Weekend Racing at Santa Anita : Alysheba Makes His 4-Year-Old Debut Sunday

NEW YORK —  Clarence Scharbauer, one of Alysheba’s owners, is worried about the weight. Jack Van Berg, who trains the colt, seems to be worried about nothing.

Alysheba, winner of last year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness who was honored here at the Eclipse Awards dinner Friday night as the champion 3-year-old colt, makes his debut Sunday as a 4-year-old in the $500,000 Charles H. Strub Stakes at Santa Anita.

Based on the conditions of the race, which are based on purses won, Alysheba must carry 126 pounds. That’s the same weight he hauled in winning the Derby and the Preakness, but on Sunday he must spot his five rivals from 3 to 11 pounds in his first start since finishing second to horse-of-the-year Ferdinand in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Hollywood Park on Nov. 21.

Van Berg was honored with an award by racing publicists here Friday. Asked before the luncheon about Sunday’s race, he said:

“I’ll just wait until he starts running fast enough to go by those other horses.”

Although On the Line has won the Malibu and the San Fernando, giving him a chance to become the sixth horse to sweep the three-race Strub series for 4-year-olds, his ability to last over 1 miles Sunday is being questioned.

The six-horse field lines up this way:

Temperate Sil, with Bill Shoemaker riding, 123 pounds; Candi’s Gold, Gary Stevens, 117; Alysheba, Chris McCarron, 126; On the Line, Jose Santos, 117; Masterful Advocate, Jorge Velasquez, 120, and Rupperto, Rafael Meza, 115.

In accepting the publicists’ award Friday, Van Berg thanked his wife, Helen, and several people, then added: “And I’d like to thank my best friend, Alysheba. He’s the one who’s put me here.”

Van Berg has as many as 300 horses in training at the same time, with divisions in California and at several Midwestern tracks. Last year, his barn had 1,581 starters, 215 winners and purses worth $6 million. About $2.5 million of the total was registered by Alysheba.

Van Berg stables Alysheba at Hollywood Park because he prefers the track there, but on Thursday he gave the son of Alydar a five-furlong workout at Santa Anita. The time was 1:00, which pleased Van Berg even though it was about a second slower than what he wanted.

“This horse looks like he’s going to be better this year than he was last year,” Van Berg said. “He hasn’t had a race in some time, but that shouldn’t make any difference.

“He can run fresh or he could run from Saturday to Saturday and it wouldn’t make any difference. Two weeks after the Breeders’ Cup, we had to put a chain bit on him, he was so anxious to get back to work.”

A chain bit fits across a horse’s gums and is more effective than a regular bit in keeping the animal in check.

Alysheba won only three races last year--he was disqualified after finishing first in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland--but all were major stakes. He added a victory in the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs to his wins in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and the Preakness at Pimlico.

Ferdinand, who won only two major races, including a nose win over Alysheba in the Breeders’ Cup, and Theatrical, winner of six major races on grass, finished ahead of Alysheba in the horse-of-the-year voting.

“I still thought I had the best horse, although the other horses had good years, too,” Van Berg said. “This year, we’ll just have to do better, make fewer mistakes and win the close ones.”

Alysheba’s main early goal is the $1-million Santa Anita Handicap on March 6. The race should be a rematch between Van Berg’s colt and Ferdinand.

“I can hardly wait,” Van Berg said Friday.

Horse Racing Notes

Dogwood Stable, a group of syndicated owners with headquarters in Aitken, S.C., will be sending a few horses to trainer Eddie Gregson later this year. . . . The horses to sweep the Strub series are Round Table, Hillsdale, Ancient Title, Spectacular Bid and Precisionist. . . . Perfect Spy, who upset Forty Niner, last year’s champion 2-year-old colt, in the Hutcheson at Gulfstream Park Wednesday, hasn’t been nominated for the Triple Crown races. His owner has until March 17 to make a late nomination, at a cost of $3,000. The fee for the first deadline was only $600. . . . The Arlington Million--no longer sponsored by Budweiser--will be run on Aug. 20 at Woodbine, the same day as the $1-million Travers at Saratoga. ABC will televise both races, which was a major consideration in switching the Arlington Million from its usual September date. The Million has gone to Woodbine because Arlington Park is being rebuilt after being severely damaged in a fire two years ago.