Calimonco wins Santa Anita feature
April 1, 2012ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) - Calimonco held off Make Music for Me to win the inaugural running of the $79,950 Sidd Finch Stakes by a half-length at Santa Anita on Sunday.
Ridden by Alonso Quinonez, who took over because Victor Espinoza has a broken hand, Calimonco ran 1 mile on the turf in 1:34.16 carrying high weight of 123 pounds and paid $7.20, $3.40 and $2.60.
Make Music for Me returned $4.80 and $3.40, while Dewey's Special was another three-quarters of a length back in third and paid $2.40 to show as the 9-5 favorite.
The victory, worth $46,080, increased Calimonco's career earnings to $349,546, with five wins in 29 starts.
The race was named for the fictional baseball pitching sensation for the New York Mets created by author George Plimpton for an April Fools' hoax in Sports Illustrated in 1985.
Rafael Bejarano and Joe Talamo each rode three winners on the nine-race card.