Rearview Mirror Tells Story

While looking forward to Sunday’s San Felipe Stakes and the $1-million Santa Anita Derby on April 8, here are some afterthoughts on various happenings of the last two weekends:

* An effort like the one Surfside gave Sunday in the Santa Anita Oaks won’t be enough to get it done against the boys in the Santa Anita Derby. Those watching kept expecting her to roll away from her four opponents, but she never did and was fully extended to beat Kumari Continent, whose only victory was against maidens, and Classy Cara, the longest shot in the field at nearly 22-1. After leading through a 45 4/5 half-mile, Surfside completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44, the second-slowest winning Oaks time in 18 years. If she finishes the same way in the Derby, she’ll be swallowed in the final furlong.

* The next time Chilukki runs around two turns should be never. The Cherokee Run filly and 2-year-old champion demonstrated again that sprinting is what she wants to do when she turned in the worst performance of her career in the Fair Grounds Oaks last Saturday, beating only November Slew as the odds-on favorite.

* Hal’s Hope is a better colt than he has been given credit for and he showed a lot of determination in beating High Yield in the Florida Derby. It’s hard not to root for trainer Harold Rose, 88, and jockey Roger Velez, who has never ridden in a Kentucky Derby.

However, it is hard to conceive of any of the horses who competed in Florida this winter winning the Kentucky Derby. Hal’s Hope and High Yield finished 10 lengths clear of the field in the Florida Derby despite completing the last three furlongs in a slow 40 3/5 seconds.

* While High Yield was ridden overconfidently by Pat Day, it appears the son of Storm Cat is at his best--around two turns--when he’s able to make the lead. He won the Fountain Of Youth on the front end but was unable to get by Hal’s Hope five days ago and lost ground to The Deputy in the final furlong of the Santa Catalina Stakes.

* Mighty, who won the Louisiana Derby, looks like a legitimate contender for the Kentucky Derby. The late-runner has the right style and he is very consistent. He has been worse than third only once in his 10 races for trainer Frank Brothers.

* General Challenge has to be considered the best handicap horse in the country at the moment given his decisive victory in the Santa Anita Handicap. The talented, but slow-to-learn gelding, earned his win against Budroyale, Puerto Madero and others, but he still has something left to prove for trainer Bob Baffert and owners John and Betty Mabee.

Winless in his three starts outside California, General Challenge has to demonstrate he can win on the road, something he’ll probably get a chance to do in the $750,000 Pimlico Special on May 13 in Maryland.

Perhaps, even though Corey Nakatani is two for two in 2000 on the California-bred, Dana Barnes, General Challenge’s regular exercise rider, will be given an opportunity by the Mabees to ride the 4-year-old wherever he shows up next.

After all, minutes after the Big ‘Cap, John Mabee said, “Dana Barnes could have won more races on the horse last year than the jocks.” If the owner of Golden Eagle Farm truly feels that way, why didn’t Barnes ride General Challenge at some point in 1999? Instead, he relied on two Hall of Famers (Chris McCarron and Gary Stevens) and Santa Anita’s leading jockey last year (David Flores).