Kingdom Found Is Best of the Rest

When the three high weights were scratched from the San Pasqual Handicap at sloppy Santa Anita on Sunday, trainer Rafael Becerra knew his horse had to run, even though he had no inkling of how Kingdom Found would handle an off track.

Kingdom Found, whose 28 previous starts were run over fast tracks, is now a 7-year-old gelding with mudder credentials. He beat the three horses left in the $198,200 San Pasqual, winning by 2 3/4 lengths and earning $122,200 for Minnie Dilbeck and her family.

Listed at 8-1 on the morning line, Kingdom Found went off at 9-2 with the defections of Alphabet Soup, Dramatic Gold and Marlin, but he was still the longest price in the abbreviated field. Savinio finished second, nine lengths ahead of Eltish, and last was Paying Dues, the Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up who led for six furlongs.

Kingdom Found’s time for 1 1/16 miles was 1:40 3/5, which missed the stakes record by only two-fifths of a second over a track that had a firm bottom under the messy surface. Paying $11.40, Kingdom Found was ridden by Gary Stevens for the first time. Kent Desormeaux, who rode Kingdom Found when he won the On Trust Handicap at Hollywood Park on Nov. 24, had the assignment on Dramatic Gold before he was scratched.

“I didn’t know how [Kingdom Found] would handle this sealed race track, but he warmed up good over it,” Stevens said. “You worry about it as hard as it is. An old horse like this, sometimes they will protect themselves. But he was reaching out over the track, and he was comfortable with it.”

With the scratches, Savinio carried high weight of 117 pounds, two more than Kingdom Found. Alphabet Soup, who would have been the high weight with 122 pounds, had been expected to make his first start since his upset of Cigar in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in October. Alphabet Soup had also won the San Pasqual last year.

Early Sunday, with a steady rain falling, trainer David Hofmans scratched Dramatic Gold. “He can’t stand up in this stuff,” Hofmans said.

Two or three hours later, Hofmans yanked Alphabet Soup.

“He loves the mud,” Hofmans said, “but I wanted to make sure that the running surface was absolutely perfect for his first time back. Now I’ll wait for the San Antonio Handicap [Feb. 2] with both of them, and hope that [Richard] Mandella finds someplace else to run Gentlemen.”

Dramatic Gold finished second in the Native Diver Handicap on Dec. 22, but he was beaten by nine lengths when the Mandella-trained Gentlemen ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:45 1/5, only a fifth of a second off the North American record. Mandella said Sunday that the San Antonio is also going to be Gentlemen’s next race.

Kingdom Found is also San Antonio-bound, after his 11th win increased his earnings to $730,799. The son of The Bart and Amiga was bred in California by the late Ray Dilbeck, who was 68 when he died in April of 1995.

“We got rid of a lot of mares,” said his widow, Minnie Dilbeck. “But we had three horses at the track when he passed on, and he wanted us to keep racing them. Kingdom Found was one of those.”

When Gary Jones, Kingdom Found’s trainer, retired early last year, Becerra, his assistant for about 25 years, took over the Dilbeck horses.

The scratches of the big guns kept Kingdom Found in the race. “This was the day to try,” Becerra said. “I never had a chance to work him on an off track. After the San Antonio, we’ll try for the Santa Anita Handicap if he’s good enough.”

Horse Racing Notes

Gary Stevens won three races Sunday. . . . Eddie Delahoussaye, who would have ridden Eltish, took off his mounts. He was still sore from a spill on Saturday. . . . Ricks Natural Star’s career is over. The 8-year-old gelding, running eighth in a 10-horse field at Turf Paradise on Sunday, was claimed for $7,500 by Larry Weber, who said he would retire the horse. Ricks Natural Star, an outclassed horse who had never won above the $3,500 claiming level, ran last in the Breeders’ Cup Turf for owner William Livingston. . . . A memorial service will be held Friday at Santa Anita, after the races, for Frank (Jimmy) Kilroe, the track’s retired vice president who died in November.