Mizdirection wins Monrovia Handicap at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) - Mizdirection rallied on the outside to win the $100,000 Monrovia Handicap by 1 3/4 lengths Monday at Santa Anita, sending sports talk radio host and co-owner Jim Rome to the winner's circle.

Ridden by Garrett Gomez, Mizdirection ran 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course in 1:11.64 and paid $8.40, $4.60 and $2.80 at 3-1 odds. Gomez won both stakes races on Sunday in similar come-from-behind fashion on his 40th birthday.

Wild Mia, a 28-1 shot, returned $17.20 and $6.40, while Separate Forest and defending champion Unzip Me were another nose back in a dead heat for third. Separate Forest paid $3 to show, while Unzip Me returned $2.10 as the 6-5 favorite.

It was the first race over the turf course and first stakes victory for Mizdirection, who is owned by Rome and his partners in Jungle Racing.

``Garrett can host the show tomorrow. Garrett can do my TV show; it's Garrett's world, whatever he wants,'' Rome said. ``Garrett Gomez is burning. I've had a lot of really good things happen to me in business and in life, but nothing has ever felt as good as that felt, in a professional sense.''

The 4-year-old has four wins in her career, having never finished out of the money. The victory, worth $60,000, increased Mizdirection's career earnings to $255,711. She was purchased for $50,000.