Uncharted Haven (right) holds off Brianda (left) to win Monday's San Gorgonio Handicap at Santa Anita Park. Uncharted Haven survived a stewards' inquiry and gave trainer Robert Frankel his 700th Santa Anita win.
Trainer Robert Frankel, who's won three of the last five runnings of the San Gorgonio Handicap (gr. IIT) at Santa Anita, saddled a strong one-two entry in this year's renewal on Monday's Martin Luther King Holiday, with front-running Dancingonice the perfect complement to stretch closer Uncharted Haven. As it turned out, Dancingonice carved out the fractions and set things up perfectly for her 3 Plus U Stable barnmate, and Uncharted Haven took down the top prize in the nine-furlong turf race for fillies and mares.Frankel, however, had to sweat out a stewards' inquiry. Uncharted Haven moved past Dancingonice easily to take the lead at the top of the stretch, but as the finish line approached and jockey Alex Solis switched from the right hand to a left-handed stick, Uncharted Haven drifted out into the path of a fast-closing runner-up, Brianda, and the two bumped close to the wire. Stewards opted not to change the order of finish, which showed the Frankel trainee winning by a neck. "It happened right at the wire," Frankel said of the bumping incident. "She had already won the race."Beautiful Noise finished third in the San Gorgonio -- a race named after the highest peak in the nearby San Bernardino Mountains. Dancingonice, after setting fractions of :24.17, :47.95, 1:11.90 and 127.28, finished fourth. Uncharted Haven stopped the timer in 1:50.02. The entry paid $7 to win as the favorite.Uncharted Haven is a 4-year-old English-bred daughter of Turtle Island who won 1-of-4 starts in France before being purchased by 3 Plus U Stable owner Charles Kenis in the fall of 1999. As a 3-year-old last year, Uncharted Haven won 2-of-5 starts, including the San Clemente Handicap (gr. IIT) at Del Mar in August. Her most recent start was a second-place finish behind Megans Bluff in the Mrs. Revere (gr. II) at Churchill Downs in November.The San Gorgonio gave Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel his 700th career victory at Santa Anita Park. It was Frankel's fourth San Gorgonio win in the last six runnings of the grade II event. Frankel is second on Santa Anita's all-time win list behind the late Charlie Whittingham, who has 869.(Chart, Equibase)
