| 2010 Stakes Schedule |
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FAIRPLEX PARK RACING OPENS THURSDAY, SEPT. 9 |
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Historic Fairplex Park, which rivals the Hollywood sign and the endless summers of beautiful w eather when it comes to Southern California lore, begins its 72nd season of horse racing close up and personal Thursday at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona which currently is enjoying its 88th anniversary season in Pomona through Oct. 3.
The 2010 race meet, sponsored by San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino, runs 15 days through Sept. 27. Mondays and Tuesdays, Sept. 13, 14 and 20, 21, are dark. First post time is 1 p.m.
One of the rarest and most exciting events in sports–a match race–will highlight the opening day program. Instead of horses, however, the match will focus on jockeys Martin Pedroza and David Flores, the runaway leaders at Fairplex Park in career and stakes victories. The match will be the sixth race on a xx card and will be contested at a mile and one sixteenth.
Perhaps the most famous match race was the legendary Seabiscuit’s upset victory over Triple Crown champion War Admiral in the 1938 Pimlico Special, but there are others of note, inclu ding Seabiscuit’s conquest of Ligaroti at Del Mar in 1938; Man o’ War’s triumph over inaugural Triple Crown winner Sir Barton in1920; Nashua’s six-length victory over Kentucky Derby winner Swaps in 1955; 1975's tragedy-marred meeting between the colt Foolish Pleasure and the filly Ruffian at Belmont Park; and the 1966 Pace of the Century at Yonkers Raceway between standardbred champions Bret Hanover and victorious Cardigan Bay.
Pedroza, a 45-year-old native of Panama, has won 11 Fairplex riding crowns, the last 11 in a row, and tied with Flores and Corey Black for the 1989 title. Flores, 42, from Tijuana, Mexico, owns five outright Fairplex titles, all won before he elected to concentrate on other Southern California tracks after dominating Fairplex. Pedroza is the career leader in victories at Fairplex with 606, while Flores has 338. Pedroza leads Flores in stakes wins, 65-64.
The match race is the brainchild of Fairplex Park racing secretary Tom Knust.
“I was at Canterbury Downs in 1988 when Shoe (Bill Shoemaker) was contemplating retirement,” Knust recalled. “They thought it would be a good idea to have a match race between Shoe and Julie Krone (Krone won) instead of a match race between horses, so I thought a race between Pedroza and Flores would be a natural.”
While Pedroza and Flores have raced against each other countless times during their careers combining more than half a century (Pedroza began in 1982, Flores in 1984), neither has participated in a match race.
“They have ridden against each other one against the other in morning workouts,” said Pedroza’a long-time agent, Richie Silverstein, “but I can’t ever remember either riding in a match race. It will be exciting, but as far as who will win, a lot depends on the form of the two horses. You can’t change a horse’s style because of a match race, but it will be good for the fans. There will be those who favor David, and those who support Martin.
“Each guy knows his way around the Fairplex track like the back of his hand, so I doubt therewill be any great surprises. In fact, David is on record as saying, and I’m paraphrasing, ‘I know exactly what Martin is going to do, and he knows exactly what I’m going to do.’”
FAIRWELLS: With top trainers Bob Baffert, Bruce Headley and John Sadler among those bringing more horses than usual at Fairplex Park what with Santa Anita’s main track closed for training during renovation, Knust is “very optimistic” about the general quality and field size for the meet . . . Of the top 10 trainers in career victories at Fairplex, the first nine are still active: Mel Stute (187), Jerry Fanning (146), Ted West (141), Jeff Mullins (86), Doug O’Neill (85), Hector Palma (80), Craig Lewis, (78), Don Warren (78) and Bill Spawr (76).
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