Einstein Adds To History of Santa Anita Handicap
Seven-Year-Old Carried High Weight of 121 Pounds To Winner's Circle
Mar 25, 2009 BarbaraAnne Helberg
Trainer Helen Pitts-Blasi knows her Einstein. Her dark bay horse by that name brought home the goods in this season's Santa Anita Handicap carrying high weight of 121 pounds. Seven-year-old Einstein joined a list of seven previous high-weight Big 'Cap winners that include the 1940 champion, Seabiscuit, to prove as good a competitor as the weight handicapper thought he should be carrying the race's heaviest weight.
He also confirmed the faith Pitts-Blasi still has in him in his fifth year of Thoroughbred racing. Einstein, bred in Brazil, was unraced at age two. He is the son of Kentucky Derby champ Spend a Buck, who also captured Horse of the Year in 1985. Spend a Buck died in Brazil at age 20.
Einstein Beat Weight Handicap in Big 'Cap
In Thoroughbred handicapping, poundage adds up, even on the backs of great horses. But the idea is to assign weight at a clip that theoretically would bring all competitors to the wire in a dead-heat. The goal is an ideal, a system to try to spread parody among the race's opponents. It makes betting very interesting. But most times, weight assignments separate the horses from the ponies, so to speak.
In 1950, an injury plagued Citation, who nailed the Triple Crown in 1948, spirited a comeback season that included the Big 'Cap. The speedy champion carried a heavy load, 132 pounds, the most ever assigned in the race. He gallantly finished second to Noor, who danced lightly under 110 pounds.
Einstein entered the ancient Big 'Cap, the Santa Anita Handicap nicknamed the "hundred grander" in Seabiscuit's day, March 7. Carrying the high weight of 121 pounds and tackling synthetics for the first time, he ended the race in the winner's circle, having conquered all by a driving length.
Seven Big 'Cap Winners Carried 130 Pounds
The previous greats who lugged 130 pounds to victory in the Santa Anita Handicap include:
- 1940 -- Seabiscuit
- 1945 -- Thumbs Up
- 1953 -- Mark-Ye-Well
- 1958 -- Round Table
- 1971 -- Ack Ack
- 1980 -- Spectacular Bid
- 1982 -- John Henry (placed second and moved to first when Perrault was disqualified from first)
Five of these champions achieved Horse of the Year honors in six different years:
- 1938 -- Seabiscuit (defeated 1937 Triple Crown champion War Admiral in match race)
- 1958 -- Round Table
- 1971 -- Ack Ack
- 1980 -- Spectacular Bid
- 1981 and 1984 -- John Henry
Seabiscuit became one of the Big 'Cap's special stories when he competed in the race in 1938, finished second carrying 130 pounds to Stagehand's 100, then recovered from a severe leg injury during 1939 to tackle the Big 'Cap again in 1940 at the age of seven and win. His regular jockey, John "Red" Pollard, was barely recovered himself from a grievous leg injury, but he also returned and triumped with Seabiscuit, the horse he fondly called "Pops".
Einstein May Be Pointed to Synthetics Again
Trainer Pitts-Blasi said Einstein may be entered in the Hollywood Gold Cup, or the Pacific Classic. Both are grade one races on synthetics. Einstein has achieved six graded stakes victories on all three surfaces, dirt, turf, and synthetics, setting him apart from most Thoroughbreds.
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