Please excuse some connections of the horses running in today's $1 million Santa Anita Handicap if they feel like they are running for second place.

The presence of Lava Man makes them feel that way.

The last eight times the 6-year-old gelding has stepped on to a California track, he has gone to the winner's circle, including his last four Grade I races in Southern California.

However, it's not the presence of Lava Man that has folks feeling like they have no shot at the first prize of $550,000. Rather, it's the weight he will carry.

Lava Man was assigned just 124 pounds for today's 1 1/4-mile run around the Santa Anita oval in Arcadia. Last fall, Lava Man was given 126 pounds in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap during the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meet.

What has he done in the interim to carry two fewer pounds other than finish seventh in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.?

"It's not enough," trainer Bruce Headley (Arson Squad) told the Daily Racing Form earlier this week. "Lava Man at 124 is a gift. The race should be called the Santa Anita Gift Shop."

Arson Squad was given 117 pounds after his win in the Strub Stakes last month. Awesome Gem, who finished fifth in the Strub but beat Arson Squad in the San Fernando in January, was given 116 pounds.

Oceanside's Jeff Bloom, vice-president of West Coast operations for West Point Thoroughbreds, which owns the syndicated Awesome Gem, agrees with Headley.

"I feel as though Lava Man should be carrying 2 to 3 more pounds than he is," Bloom said Thursday. "All the other horses are fair. They are within 1 or 2 pounds of each other, which makes sense based on recent history, but Lava Man I feel was given a gift."

Racing offices across the country are hamstrung when handing out weights in a handicap race because, if the connections of a star horse don't like the weight assigned, they will just search for another race and others will be very accommodating.

"I'm sure that's part of it," Bloom said. "I haven't had a whole lot of experience in running horses in handicaps, but I would say it's a different game today than it was back when the Santa Anita Handicap was truly a handicap. Race tracks are in a difficult place with that, and it makes you question whether they should do away with handicaps all together."

Rick Hammerle, Santa Anita's racing secretary and stakes coordinator, said the process of weighing a horse isn't taken lightly.

"We have a group of four people who get together," Hammerle said Friday. "We compare weights and talk about each horse. In big races you lose more sleep.

"We try to come up with weights that are fair. That's our job, to be fair, and the more you do this, the more comfortable you feel with it.

"If nobody complains, you did the wrong thing, but you don't want to be the deciding factor of someone running or not."

Lava Man's trainer, Doug O'Neill, openly campaigned for a lighter weight and was ecstatic with the 124 pounds, as was jockey Corey Nakatani.

"I don't think the 124 pounds will bother him," said Nakatani. "He's a great horse, but any time you give weight to horses like these, there's a chance of getting beat. Still, I know what kind of horse he is and I think he can handle it.

"He's the best horse in the race, and that's how I'll ride him."

Still, Lava Man hasn't scared everyone off. There will be eight other horses trying to beat him, and at least one thinks he has a chance.

"You have to respect Lava Man. How can you not respect a horse that has won $4 million?" said Northern California's Steve Specht, who trains McCann's Mojave for Santa Anita director of publicity Mike Willman. "I think there are several horses that could be tough. There is speed in the race.

"I think we have a legitimate chance at this race if we can handle Lava Man. He's the main gator there."

Lava Man will try to become only the third horse to win back-to-back Santa Anita Handicaps. The other two were the great John Henry and Milwaukee Brew.

John Henry's weight assignments in those two races were 130 and 128 pounds, respectively.

- Contact staff writer Jeff Nahill at (760) 740-3550 or jnahill@nctimes.com.