A freak accident and a stunning upset by Square Up The Bet over heavily favored White Cliffs in the Notches Trace Stakes enlivened what appeared to be a fairly mundane Sunday feature yesterday at Laurel Park.
By the time the 3-year-old fillies had been loaded in the gate, the field had dwindled from seven to four starters.
Two out-of-town shippers, Battery Creek and Naughty Pistol, scratched, and then Norstep, the horse accorded the best shot to defeat 1-9 favorite White Cliffs, threw a tantrum near the starting gate.
The filly reared and flipped over, hurling her rider, 24-year-old Gilbert Delgado, to the ground.
"Normally, she's fine. But something must have spooked her," Delgado said. "Maybe it was the sound of the doors slamming on the gate. All I remember is that she hit me in the face with her head, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground and she was laying on my leg."
Norstep scrambled up, ran riderless down the track and jumped a rail on the outside fence, disappearing into the Laurel stable area. Trainer Rob Bailes said the filly cut a hock on one of her hind legs. "But it's nothing more than a scratch," he said. "Other than that, she's fine."
Delgado didn't fare as well. The start of the race was delayed several minutes while he was taken by ambulance to Laurel Regional Hospital.
He suffered a hairline fracture of his right ankle, which was placed in a cast, and said he will probably be out of action from three to four weeks. He was released from the hospital last night.
Once Norstep was scratched, Laurel management canceled show wagering in the stakes and refunded patrons a total of $16,138 from money wagered on the filly and in the show pool.
The pre-race excitement extended into the running of the race.
At first, the stakes appeared another tour de force for White Cliffs. She shook off the early challenge of Noble Nannie, who was vying for the lead, and appeared to be coasting to her fifth straight victory until a little bay streak began furiously flying around the final turn.
The unexpected challenger turned out to be Square Up The Bet, longest shot in the four-horse field.
The filly, owned and trained by Laurel native Josephine Owens, had not asserted herself in stakes competition since she had briefly given Stormy Blues, ranked as one of the nation's top 2-year-old fillies of 1994, a scare last fall in the Selima Stakes. In that race, Square Up The Bet held onto the lead into the homestretch, far longer than expected, although she ended up a distant fourth.
Yesterday, Owens and jockey Ralph Verderosa, changed strategy. Instead of setting the pace, the filly rallied from off it and nailed White Cliffs near the wire, beating her by a head.
It was Verderosa's first stakes victory and the first in several years for Owens, who has been training a small stable for 30 years.
Square Up The Bet is one of three 3-year-olds, including Citisights and To Cool It, that Owens purchased inexpensively as yearlings or 2-year-olds. At $4,000, Square Up The Bet, who came out of an Ocala, Fla., auction, was the most expensive. The three horses cost Owens a total of $9,200. All are winners, are ridden almost exclusively by Verderosa, are still owned by Owens and have brought her a return of $94,195.
NOTE: The Laurel stewards handed out $500 fines yesterday to jockeys Mark Johnston and Rick Wilson. Johnston was penalized for "failure to put forth every reasonable effort" in riding out his mount, Lost Account Sis, to the finish line in Saturday's eighth race. Wilson was fined for "failure to use proper diligence by raising up on his mount, Lady Mary Jo, approximately 1/16 of a mile before the finish" in Saturday's 10th race.