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Ah Day Gets His Day in Horatius

By John Scheinman

For more than a week, trainer King Leatherbury tried to get his 3-year-old gelding Ah Day into an allowance race, but every one he entered failed to draw enough horses for the Laurel Park racing office to make a field.

With nothing to lose and no place to run, Leatherbury, 72, decided to take a shot and run Ah Day yesterday in the $75,000 Horatius Stakes against a group of speedy but unproven sprinters. The trainer hasn't won 6,123 races -- third-most all time -- without connecting on a few hunch plays, and this was one of them.

Unable to keep up with the quick early fractions set by favorite Rainbow Inthestorm, Ah Day, nevertheless, was around at the finish, threading his way through a wall of rivals deep in the stretch to win the six-furlong race by a length. At odds of 11-1, fourth choice in the field of seven, Ah Day wasn't considered much of a threat, but under expert handling by jockey Ryan Fogelsonger he remained in contact with the leaders until they wore out.

"We just took a shot," Leatherbury said in the winner's circle. "I've been putting the horse in allowance races for a week, and they haven't filled. I said, 'What the heck, let's slip him in here.' I knew there was a lot of speed and he'd be closing. It's a pleasant surprise."

Ah Day will show up in the entries Wednesday because Leatherbury finally found an allowance that filled, but his longtime assistant Avon Thorpe and Fogelsonger urged him to run in the stakes race.

With favorite Rainbow Inthestorm having won three straight starts and Great Seneca undefeated in the same number entering the race, Leatherbury admitted afterward he "was shooting to get third money, to be honest."

Nominated for induction into the Racing Hall of Fame earlier this year, Leatherbury for the seventh time failed to make the select group of finalists. His credentials are unassailable, but trainers who have made their careers winning claiming races haven't fared well in the balloting.

"I never had the super horse," Leatherbury said. "The people that are in charge of this thing want you to train the superstars, and I've never had one."

While no superstar, Ah Day has begun to develop into a pretty useful horse. Bred by Leatherbury from his mare Endette, the gelding has now won two of five starts and earned $66,680. He ran the six furlongs in a quick 1 minute 11.26 seconds.

"Now that he's proven himself, I'll have to keep him nominated to the 3-year-old stakes," Leatherbury joked.

Racing Notes: Lava Man won the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap, with Kentucky Derby champion Giacomo finishing fifth.

Ridden by Corey Nakatani, Lava Man was three-quarters of a length in front of Magnum at the wire, with Wilko another 7 1/2 lengths behind in third. The favored High Limit finished fourth, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Giacomo in the 1 1/4 -mile race.

Lava Man, trained by Doug O'Neil, won in 2:00.57.

Earlier in the day at Santa Anita, Brother Derek and rider Alex Solis had a perfect trip to win the $200,000 Santa Catalina Stakes and affirm the colt's credentials as the early favorite for this year's Kentucky Derby.

Trained by Dan Hendricks, Brother Derek won the 1 1/16 -mile race in a sharp 1:41.96.

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