweight, sought to become the first repeat winner of the Buena Vista.

"David (jockey David Flores) said she just got tired," said assistant Jim Barnes, deputizing for trainer Bob Baffert, who was in Florida for the Fasig-Tipton two-year-olds in training sale at Calder Race Course. "We missed a little training because of the weather. She's got a race in her now, and we'll look down the road."

Ellis said he will point Lexa for longer races now.

"She will come back in the Santa Ana Handicap (Grade 2 at 1 1/8 miles on turf for fillies and mares on March 26)," said Ellis. "But I really think she wants to go a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half."

Hughes has given her a reprieve from the breeding shed for those opportunities. "It's not right to breed a horse who is going like that," Hughes said. "She had never done this well before. This is the kind of day you wait for in racing."

Baldwin mudder

"There's the storm chaser," said owner Howell Wynne when congratulating trainer Dan Hendricks in the winner's circle after Fortifier lived up to his mud pedigree on February 27 and captured the $111,450 Baldwin Stakes for three-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs.

Wynne and Hendricks entered the gray or roan colt in hopes that rains forecast for race day would force the Baldwin off the hillside turf course. When the weather cooperated with a downpour, five other entrants in a lineup of 13 were scratched, and Wynne howled with delight.

"He's inbred to Relaunch and moves way up on a muddy track," said Wynne, who claimed the Major Impact colt for $50,000 from Glen Hill Farm after his second careervictory, which came at Del Mar in August. "I'm going to get him his own Internet account and have him tune into the Weather Channel to decide where he runs next."

Completing a weekend stakes sweep for Blanc, Fortifier rallied from sixth, circled the field at the top of the stretch, and drew off to a 1 1/2-length victory in 1:16.79. English-raced Performing Magic, making his first U.S. start for The Thoroughbred Corp., finished second in a four-horse photo as the longest shot in the field at 14.30-to-1.

Performing Magic finished a head in front of 2.70-to-1 second choice Joopy Doopy, who was a neck in front of Florida import Sign of Fire, who was another neck ahead of fifth-finisher Gibson County, the 2.20-to-1 favorite.

Dance Master, a $1.2-million Barretts March two-year-olds in training purchase who is owned by Padua Stables, faded to last, his seventh straight setback since winning the Bashford Manor Stakes (G2) in June. He was ridden by Chris Antley, who was on his first mount since November after recovering from recent knee surgery.

Fortifier, coupled in the wagering as a mutuel-field entrant with Sign of Fire at 6.90-to-1, recorded his fourth victory in nine starts and nearly doubled his earnings to $143,177. Three of the victories have come on off tracks.

Wynne, a 41-year-old Rancho Santa Fe, California, resident, won his first stakes at this track since 1986, when he was co-owner of 1986 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winner Greinton (GB) and Phone Trick, who won the 1982 San Carlos Handicap (G2) and finished second in Eclipse Award balloting for outstanding sprinter.

"After the San Vicente (Stakes [G2], in which Fortifier finished a well-beaten fifth February 5), I said the only other chance I had to win at this meet was if it rained for the Baldwin," said Wynne, who promised to keep the colt sprinting-and looking for rain.

A fit Moondancer

When Racing Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally took over training Dark Moondancer (GB) before the Breeders' Cup in November, he knew he was in trouble.

"He hadn't run in four months and wasn't fit," McAnally said of the European import owned by Charles Cella, president of Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.

Despite Group1 victories by Dark Moondancer in his previous two starts in France and Italy, McAnally was not surprised to see the horse finish ninth in the 1 1/2-mile Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) because he was a short horse.

After that race, McAnally shipped the horse to California, and he is now optimistic that he has one of the top distance grass horses on the continent in his barn.

After a fast-finishing second to Public Purse in the San Marcos Handicap (G2) at 1 1/4 miles on grass on January 22 at Santa Anita, Dark Moondancer returned to handle 1 1/4 miles on soft turf in the San Luis Obispo Handicap (G2) on February 21.

Second much of the way in the field of five, Dark Moondancer seized the lead from Astra Ridge around the final turn, turned back a challenge from The Fly (GB) at the top of the stretch, and drew off to a 2 1/2-length victory in a final time of 2:39.61, the slowest winning time in the 44-year history of the race. The Fly held on for second, 3 1/2 lengths in front of Casino King (Ire).

The race was started on the flat rather than down the hill because of the treacherous conditions.

"This is what we thought we had from the beginning," McAnally said.

The trainer said he would like to bring the five-year-old horse back in the $250,000 San Luis Rey Stakes (G2) over the same distance on March 18. His ultimate goal is a second chance in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill Downs. He won the race in 1995 for Cella with another European import, Northern Spur (Ire), who also garnered the Eclipse Award as top grass male horse that year.

"The thing I love about him is that he doesn't pull at all," jockey Chris McCarron said of the 1-to-2 favorite. "He can run a long way and do it in a relaxed fashion."

Dark Moondancer recorded his eighth victory in 17 starts and raised his earnings to $488,393.

FINISH LINES-Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and Eclipse Award winner Anees remained on target for his three-year-old bow in the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles on March 19 after working six furlongs in 1:12 over the main track listed as good on February 26. "This horse is a lot fitter than people think," said Richard Mulhall, general manager of The Thoroughbred Corp. "If all goes right, we'll run him back in the (April 8) Santa Anita Derby (G1) and then go to Kentucky." ... Kent Desormeaux scored 36 points and Corey Nakatani added ten to lead the Santa Anita jockeys to a 48-to-47 victory over the Holy Angels Catholic School seventh- and eighth-grade team in their 34th annual charity basketball game. ... Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) winner Silic (Fr) worked three furlongs on turf in :36 1/5 on February 25 in preparation for his 2000 debut in the San Francisco Breeders' Cup Mile Handicap (G2) in April. ... Apprentice jockey Jesse Cardenas, who scored the first victory of his career at Los AlasRace Course in 1999, recorded his first Santa Anita victory aboard Ramelles Lad on February 26. ... Eight top jockeys will represent Team United States and Team Europe in the third annual British Airways International Jockey Challenge here on March 18. Pat Day, Chris McCarron, Laffit Pincay Jr., and Mike Smith will represent the U.S. team, while Frankie Dettori, Kieren Fallon, Michael Kinane, and Olivier Peslier will compete for Europe. The teams will compete in four races. Bill Shoemaker will captain the U.S. team, while Steve Cauthen will captain the European team. The U.S. team won the 1998 inaugural, and the European team won last year.