California Cup Classic has colorful beginning

When My Sonny Boy won the inaugural California Cup Classic

in 1990, the storyline was right out of the classic Marx Brothers' film, "A Day

at the Races." Difference was, Barry Fitzgerald wasn't the trainer. It was Bill

Spawr.

Spawr had Patrick Valenzuela booked to ride the five-year-old

son of To-Agori-Mou in the 1 1/8-mile race, but P. Val pulled a

last-minute Houdini, leaving Spawr without a rider.

Fourteeen horses were entered in the race, so everyone in

the jocks' room was spoken for. There was no rider available.

"Patrick didn't show," Spawr related at his barn Friday

morning on the eve of Sunshine Millions California Cup Day. "At the

last minute, the jocks' room calls and says he's not here.

"I said, 'Who's left?' (Assistant) Darryl (Rader) and I walked to the room,

and we were told that Jorge Velasquez (Hall of Famer and winner of the 1981

Kentucky Derby with Pleasant Colony) had just left and was heading to his car.

"Darryl took off running and got him to come and ride the horse. Had it been

a few minutes later, we would have had to scratch the horse. He won easy."

My Sonny Boy and Velasquez led throughout to score by 2 1/2 lengths at odds of

nearly 9-1.

"It was (then Clerk of Scales) Charlie (McCaul) who

told Bill no rider was available," Rader said. "Bill asked who was in the room

and Charlie told him nobody. 'Your only chance is Jorge, and he just left for

his car. If you can catch him, maybe he'll ride the horse. There's no one left.'

"He pointed to the jocks' parking lot and I just started

running my ass off," Rader said. "Jorge was putting his bag in the trunk and I

told him the story, he pulled it out and said, 'No problem,' and he jogged

back."

Spawr continued, "A few years ago I was at Belmont and I ran

into Jorge. He's a jock's agent now. I went to introduce him to (owner) Roddy

Valente, and Velasquez turned around in a New York minute and says, 'Bill Spawr?

My Sonny Boy?' I said, 'You remember that?' He says, 'How can I forget something

like that?'

"Good thing Darryl is a fast runner or we'd have had to scratch the horse."

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