Siphon Draws Off a Victory

It was only a $60,000 allowance, but for Siphon and trainer Richard Mandella, Sunday’s race was a big step toward the $1-million Santa Anita Handicap on March 2.

Running for the first time since he suffered a knee injury at Del Mar in August, Siphon held off three horses in the stretch to win by one-half length over Elmhurst. Ridden by David Flores, Siphon ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:40 4/5 on a track that had gone from muddy to good.

A race later, Flores was in the winner’s circle again, this time with Queen Of Money, the five-length winner of the $105,650 Santa Ynez Stakes.

Queen Of Money, who went off at 6-1, won her first stake after running sixth last year in both the Del Mar Debutante and the Hollywood Starlet. High Heeled Hope, the 7-5 favorite, finished third.

In his last race, Siphon finished third in Del Mar’s Pacific Classic, and before that he capped a four-race winning streak with a victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup. Mandella is so high on the 6-year-old Brazilian-bred that he’d like to see him get an invitation to the $4-million Dubai World Cup on March 29. Mandella also hopes to run Gentlemen in Dubai.

Horse Racing Notes

Scratches left Santa Anita with three five-horse races and one that had only four starters. Three fillies were scratched from the Santa Ynez. There have been off tracks for 16 of the first 25 days of the meet. . . . There’s a one-mile allowance on Wednesday’s card that will showcase some promising 3-year-olds. Included in the field are P.T. Indy, Effect, El Cielo and Wrightwood. . . . Wild Tempo, who finished ahead of his more ballyhooed stablemate, Mud Route, while running second at Hollywood Park in November, broke his maiden on the third try.