Reraise Continues to Flash Top Form

Reraise, the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Eclipse champion, won easily for the second time this year with a 2 1/2-length victory in the $100,000 Oakland Handicap on Sunday at Golden Gate Fields.

Reraise, ridden by Corey Nakatani for trainer Craig Dollase and a partnership that includes Moon Han and Barry Fey, went right to the front and toyed with three opponents. He covered the six furlongs in 1:08 3/5.

“He’s a very special horse,” said Dollase of Reraise, who won the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap last month at Oaklawn Park in his first race since his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last Nov. 7.

“The track was hard on the bottom and he got a hold of it and responded to whatever Corey asked him to do. From day one, the patience of the owners has made it easy to train this horse. Ultimately, our goal is to get back to the Breeders’ Cup.”

Reraise, a 4-year-old Danatore gelding, has made only eight career starts, winning seven.

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Winless in nine races since the 1998 San Felipe Stakes, Artax ended his losing streak in a big way at Aqueduct in New York.

Artax, making his third start since being shipped east by owner Ernie Paragallo after a disastrous three races at Santa Anita, dominated favored Affirmed Success and seven others in winning the $200,000 Carter Handicap by 3 1/4 lengths.

Artax, a 5-1 shot, ran the seven furlongs in 1:20, breaking the track record set 31 years ago by Dr. Fager.

Affirmed Success, the beaten favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last year, lost for the first time in four starts at seven furlongs. Western Borders finished third.

Artax, a 4-year-old Marquetry colt, was ridden by Jorge Chavez, who was involved in a bad spill in the next race. Chavez, 37, was taken from the track on a stretcher--while appearing to be conscious--and to a Manhasset, N.Y. hospital. According to a jockey’s room attendant, Chavez was complaining of shoulder soreness.

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Even-money favorite Bonapartiste rallied powerfully once he got into the clear and beat Alvo Certo by a nose to win the $78,900 Fastness Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Bonapartiste, making his first start of 1999, won for sixth time in 25 career starts. The 5-year-old Kendor mare covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:46 2/5 for his third win in five races over the Hollywood Park turf course.

Bonapartiste was ridden by Chris McCarron, who returned to Hollywood Park specifically for the Fastness from Louisville, Ky.--where he rode 14th-place finisher Stephen Got Even in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. McCarron was scheduled to get back on a plane Sunday night to Washington, D.C., where he, Gary Stevens and Pat Day were to speak tonight at a Kentucky Derby tribute at the Smithsonian Institute.

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A day after his second Kentucky Derby victory aboard 31-1 shot Charismatic, jockey Chris Antley was scheduled to ride only two horses at Hollywood Park--Key Time in the sixth race and Kona Wind in the eighth.

Kona Wind was scratched, but when Tobermory Slew, a 10-year-old gelding who hadn’t run since Oct. 5, 1997, needed a rider in the fifth race after Adolfo Rodriguez took off his mounts, Antley accepted the ride after other jockeys had declined. For a time, in fact, it looked as if Tobermory Slew, 30-1 on the morning line, might have to be scratched because a rider couldn’t be found.

Unlike Saturday’s Derby, there was no surprise ending. Antley and Tobermory Slew, who went off a 71-1, finished sixth in a nine of field.

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Event Of The Year, a distant fourth-place finisher as the 3-10 favorite in the $150,000 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap on Saturday, suffered an ankle injury, according to assistant trainer Gary Mandella.

Event Of The Year, the runner-up in the Santa Anita Handicap earlier this year, bobbled leaving the gate and never got involved in a race won impressively by Budroyale.

Event Of The Year missed the 1998 Kentucky Derby after suffering a knee injury and didn’t return to racing for almost eight months.

Horse Racing Notes

Santa Anita Handicap winner Free House had a five-furlong workout of 1:01 2/5 at Santa Anita in preparation for Saturday’s Pimlico Special. . . . Jockey Laffit Pincay, with his victory aboard favored Rough Hustle in the fifth race at Hollywood Park, increased his career total to 8,740, leaving him 93 shy of Bill Shoemaker’s all-time mark of 8,833.