Dan Hendricks would like to win Saturday’s Eddie Logan Stakes at one
mile on turf for two reasons: the winner’s share of the $75,000 purse
would be nice, and so would winning the race named for Santa Anita icon
Eddie Logan, a fixture at The Great Race Place since it opened on
Christmas Day, 1934, until his death at the age of 98 on Jan. 31, 2009.
“This is the first time going two turns,” Hendricks said of
Sheer Talent, a bay ridgling with four races on his brief resume, none
further than seven furlongs. “He ran seven-eighths in the (Grade III)
Hollywood Prevue and was a real good fourth.
“He just leveled off at the end. Garrett (Gomez) thought he would run on further, so we’re trying the mile.”
Logan, who operated a shoe shine stand outside the racing office
since the track’s opening until shortly before his death, has an
infinite number of fans.
“He was a fixture,” Hendricks said. “You’d see him every time
you came in and you made sure you went by and said hello. It was almost
like a good luck thing to say hi every day. He was a good guy who
enjoyed people.”
The field for the Eddie Logan: Sheer Talent, Gomez, 8-1; Devil
in Disguise, Mario Gutierrez, 20-1; Smart Ellis, Victor Espinoza, 8-1;
Champions Gate, Joel Rosario, 9-2; Stoney Fleece, Corey Nakatani, 5-2;
Chips All In, Alonso Quinonez, 9-2; Fear the Beard, Hector Berrios,
30-1; Daddy Nose Best, Julien Leparoux, 9-5; and The Black, Brice Blanc,
30-1.