Fifty years ago, Friday, Jan. 1, 1971, Santa Anita Park rang in the New Year with the 24th running of the San Gabriel Handicap, an appropriate name for the track that sports the majestic San Gabriel Mountains as a dramatic backdrop. The winner that sunny 68-degree Southern California winter day was Mary Jones' Chilean import Cougar II, also appropriate for the occasion as his namesakes (the largest of the small cat species that are familiarly referred to as pumas or mountain lions) often are seen roaming the San Gabriels.
A horse from the "they don't make them like that anymore" mold, Cougar II was a long-legged, finely chiseled dark bay. Haras General Cruz had bred the dark bay colt and Stud Enano had raced him to three stakes victories. He also had finished third in the Chilean Derby and fourth in the Chilean St. Leger, his last start there before being imported to the States.
A little more than a month after his long trip from Chile and with very little time to adjust to his new surroundings, Cougar II faced the Northern Hemisphere way of doing things for Perla de Chico Stud and trainer G.A. Riley. He finished, forgivably, sixth of eight in a July 25 Del Mar dirt allowance race. A week later he was fourth on the turf and seven days after that he won his first Northern Hemisphere stakes, the Escondido Handicap over nine-furlongs of Del Mar's turf course.
On two weeks rest he took the 10-furlong Cabrillo Handicap on Del Mar's main track, beating the excellent racehorse Quicken Tree by a nose. This victory was the weight that tipped the scale for another sales transaction.
Already proving himself an iron horse, Cougar II attracted the attention of Jones and trainer Charlie Whittingham who purchased him for a reported $125,000.
Dividends would come, though not as quickly as any new owner hopes. In his first start for his new connections, he finished a head shy of Daryl's Joy in the Del Mar Handicap before heading east to Belmont Park where the best he could do in two starts was a third in the Manhattan Handicap. Returned to California, he landed a third behind Daryl's Joy and Quicken Tree in the Oak Tree Handicap, his seventh start in three months.
Whittingham rested Cougar II for two months and debuted him in the San Gabriel, where as the favorite he faced a field of nine turf runners over nine furlongs. With Bill Shoemaker in the saddle, Cougar II, as was his wont, dilly-dallied near the back of the field but in the clear when the time came for his challenge. Using his long strides to devour more ground yet keeping the tempo of the pace, each furlong brought him closer to the front. From fifth at the top of the stretch, he changed signatures, moving from three/four time to four/four time and passed under the wire 1 1/4 lengths to the good.
He beat 1970 Horse of the Year Fort Marcy that year, carried often as much as 130 pounds, won six stakes over both dirt and turf, and kept company with some of the best horses in the land, including 1971 Horse of the Year Ack Ack. Yet, he would have to wait another year to earn his own championship.
In 1972 Cougar II won four of his nine starts and never finished worse than third. For his consistency and durability, he was named champion grass horse.
In 1973 he finished first or third in nine races and retired, having won or placed in 34 of his 38 U.S. starts. He had earned $1,169,058.
