Santa Anita H.

STD Racing Stable and Jason Wood's LAVA MAN (Slew City Slew) settled

Saturday's $1 million

Santa Anita H. (G1) leaving the far turn, blistering his

rivals with a dynamic turn of foot that carried him to a clear lead with a

quarter-mile left to run. Longshot Magnum (Arg) (El Compinche) provided a bit of

an anxious moment in deep stretch, but Lava Man was able to gamely hold by

three-quarters of a length. Trained by Doug O'Neill, the five-year-old gelding

notched his second Grade 1 score when completing the fast 1 1/4-mile event in

2:00 2/5 and provided jockey Corey Nakatani with his second victory in Santa Anita's

centerpiece event.

"He's joined an incredible list (of Big 'Cap winners), Affirmed, Spectacular

Bid, John Henry," O'Neill exclaimed. "I can't even imagine it, but we're in the

Big 'Cap books and they can't take that away from us. It's a great feeling."

With Distinction (Storm Cat) set the early pace in :23 3/5 and :47 1/5 from

the rail while being hotly pursued by 8-5 favorite High Limit (Maria's Mon), who

moved past to take a slight lead through three-quarters in 1:11 1/5 but had no

answer when confronted by the winner. Lava Man raced close behind the leaders in

third before finding his best stride near the end of the far turn, and he

stormed into the stretch with a widening advantage. His chances for a blowout

victory were erased by the fast-closing Magnum, but Lava Man was too far in

front to be caught.

Off at the near 7-2 second choice, the 69th Big 'Cap winner returned $8.80,

$5.40 and $4.60. Magnum, a Group 1-placed Argentinean import who was exiting a

one-mile allowance/optional claiming win over the track, almost sprung a big

upset at 17-1 and was the only member of the field to make any impact. He was

worth $12.60 and $8 after finishing 7 1/2 lengths clear of the late-running

Wilko (Awesome Again), who was off at 7-1 and gave back $5.60 for show. The $1

exotics paid $58.70 (exacta), $375.60 (trifecta) and $1,593 for the 6-2-8-5

superfecta, which included High Limit on the bottom.

High Limit, Giacomo (Holy Bull), Texcess (In Excess [Ire]),

Spellbinder (Tale of the Cat), Marenostrum (Brz) (Royal Academy) and With

Distinction rounded out the order of finish.

Bred in the Golden State by Lonnie Arterburn and Eve and Kim Kuhlmann, Lava

Man capped a big day for California-breds at Santa Anita following Brother

Derek's (Benchmark) victory in the Santa Catalina S. (G2). The $600,000 payday

bumped his career earnings over the $2 million mark ($2,184,706) and improved

his overall record to 29-9-7-3. He's the third foal out of the winning Li'l Ms.

Leonard (Nostalgia's Star) and has a yearling half-brother by High Brite.

Runner-up in the 2004 Malibu S. (G1), Lava Man notched his first graded win

in the Californian S. (G2) last June and then captured the Hollywood Gold Cup

(G1) by 8 3/4 lengths. He also finished a close third in the Pacific Classic

(G1) before rounding out 2005 with an unplaced finish overseas in The Japan Cup

Dirt (Jpn-G1). The dark bay rebounded to impressively capture his previous

outing, the Sunshine Millions Classic in late January, and added one of

Thoroughbred racing's most prestigious prizes to his resume on Saturday.

Nakatani, who captured his first Big 'Cap with General Challenge in 2000,

paid tribute to O'Neill for transforming the former claimer into one of the

nation's best horses.

"Doug's done a great job with this horse," Nakatani explained. "It's a

tribute to Doug, with the foot trouble the horse has had, how he's come back to

run so well. I really wasn't worried about anybody else (in the field), it was

just a matter of how much I was going to win by."