LOS ALAMITOS : Two Top Mares Finally to Meet

Females have moved into the spotlight in horse racing.

In thoroughbred racing, the Breeders’ Cup program Saturday in New York will be highlighted by the Distaff, bringing together stars Bayakoa, Go for Wand and Gorgeous. There also have been rave reviews for unbeaten Meadow Star, the favorite in the Juvenile Fillies.

In harness racing, the most publicized Standardbred in recent times is Miss Easy, a filly who paced the fastest winning mile for a 2-year-old, 1:51 2/5, at Lexington, Ky., last month.

The story is no different in quarter horse racing, where the mares Dash for Speed and See Me Do It are on a collision course in the Breeders Championship Classic Nov. 17 at Los Alamitos.

The Horsemen’s Quarter Horse Racing Assn. meet opens Friday and will continue through Feb. 2 at the Orange County track. Fans are already circling Nov. 17 and Dec. 15, a possible rematch date in the Champion of Champions. The two mares have never met before and their races probably will yield the 1990 world champion.

See Me Do It, a 4-year-old, has won 15 of 18 races and earned $884,833. The Oklahoma-bred chestnut won the 1989 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos, clinching the world champion title, and currently has a four-race winning streak at Ruidoso Downs, N.M. She arrived from Oklahoma last week with trainer Bobby Turner, who is seeking millionaire status for her before retiring her.

Dash for Speed, a 5-year-old daughter of Dash for Cash, has won 21 of 27 starts and earned $1,093,441. Trained by Blane Schvaneveldt, the Texas-bred mare is two for two in 1990, having won the Anne Burnett Invitational and Los Alamitos Championship in July. Her time of :19.53 in the Anne Burnett broke a 14-year track record for 400 yards.

Dash for Speed has settled for third place in the Breeders Championship the last two years.

“We hope the third time’s the charm,” co-owner Bob Blakeman of Ft. Worth, Tex., said. “We want real bad to get the world championship. We feel she deserves to have that.”

March 14 is a special date for Blakeman and Dash for Speed.

“It’s my birthday, it’s her birthday and it’s the date I bought her as a 2-year-old from my mother (Mary McRae),” Blakeman said. “The next day I sold half interest to Tom Bradbury, a horse owner and friend from Byers, Colo.”

Dash for Speed is also a mother-to-be for the first time but it hasn’t interfered with her training. “We bred her for the first time last April to Streakin Six and seven days later took the embryo,” Blakeman said. “A recipient mare is carrying her embryo.

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed she foals on March 14. I’ll be 52, Dash For Speed will be 6 and we’ll all celebrate with champagne!”

Dash For Speed is nominated to the Inaugural Handicap opening night but probably will wait for the Charger Bar Handicap Nov. 3 to prep for the Breeders Championship.

It was the best of meets and worst of meets for Los Alamitos harness racing, which concluded a 42-night stand last Saturday.

The meet was highlighted by the return of the American Pacing Classic, which produced a 1:51 2/5 world record by T K’s Skipper in the $150,000 final; and the opening of a $750,000 paddock in the grandstand during the final week.

But the meeting produced combined on-track and off-track nightly average attendance of 4,495 and handle of $773,985. There are no comparable dates in recent years, but a 101-night winter session averaged 4,847 and $818,796, respectively.

“The biggest problem we had at first was a virus in our stable area that hit about 300 horses,” said Lloyd Arnold, president and general manager. “They usually last two or three weeks, but this one kept hanging on. Horses are just coming back now.”

The first 2 1/2 weeks of the meet overlapped with the end of the Del Mar thoroughbred season. Los Alamitos served as a satellite wagering site for the first time during those afternoons. Los Alamitos handled about $750,000 per afternoon--it kept $15,000 plus parking and concessions each day--but harness handle was down about $100,000 a night. Los Alamitos was unable to send its signal to Del Mar during that time, costing another $20,000 per night.

In addition, trifecta wagering and commingling of pools in Nevada did not come into place in time to help the meet. The California Horse Racing Board approved the trifecta--picking the 1-2-3 finishers in one race in order--as an experiment, but legislation remains unsigned in the Office of Administrative Law.

The commingling of pools-- by which wagering at a consortium of 14 Nevada sports books now goes directly into the track pool--began last week at Santa Anita and will join Los Alamitos on opening night of the quarter horse meet.

“The trifecta would have put us up 10 to 15%,” said Arnold, who was relieved to see Del Mar approved as a Standardbred training site until early February. He had hoped that the CHRB also would allocate leased dates at Fairplex Park in Pomona from April to August.

“If not, we’ll have to re-enact our lawsuit,” said Arnold. “But I think we’ll find a solution to satisfy the board and satisfy us.”