Emerald horse sets 6½-furlong world record

AUBURN — Sabertooth, the 2002 Longacres Mile winner, is back.

Back in a big way.

In just his second start since injuries sidelined him for 19 months, the 7-year-old Sabertooth reunited with jockey Nathan Chaves to set a world record in winning the $40,000 Fox Sports Net Handicap yesterday afternoon at Emerald Downs.

The Washington-bred bay gelding covered the 6 ½-furlong distance in 1 minute, 13 seconds to eclipse the world record on dirt at the distance. Sabertooth, conditioned by state Hall of Fame trainer Jim Penney, went wire-to-wire as the 4-to-5 favorite and finished 3 ¾ lengths in front of runner-up Best On Tap. The son of Petersburg topped the previous record of 1:13.24 set by Lucky Forever on May 20, 1995 at Hollywood Park. Sabertooth, owned by Bob and Bruce Sparling, erased Best On Tap's Emerald record time of 1:13-3/5 for the distance on May 31, 2004.

Sabertooth's performance is even more remarkable for a horse that seemed finished just two years ago.

"In 2003, we thought he'd never run again," said Bob Sparling, who last visited the winner's circle with the homebred about 32 months ago after the Washington Championship on Sept. 16, 2002. "I never thought we'd be here (in the winner's circle) again. I never dreamed it would happen.

"The pasture healed him."

Chaves, who last rode Sabertooth six starts ago on July 4, 2003, after winning the Mile with him in 2002, never felt like he was pushing his mount too hard. The toteboard timer read 21-4/5, 43-1/5 and 1:06-2/5 for the rapid fractions, but he stayed in front of seven rivals.

"He felt like he was going easy," said Chaves, who won his first stakes race of the season and 12th overall at Emerald. "I didn't feel like he was going that fast."

Sabertooth opened a four-length lead in the stretch. He returned $3.80 to win, $2.80 to place and $2.60 to show.

Second-place Best On Tap, under Ben Russell, paid $6.40 to place and $5.40 to show. Random Memoreturned $7.20 to show.

The race marked the return to racing for another Penney trainee, Turban, who finished seventh under Gallyn Mitchell. Turban won the Fox Sports Net Handicap in 2003 before injuries sidelined him 22 months ago.

Sabertooth boosted his career record to six wins and six seconds from 21 starts and hiked his earnings to $273,075 with the $22,000 first-place money.

"The thing with an athlete with any ability that tries to compete that hard is that he's susceptible to injury," said Penney, who will point Sabertooth to the $75,000 Budweiser Emerald Handicap going a mile on June 19. "He had a couple of years of hard racing. He needed time."

Chaves doesn't think Sabertooth could be doing any better.

"He's as good as he's ever been right now," he said. "This horse is relaxing a lot better. I think going a mile we can cool him down even more. I don't think they'll catch him if he stays on his game."

Said Penney: "He's a bigger, stronger, heavier horse now. There's a lot more push to him from behind."

Sabertooth became the sixth favorite in the last seven runnings of the Fox Sports Net Handicap to win. His 6-furlong split of 1:06-2/5 also would have bettered the world record on dirt.

Notes

• Slewicide Cruise, one of the top older horses at Emerald Downs, suffered a season-ending leg injury May 14 and missed yesterday's Fox Sports Net Handicap. The 5-year-old trained by Robbie Baze won the $40,000 Seattle Handicap on April 24, the first stakes race in the 2005 Longacres Mile (Grade III) series.

• Salt Grinder, a 6-year-old gelding, emerged from a 9-month layoff to equal the 6-furlong track record of 1:07-3/5 in winning an allowance/optional claiming race Saturday. The Penney trainee sailed clear and won by 5 lengths to match the track mark set by Blue Tejano on June 7, 2002.

• Ricky Frazier rode three winners yesterday to cut into Kevin Krigger's lead in the jockey standings. Krigger has 25 victories after winning twice yesterday. Frazier is second with 18.

• Trainer Tim McCanna had a win yesterday to boost his leading total to 17.