Hovdey: Santa Monica back in deserving spotlight
Let this serve as an official “welcome back” from purgatory for the Santa Monica Stakes, nee Handicap, to be run Saturday at a warm and festive Santa Anita Park.
In the recent past, the venerable Santa Monica has been dwarfed by the promotional efforts heaped upon the Sunshine Millions, its quality undercut by races on the Millions program, sucking away many of the best California- and Florida-bred older fillies and mares. Some years, the Santa Monica was offered on the same weekend as the Millions, others only a week removed. The effect, in every case, was to push an important national event to the deep background while elevating restricted races to the center stage.
Now, the Sunshine Millions has mutated into a series of races at Gulfstream Park for Florida-breds, while on the same afternoon Santa Anita gets stuck with the bikini contest – tough break – leaving the wide-open Santa Monica as the centerpiece of the Saturday program.
(As far as that goes, there is only one race of consequence restricted to horses bred in a particular place. That would be the Queen’s Plate, Canada’s own, an event of comprehensive cultural significance that has somehow lasted 151 years. Talk to me about it if the Sunshine Millions Classic is still around in 2020.)
As for the Santa Monica, consider its history. The race came into this world in 1957 as a seven-furlong event for fillies and mares and has never been altered. Such reliability has served as a homing beacon for some of the best mares to ever grace the West. The list of outstanding winners, being long, could be condensed to include champions and Hall of Famers – Bug Brush, Silver Spoon, Gamely, Typecast, Chou Croute, Serena’s Song – but should always leave room to mention Manta, Tizna, Lovlier Linda, Exotic Wood, Honest Lady, Island Fashion, Gaby’s Golden Gal, and last year’s winner, Switch.
Richard Mandella can lay claim to a trio of the lesser known but every bit as worthy Santa Monica winners. In 1991, the trainer won it with Devil’s Orchid, a daughter of Devil’s Bag who finished 1-2-3 in 20 of her 23 starts. In 1999, Mandella took the Santa Monica with Stop Traffic, a daughter of Cure the Blues who defeated the accomplished Belle’s Flag. And in 2005, he won the race with the Argentine mare Salt Champ, who beat the defending titlist, Island Fashion.
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“She was one of the first horses I bought for Mr. Ford.” That would be Gerald Ford, the Texas financial magnate who has raced the likes of Pleasantly Perfect, Dixie Union, and Minister Eric under the Diamond A Racing banner with Mandella.
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