Maiden King

When Eddie Delahoussaye was riding, he typically broke horses in the middle of the pack and saved an exciting burst of speed for the stretch. But his namesake horse #2 Delahoosee, which he owns and bred, came up empty Thursday in his stretch run against #8 Santamonicacanyon.

As the even-money favorite, Delahoosee broke well to track Santamonicacanyon down the backstretch. At the eighth pole, Delahoosee ran right up next to the leader and, with a vigorous ride by Garrett Gomez, he seemed sure to hit the wire first.

But Santamonicacanyon was game and pulled away to win by 1 1/2 lengths.

I considered betting Delahoosee, #4 Dapper Gene and #3 Gretsky, but their odds were all out of my range. I ended up with $300 on #7 Cat’s Causeway, who made no impact in his debut at 8-to-1

To watch a replay of this race, go to calracing.com