Best Pal Has No Need of Good Luck : Horse racing: Despite cracked hoof and other bad signs, gelding easily gives the Joneses their first victory in the Santa Anita Handicap.

Farrell and Gary Jones’ luck in the Santa Anita Handicap had been all bad. Before Saturday, the father-son training team had run 13 horses in the race without winning.

After Best Pal won the Strub Stakes for Gary Jones on Feb. 9, he became the favorite for this year’s Big ‘Cap.

“The Big ‘Cap’s a race I’ve wanted to win since I was a kid,” Jones said after the Strub. But early last week, his luck seemed to be going bad.

First, Best Pal came back from a workout with a quarter crack, a small split in the rear left hoof that was patched and screwed together. A couple of days later, driving away from a horse sale, Jones was unable to avoid a wayward motorist on a wet road and his car was smashed.

These were not exactly the kind of omens a trainer would like to see going into a $1-million race. But Best Pal didn’t seem to notice Saturday, scoring one of the most powerful victories in the 55-year history of the race.

“Does Best Pal really have a quarter crack?” Wayne Lukas asked jokingly. “Has anybody actually seen it?”

Lukas trains Twilight Agenda, who shared high weight in the Big ‘Cap with Best Pal at 124 pounds. He watched Best Pal, a 4-year-old gelding owned by John and Betty Mabee, beat Twilight Agenda by 5 1/2 lengths while running 1 1/4 miles in 1:59. Only one Big ‘Cap has been won by a bigger margin, Bobby Brocato’s six-length victory in 1956, and Best Pal’s time tied for the third-fastest, behind Affirmed’s 1:58 3/5 in 1979, Martial Law’s 1:58 4/5 in 1989 and John Henry’s 1:59 in 1982.

With a crowd of 42,215 on track and another 31,963 attending off-track betting centers, Best Pal came from fifth under Kent Desormeaux in a seven-horse field for his $550,000 victory, which gives him earnings of more than $3 million. He paid $5.40 to win.

Defensive Play, longest shot on the board at 38-1, paid $6 for finishing third, 2 1/4 lengths behind Twilight Agenda, who paid $3 to place. Ibero, the $25,000 supplementary entry, ran fourth, followed by Fanatic Boy, In Excess and Algenib.

In Excess, beaten by more than 18 lengths, was the 5-2 third choice. Second behind Ibero most of the way, he seemed to quit trying when Best Pal and Twilight Agenda ran past him at the quarter pole, and after the race, jockey Gary Stevens couldn’t explain In Excess’ performance.

Desormeaux, the No. 1 jockey at Santa Anita in victories and also first nationally in purses this year, technically began a five-day suspension Saturday, but was allowed to ride Best Pal in the Big ‘Cap because of a state rule that makes exceptions for major races.

“This horse was at his best today,” Desormeaux said. “All I had to do was aim and shoot.”

Breaking from the middle of the field, Best Pal and Desormeaux settled into fifth heading down the backstretch. Ibero and In Excess led through modest fractions, with Twilight Agenda running behind them and Algenib on his outside flank in fourth.

Twilight Agenda likes to run with his weight on his left side, and Chris McCarron, his jockey, was unable to get him to switch to the right lead foot on the backside. “I was able to sneak up while Chris was fighting his horse to change leads,” Desormeaux said.

On the far turn, Best Pal made his move without urging, passing Ibero and In Excess with about a quarter-mile to run. Twilight Agenda also kicked into gear then, but couldn’t match Best Pal.

“My horse ran as fast as he could,” McCarron said. “He finished well, but he was second best. The best horse won, which is the way it should be.”

Through the stretch, Desormeaux hit Best Pal five times, twice from the left and three times right-handed. “When I asked him to run, he exploded,” Desormeaux said.

It was Best Pal’s third victory in a $1-million race. As a 2-year-old, he won the Hollywood Futurity, and last year he won the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, one race after Jones began training him when the Mabees switched from Ian Jory.

Explaining Best Pal’s early position, Jones said: “Mr. Mabee and I both felt we had two speed horses on the outside of us (In Excess and Twilight Agenda) with two very smart jockeys, who might make us come up and try to trap us or make us go around and lose ground. We opted to lose the ground. We told Kent we wanted to get a clear shot even if it meant losing ground. He’s run that way before and run good.”

Best Pal has 11 victories and six seconds from 21 starts. Under Jones, his record is five victories, two seconds and a fourth in eight starts.

This was In Excess’ worst race on dirt since he was fourth, nine lengths behind the victorious Farma Way, in last year’s Big ‘Cap.

“He gave me absolutely nothing,” Stevens said. “I thought that maybe he had bled in the stretch. I’m baffled. He warmed up good and looked like he was ready to run. When Chris and Kent went by us with their horses, they were still under a full hold, but my horse couldn’t run with them. For two or three strides he was all right, but then there was nothing. After the race, it looked like he hadn’t even taken a deep breath.”

All last week, Lukas bemoaned the fact that Twilight Agenda would have been better prepared for the Big ‘Cap if he had run in the San Antonio Handicap on Feb. 15. Lukas kept him out of the race, saying the weight assignment of 126 pounds was too high.

“Best Pal ran a monster race, and I don’t want to take anything away from him,” Lukas said after the Big ‘Cap. “But our horse was tuned up, and then being forced not to run in the San Antonio cost us. We’ve got a better horse than what he showed today. It’s a shame, you work hard, and then a racing department takes you out of the race. This is not 1952, when horses were expected to carry lots of weight.”

Big ‘Cap Notes

Best Pal and Twilight Agenda may renew their rivalry in the Oaklawn Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 11. The Oaklawn race is the third stop in the nine-race American Championship Racing Series, which began with Sea Cadet’s victory in the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park and the Big ‘Cap. The top horse in the series, which ends with the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 30, will earn a bonus of $750,000.

Pat Valenzuela was Best Pal’s regular rider but was replaced by Kent Desormeaux four races back because Valenzuela is under contract this year to ride owner Allen Paulson’s horses. Trainer Gary Jones and owners John and Betty Mabee were concerned that Valenzuela would have a conflict with Paulson’s horses in some of Best Pal’s races. Valenzuela, who would have ridden Dinard for Paulson had the colt run Saturday, wound up with Ibero. “I wouldn’t trade places with Kent,” Valenzuela said. “Mr. Paulson has some good 2-year-olds. I made a decision, and it was the best decision I could make. I knew it would jeopardize some good horses, like Best Pal, but I’m having a great year, anyway.” Besides a share of the purses, Valenzuela is being paid a salary by Paulson that has been estimated at $500,000.