SANTA ANITA : Stormy But Valid a 2-Length Winner in Santa Monica

With three furlongs to run in the $106,300 Santa Monica Handicap Saturday, jockey Gary Stevens was a little worried.

Hot Novel, the second longest shot in the field of five, had opened up on Stevens and his companion, Stormy But Valid, the 9-5 favorite.

“Hot Novel usually (lugs) out, but she just fell over into the rail, hit another gear and started to open up,” he said. “I thought maybe I’d made a mistake.”

Stevens wasn’t concerned for too long. By the three-sixteenths pole, it was apparent Hot Novel was weakening and Stormy But Valid was going to continue her affection for Santa Anita’s main track.

Two weeks after holding off Survive in the Las Flores Handicap, the 4-year-old Valid Appeal filly picked up her first Grade I stakes victory with a two-length win before 30,042.

She also improved her record to 4-0 in dirt sprints at Santa Anita. Mace, Jan and Samantha Siegel’s Louisiana-bred has won seven of 15 overall.

“I was very optimistic,” said trainer Brian Mayberry, who won for the 10th time at the meeting, tops in the standings. “She runs hard all the time and favors this track. I suspected the seven-eighths might be a better distance for her because she’ll rate if there’s some speed.

“The name of the game is control and speed. If you can control her and she has one or two fillies in front of her, she’ll kick in when asked.”

Stormy But Valid’s win also continued a profitable meeting for Stevens. He has five stakes victories, more than any other rider, and leads Alex Solis, 21-20, in the jockey’s race.

“She’s a hard-trying little filly,” he said. “Six months ago, I would have had my doubts she could go seven furlongs. But she’s the kind of horse who will run until she drops.”

In two previous route tries, Stormy But Valid didn’t come close, but another two-turn attempt could be in her future.

“I wouldn’t rule out another try,” Mayberry said. “She’s demonstrated she doesn’t want to go too far, but she’s learned to relax and changed some. Sometimes, they make a big transition from three to four.”

Helped by an extremely fast pace in the Las Flores, the late-running Survive was hurt by the moderate fractions (:22 3/5 for the quarter and :45 flat for the half-mile) Saturday and a track over which speed was dominant.

She finished a length ahead of Hot Novel, then came Hidden Garden and Stocks Up.

Trainer Steve Young won’t go unbeaten the rest of Santa Anita’s season.

After sending out five winners in a row, the 28-year-old Young had his streak snapped Saturday when Madruga flopped at 3-2 in the first race.

Even so, the former East-based trainer has begun the meeting with six victories from his first 11 starters and finds himself tied for fourth with Danny Velasquez in the standings.

“Everything’s falling in place,” he said Saturday morning from his stable office at Hollywood Park. “At Monmouth in 1986, I think I went six for nine early in the meeting. But I’d never won five in a row before. I’ve been hot, but not this hot.”

His own boss since 1983, Young wintered in Florida and spent the summer in New York or New Jersey before coming to California a little over two years ago.

“A couple of reasons why I made the move is because I saw the handwriting on the wall in regards to Florida racing,” he said. “They (the tracks) down there were fighting among themselves and it was a situation where five months out of the year you weren’t running for any money.

“The racing in California keeps getting stronger and stronger. Basically, every place is struggling and New York’s not what it used to be.”

At the moment, Young has 12 horses under his care, including For My Friends, a 3-year-old son of Princely Native who has already won twice at Santa Anita. His other double winner is Kamikaze, a veteran low-level claimer who has clicked twice at a mile and a quarter.

Horse Racing Notes

John Gosden, who returned to England a little over a year ago after training for a decade locally, was a visitor in the Santa Anita stable area Saturday morning. “I’ve been on a two-week vacation skiing in Colorado and Utah and I thought I’d better clip through here,” said Gosden, who trains for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum in his native land. “Half my stable is private and half is public. I had a good, steady year and we start again at the end of March.”