Preparing Winalota Cash Not Easy for Schvaneveldt

Trainer Blane Schvaneveldt and winning have become synonymous at Los Alamitos Race Course, but the veteran conditioner had an interesting time getting his 300th career victory July 26 in the Go Man Go Handicap.

That’s when 1995 world champion Winalota Cash, with jockey Joe Badilla aboard, came from behind to defeat reigning world champion Dashing Folly. It was the 17th win in 26 outings for Winalota Cash.

How Schvaneveldt got the horse ready is a story in itself. Winalota Cash was delivered only two weeks before the race and Schvaneveldt had to put the 4-year-old gelding on a crash conditioning program.

“[The owners] wanted me to take the horse last December for the Champion of Champions,” Schvaneveldt said. “But he had just had a chip taken out of his knee. I told [the owners] it wouldn’t be right to race him like that and that I wouldn’t take him.

“Well, they brought him out here anyway and gave him to someone else. They ran him in that race anyway and he did bad. It wasn’t the horse’s fault. It was theirs.”

Winalota Cash finished sixth in the Champion of Champions and Dashing Folly won.

Schvaneveldt said Winalota Cash owners James and Andra Meridyth called him out of the blue last spring and said that they realized they had made a mistake in running Winalota Cash in the Champion of Champions. They asked him to prepare the horse for the Go Man Go, but they didn’t deliver him from Oklahoma as soon as they promised.

“He’s a great horse. He’s a runner,” Schvaneveldt said. “That mare he beat [Dashing Folly] is a great horse, too.”

As for the career milestone, Schvaneveldt said there wasn’t much celebrating around the barn afterward.

“But it was pretty exciting anyway, particularly winning with that horse the way we did,” he said.

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Veteran race horse owner Spencer Childers sends out two of his all-time best horses in tonight’s Grade 1 Governor’s Cup Derby at Los Alamitos.

Luva Secret, a gelding that is considered the top 3-year-old at the course, is favored. But don’t count out Uncas, the 1996 champion 2-year-old gelding.

Also running will be some of last season’s most touted 2-year-old quarter horses, including Las Alamitos, Don Callendar and Secret Seraph.

Las Alamitos, trained by Jaime Gomez, will be making its first appearance after a seven-month layoff and Gomez is hoping Las Alamitos can rekindle the magic it had a year ago, when it won four races and finished in the money in eight out of 10 starts.

Gomez has not had much success in major stakes races this meet, but horses he has trained have finished in the money 47% of the time. In his charismatic way, he said he just hasn’t been happy with this year’s stable in his barn.

“Last year I had a lot of really good horses,” Gomez said. “This year I have a lot of dogs.”

Trained by Bob Gilbert, Luva Secret has won the Sires Cup Derby and the Golden State Derby.

“Luva Secret is just on top of his game right now,” Gilbert said. “He really hasn’t made a mistake the entire season and he’s looking stronger with each start.”

Uncas has struggled this season, perhaps because other horses have continued to develop, while Uncas may not have improved that much, Gilbert said.

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Ringside seats are available for $10 at the Aug. 16 boxing card at the track. The card, which begins at 6 p.m., features six four-round bouts and will held during the live racing card.

General Manager Rick Henson said more promotions are on the way.

“We have some other crazy gimmicks,” he said. “They’re not normal promotions for this type of industry.”

Henson said a concert, most likely featuring country music, in the infield area is being considered.

“If we put on a good quality show people will come to watch,” he said. “We want to have concerts and different types of acts that are non-related [to horse racing] because we want to attract a younger audience.”

Henson said that despite past attempts to broaden the track’s appeal to a larger portion of Orange County, studies continue to show that most of its patrons live within a 10-mile radius of the facility.

Ringside ticket holders must also purchase a $3 general admission ticket. General admission ticket holders will be able to watch the fights from the grandstand.

Box seats for four people in the Vessels Club are available for $60.

For information call (714) 236-4400.

Los Alamitos notes

Trainer Bryan Braithwaite won three of the four stakes races held last weekend. Thoroughbred R.D. Zell captured the California Derby, Datyra ran to victory in the Arabian Racing Cup Juvenile and Sammies First won the California Oaks. . . On tap Saturday is the $10,000 Huntington Beach Handicap, featuring a field of seven 2-year-old quarter horses. . . Champagne Lane has been retired, according to owner Janis Spencer. The 3-year-old filly was considered one of the top quarter horses in the nation, but chipped a knee July 11 while running in the Golden State Derby. She had won the Del Ano Derby and the Town Policy Handicap this meet. . . Outlaw Dasher, Corona Cash and Willie Wanta Dash will compete in the trials to the All-American Futurity Aug. 14 at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico. Corona Cash has won four consecutive races at Los Alamitos. . . By winning last week’s California Juvenile Challenge at Los Alamitos last Saturday, Mrstrawflytoyou earned a spot in the Nov. 1 $100,000 American Quarter Horse Juvenile Challenge at the course. Trainer Dan Francisco is considering a late entry into the trails for the All-American.