The race was listed in the program as La Sorpresa, which in Spanish means the surprise. For most of Santa Anita's 23,000 customers, it was a big sorpresa.
Citation, the wonder horse, was carrying more weight (130 lbs.) than ever before, but he was the overwhelming favorite at 1-4. As he came charging into the stretch, there was only a stubborn grey horse from the Argentine, a 14-1 long shot named Miche, for the champ to catch.
Aboard Miche, smart, young (19) Jockey Gordon Glisson applied the pressure. At the eighth pole Citation was a head behind. Calumet Jockey Steve Brooks finally took to the whip, but at the finish Miche was a neck in front.
It was not a major setback in Citation's comeback campaign. As every railbird knew, there was no percentage in punishing a good horse to win $2,900 (winner's share of La Sorpresa) when there was a $100,000 plum in the offing. If Citation's tune-up had been a shade off pitch, he nevertheless remained the heavy favorite to run off with the $100.000 Santa Anita Handicap later this month. What did furrow some trackwise foreheads was how Miche had managed the surprise—even granted that he was an established stakes-class horse and Glisson had given him a perfect ride.
To Calumet Trainer Jimmy Jones, who has been prepping his horse for the 132 Ibs. he must carry in the Santa Anita Handicap, it was mostly a matter of weight: Citation had carried 130 lbs., Miche 114. Said Jimmy Jones: "I've raced horses long enough to know that nobody stays in the handicap division and keeps the record clean. That goes for Man o' War too.* Citation will be lucky if he wins half of 'em from now on." Others thought that Jockey Brooks had shipped his whip too soon, that a jock like cagey Eddie Arcaro might have ridden the big horse home in front. Since Eddie had not yet signed for a mount in the Santa Anita Handicap, some even speculated that he might yet be Citation's pilot for the big race.
Perhaps the best explanation of all came from Miche's owner, Mrs. John Payson Adams. She had had a hunch before La Sorpresa. "I don't believe Citation has ever run against a grey horse," she said, "and when Miche comes alongside he will think it is just the lead pony and will just jog along."
Two days later, in the $100,000 Santa Anita Maturity, Calumet got back in stride. With Eddie Arcaro in the saddle, Calumet's fine filly Two Lea took the lead and led the field all the way into the stretch. There Arcaro looked over his shoulder, saw Calumet's Ponder coming like a lumberjack to dinner. At the finish it was Ponder by a length, with Two Lea second and the rest nowhere. Jimmy Jones felt better. If Citation should fail, Miche and the others would still have Ponder—and Two Lea—to beat in the Hundred-Grander on Feb. 25.
* Man o' War, who was beaten only once (by Upset), carried 130 Ibs. even as a two-year-old. As a three-year-old, he won under 138 Ibs. But Man o' War was retired to stud after racing just twice in the handicap division.