Favored Reba's Gold, owned by the Creston Farms of "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek, survived a claim of foul to win the $100,000 Ralph M. Hinds Pomona Invitational Handicap by 3 3/4 lengths at Fairplex Park on Sunday, closing day of the 17-day meet. Ridden by David Flores, a six-time champion at the Los Angeles County Fair track, Reba's Gold overcame a bumping incident with Sigfreto on the far turn and withstood a claim of foul by Doug Peterson, the trainer of Sigfreto. Nates Colony finished second, 1 1/2 lengths in front of Sigfreto. Hook Call, Out of Mind, Dig for It, San Nicholas and Most Likely completed the order of finish. Hot Market was scratched. Time for about 1 1/8 miles over a fast track was 1:49.82 under highweight of 119 pounds. "I just wanted to put him in a good spot and tried to save ground the first couple turns," said Flores, who was winning his 52nd stakes at Fairplex, a record. "I just came out light. I stayed in my line (path). They pushed my horse out a little bit but that's the way it is here." Reba's Gold, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Slew o' Gold trained by Dan Hendricks, earned $55,000 for his sixth win from 26 starts. His career earnings stand at $408,212. "It's always fun to win here and to win the biggest race of the meet is just great," said Hendricks, speaking of the race named in honor of the late Fair Association president and chief executive officer. "It doesn't matter where you win. Winning's the name of the game." Trebek was relieved after sweating out the inquiry. "This horse always gives the $2 bettor his money's worth," Trebek said. "He always gives an honest, hard-fought battle." Total handle for the meet was down 5.51 percent, while total attendance dropped 4 percent. In a supporting feature, 13-10 favorite Profound Secret outgamed El Curioso in a prolonged stretch duel to win the 62nd running of the $49,500 Governor's Cup by three-quarters of a length. The son of Gate Dancer, ridden by Joey Castro for trainer Kent Molinaro, covered 6 1/2 furlongs on a fast track in 1:16.45 under 119 pounds and paid $4.60 to win. Pacesetter McCordnskuba finished third, two lengths behind El Curioso and two lengths in front of Fly to the Lake. Crooked Key, Brigade and Mistakenly Special completed the order of finish. La Bandera was scratched. Martin Pedroza won his fourth consecutive riding title at Fairplex and his fifth overall, winning 27 races at the meet. Tyler Baze was second with 21. Doug O'Neill won his first-ever training title with nine winners, two more than defending champion Jeff Mullins. There was one winning ticket Sunday worth a Fairplex record payoff $416,435.20. The ticket was sold at the Maine hub. The previous record was $199,346.60 on three tickets in 1999.
Reba's Gold won for the sixth time in 26 career starts, and the $60,000 first prize increased his earnings to more than $410,000.As the 9-5 favorite, Reba's Gold paid $5.80, $3.60 and $2.60. Nate's Colony returned $4.40 and $.280. Sigfreto's show was worth $2.40. Racing resumes on the Southern California circuit Wednesday with the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita.(Chart, Equibase)
