Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 29, 2015

5

Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 29, 2015 

AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

 BEHOLDER AND GARY STEVENS MAKE HISTORY:

SCORE ONE FOR THE LADIES! By Joan Schmidt


On Saturday morning, August 22, about 7:45, I said to 
my husband, “How about going down to Del Mar to 
see Gary and “Beholder” make history? I have booked 
a room in Oceanside!” Of course my dear husband was 
game and by 9:25 we were on the road. The traffic was 
awful-which is normal for a Saturday AM in California-
everyone is headed south to a beach!

 We arrived a little after noon and purchased clubhouse 
tickets, but no seats were available. That was okay; we 
sat on a bench and ate our lunch. Then we walked over 
to the tunnel area and found another bench. This was 
the second visit to Del Mar. Two years ago, we went, 
but were in seats one level up. We prefer being on the 
clubhouse level where you can take great photos, wish 
the guys luck, and run into old friends.

 The number one fan is a sweet “senior” named Pat and 
ALL the guys love her because she goes to every race at 
Del Mar, Los Alamitos and Santa Anita. I believe she 
lives in San Diego and takes public transportation to 
get to the area. But while in town, her friend Christine 
drives her all around. Pat was all “dolled up” in a white 
dress and great hat!

 The day we went, Raffy (Bejarano) was leading in 
wins and probably will put another title under his 
belt. He is so friendly to all of his fans-young and old. 
Flavien Pratt has a lot of wins too and after a race, 
Pat went over to congratulate him after his win on 
“Twentytwentyvision”, and he hugged her and then 
posed for a picture. We met one of the “New kids on 
the block”, Apprentice Bruno Panicucci. (No, he’s not 
Italian; but is French like Flavian.)

 There was so much excitement for all the races. Joe 
Talamo won on “Appealing Tale”, which insures entry 
in the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile Division. On hand to 
cheer Joe was his beautiful fiancée Elizabeth Ellis, 
Ron’s Daughter, and her mom, Amy and other family 
members. Ron has been doing commentaries on TVG 
and of course is a trainer.

 Great Jockey Joel Rosario was in town for the $1 
million TVG Pacific Classic. His mount was Red Vine 
and he came in 3rd. Flavien’s “Catch a Flight” placed, 
and of course “Beholder” ridden by Gary Stevens 
won! What a race! It was sheer pandemonium! When 
the race began, she was in 3rd, but then when Gary 
let her go, she did! Her win was something to Behold! 
(Pardon the pun.)

 

 The “Meet” at Del Mar ends on Labor Day. If you 
don’t want to go that far, the races will resume at Los 
Alamitos and then back to the Great Race Place, Santa 
Anita. Hope to see you there!


“CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY – NEVER AGAIN” 
RECOGNIZED FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE 
COMMEMORATION

LOS ANGELES COUNTY — Mayor Michael D. 
Antonovich joined Deputy Armenian Consul 
General Valery Mkrtoumian in recognizing Harut 
Sassounian, and Agasi Vartanyan of “Crimes 
Against Humanity – Never Again” for their work 
to honor the victims of the Armenian Genocide. 
Glendale resident, Agasi Vartanyan spent 55 days 
fasting in a glass enclosure outside of St. Leon 
Cathedral in Burbank to raise awareness about 
the Armenian Genocide and the 1.5 million 
Armenians who were killed beginning in 1915. His 
recent 55 day fast broke his previous record of 50 
days set ten years ago to commemorate the 90th 
anniversary of the genocide. 

 A coalition of multi-ethnic organizations 
dedicated to ending genocides and eliminating 
ethnically and religiously motivated mass 
violence worldwide, “Crimes Against Humanity – 
Never Again” seeks to raise global awareness of all 
crimes against humanity, including the genocides 
in Armenia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur 
and the Holocaust, as well as other atrocities 
currently taking place in the Middle East and 
Africa today.