St Averil Takes First Step

Owner Stan Fulton, trainer Rafael Becerra and jockey Tyler Baze hope St Averil, the winner of Saturday’s Santa Catalina Stakes at Santa Anita, fares better in the coming months than the previous winner.

Domestic Dispute, who was embraced by some for possible Triple Crown glory after he won the Grade II race 12 months ago, has since changed barns via private sale, finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby and is in the midst of an eight-race losing streak.

Purchased as a 2-year-old for $500,000 last summer, St Averil, a son of Saint Ballado, has won two of three, his defeat coming when he was second to the unbeaten Lion Heart in the Hollywood Futurity on Dec. 20 at Hollywood Park.

Returning to the track where he trains and where he broke his maiden in his career debut Nov. 9, St Averil was rated off the pace while wide, then took charge in midstretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths over 18-1 shot Lucky Pulpit. He ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.62, the second fastest ever in the Santa Catalina. Stancharry set the stakes record of 1:41 2/5 in 1981.

“He’s just a real good horse,” said Baze, who also teamed with Fulton and Becerra to win the following race with 3-1 shot Saint Buddy. “Around the far turn, he took a nice, deep breath and when I asked him, he really dug in. We had a perfect trip. We’ll see how far he goes.”

Becerra said a decision on St Averil’s next race would be made soon. “I’m pretty sure we’ll stay here,” he said. The next major prep for the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 3 is the $200,000 San Rafael Stakes on March 6.

Lucky Pulpit, who was coming off consecutive starts on the turf, finished two lengths ahead of 13-10 favorite Master David.

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Second Of June, the 5-2 second choice, beat 8-5 favorite Silver Wagon and seven others in the $100,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Florida.

Owned by Barbara Cesare and trained by former NFL player Bill Cesare, the 3-year-old Louis Quatorze colt won by 2 3/4 lengths under jockey Cornelio Velasquez. Winning for the fourth time in six starts, Second Of June completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.

Cesare indicated the colt, who was purchased last year for $7,500, would return in next month’s Fountain Of Youth.

Third as the 4-5 favorite behind Second Of June in the What A Pleasure at Calder on Dec. 13, Silver Wagon raced greenly under jockey Jerry Bailey but did finish 10 lengths clear of 3-1 third choice Friends Lake.

“He ran like a first-time starter,” Bailey said. “He was in, out and back in again.”

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After a four-day carry-over, there were two winning tickets in the pick six at Aqueduct on Saturday and each was worth a New York-record $1,120,287. One of the tickets was purchased at Los Alamitos and the other at St. Kitts in the British West Indies.

The previous high payoff for a pick six in New York was $767,998 on April 9, 1990, at Aqueduct.

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Seattle Fitz ($7.40) held on to beat favored Evening Attire by a nose in the $110,100 Aqueduct Handicap. Aaron Gryder rode the winner for West Point Stable and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.