HOLLYWOOD PARK STABLE NOTES

Thursday, July 13, 1995

By Vince Bruun & Ed Golden

THUNDER GULCH REMAINS
ON EDGE FOR SWAPS STAKES

The rigor of the Triple Crown campaign apparently hasn't taken the edge off of

Thunder Gulch.

The son of Gulch has sparkled in training at Santa Anita while taking dead aim on

the $500,000 Swaps Stakes (Gr. II) at Hollywood Park on July 23.

"Obviously, we're attempting to maintain the form he's had all spring and summer

which has been fantastic," said assistant trainer Jeff Lukas. "He's been training well at Santa Anita, working on a regular basis and he's prepared to run.

"His work Monday (seven furlongs in 1:25 1/5) was very good, but all of his works have

been good. He just continues to show enthusiasm."

Thunder Gulch has won four of six starts in 1995 and came within three-quarters

of a length of sweeping the Triple Crown -- capturing the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes and finishing third in the Preakness. His $1,636,580 in earnings this year is second only to Cigar's $2,509,800.

Lukas said Thunder Gulch will make the cross-town trip from Santa Anita on the morning

of the race.

D. Wayne Lukas, currently in Kentucky for the Keeneland July selected yearling sale,

will return to California in time to saddle Thunder Gulch for the Swaps.

SANDPIT, SPECIAL PRICE PREP FOR CAESARS PALACE TURF CHAMPIONSHIP

Sierra Thoroughbreds' Sandpit and Namour Stable's Special Price, expected to vie for

favoritism in the $250,000-added Caesars Palace Turf Championship on July 22, each worked six furlongs on Hollywood Park's firm turf course Thursday morning in 1:15 1/5, handily.

Sandpit, winner of the $500,000-guaranteed Caesars International Handicap at

Atlantic City Race Course on June 25, can earn $750,000 if he successfully completes the East-to-West sweep in the Caesars Palace Turf Championship.

But Richard Mandella, who trains the Brazilian sensation, knows the task will not

be easy against Special Price.

"I thought he should have won the San Juan Capistrano," Mandella

said of Special Price, who was beaten a head by Red Bishop in the 1 3/4-mile San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita on April 23.

"There should be plenty of pace (in the Caesars Palace Turf Championship),

and that should help the late-running style of a horse like Special Price."

Jahafil, winner of the Jim Murray Handicap on July 1, is one of the horses who will

lend pace to the race. Leading trainer Sandy Shulman sent Jahafil a half-mile Thursday morning in :50, handily.

The probable field for the Grade II Caesars Palace Turf Championship, to be

decided at 1 1/2 miles: Jahafil, Chris McCarron; Liyoun, Goncalino Almeida; Sandpit, Corey Nakatani; Special Price, Eddie Delahoussaye, and Urgent Request, Patrick Valenzuela.

Trainer Rodney Rash expects front-running Urgent Request to work on the turf

Friday morning, probably a half-mile.

PICO PERDOMO EYES SWAPS STAKES WITH T.J.'S GOLD

Pico Perdomo knows T.J.'s Gold will be a longshot in the $500,000 Swaps Stakes

at Hollywood Park on July 23. But that's okay with him. He sent out 3-5 favorite Stalwart Charger in a field of four in the 1990 Swaps, and he beat one horse.

"So far, if it's my decision, we run," the 55-year-old trainer said after

T.J.'s Gold worked a mile on Hollywood Park's fast main track in 1:38 3/5 under 65-year-old exercise rider Oscar Berdejo. "The horse has been very consistent and he's improving. There's a lot of money at stake and we have nothing to lose."

Perdomo said he clocked the California-bred son of Candi's Gold in fractions of

:12 4/5, :24 1/5, :36 1/5, 1:13 1/5, with his final time 1:38 1/5. "But the most important thing," Perdomo said, "is he went the last quarter in :24 2/5."

Perdomo, who had sent out six winners from 31 starters (19.3 percent) through

Wednesday, was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He has lived in Mar Vista, near Santa Monica, for 18 years. He rode with Berdejo in Argentina in the early 1960's before giving it up in 1970, when he came to New York to work for Angel Penna.

The probable field for the Grade II Swaps Stakes, to be decided at nine furlongs

on the main track: Thunder Gulch, Gary Stevens; Mr Purple, Corey Nakatani; Dazzling Falls, Laffit Pincay Jr.; Petionville, Chris Antley, and T.J.'s Gold, no rider.

ABAGINONE SIMULCAST AT 2:05 P.M. SATURDAY

Hollywood Park will import the $100,000-added True North Handicap (Gr. II)

featuring the Sandy Shulman-trained Abaginone from Belmont Park Saturday. Post time is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. Gary Stevens rides the son of Devil's Bag in the six-furlong race.

Hollywood Park will also simulcast the $100,000-added AKsarben Breeders' Cup

Handicap (Gr. III) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles on Saturday (3 p.m.), and the $150,000-added Delaware Handicap (Gr. II) for fillies and mares at 1 1/2 miles on Sunday at 2:45 p.m.

PEDROZA RETURNS WITH VENGEANCE: FOUR WINS, $43,508 PICK 3

Martin Pedroza, just back from a five-day suspension Wednesday, won four races and

finished second with five mounts.

The native of Panama City, Panama, who will be 30 on July 20, won the first race

with Cargosita ($10.20), then strung together winners in the fifth (Lucky Jeremiah, $9.80), sixth (Jake's Surprize, $23.80) and seventh (Andado, $28), producing a Pick 3 payoff of $43,508.10.

"I was fresh, I was feeling good," Pedroza said between chores on Thursday morning.

"I had worked about four horses Tuesday, and that was it. I thought I might be a little tired, but I wasn't. I keep fit all the time.

"I guess I just came back hungry. It doesn't make your horses run faster or

make you ride better. It's just one of those things."

Pedroza, one of Southern California's more expressive jockeys, displayed his emotions

after winning with $8,000 claimer Lucky Jeremiah for trainer Summer Mayberry in the fifth race.

"I was just happy to win for Summer," Pedroza said. "She's young, and she hadn't won a

race for a while. That's when I enjoying winning the most."

FAVORED ONE TO UNDERGO SURGERY FRIDAY

Mike Pegram's graded stake winner Favored One, who broke down in the upper stretch of

Sunday's Grade I Hollywood Oaks, will undergo surgery at Baker's Clinic in Los Alamitos Friday to repair two fractured sesamoids in her right front foot.

Dr. Wayne McIlwraith is scheduled to be flown in from Kentucky to perform the surgery.

"She shattered the sesamoids," trainer Mike Puhich said. "The doctor will put a

steel plate in the foot and she'll never have the flexibility she had as a racehorse. But the foot will be supported, and the most important thing is there's a good chance she'll survive."

Puhich said if all goes well, Favored One -- who finished her career with 11 starts,

four wins and $212,965 in earnings -- will be ready to serve as a broodmare by the next breeding season, possibly to In Excess.

FINISH LINES: Jockey Kent Desormeaux was given a five-day suspension starting Saturday, costing

him stakes mounts on Cyrano Storme in the Hollywood Park Budweiser Breeders' Cup on Saturday and Soul of the Matter in the Bel Air Handicap on Sunday. The ban, "for altering course without sufficient clearance, causing interference" . . . resulting in the disqualification of Ocean View from first to third in Sunday's second race, runs through July 21. Gary Stevens obtained the mount on Soul of the Matter . . . Wednesday's sixth race produced a "Prized" exacta. Jake's Surprize, a first-time starter ridden by Martin Pedroza and trained by Mike Machowsky, won the six-furlong sprint at a $23.80 payoff, while Murray Novack, also a first-time starter, ridden by Goncalino Almeida and trained by Richard Cross, ran second. The exacta: $150.80 . . . Richard Mandella expects to ship Talloires about a week before the $2 million Grande Premio Brasil at 1 1/4 miles on the turf to be decided in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6. Walter Greenman said River Rhythm would pass the race, while Rodney Rash has engaged Patrick Valenzuela to ride Celtic Arms in the classic at Gavea Racecourse. Celtic Arms breezed six furlongs in 1:18 on Hollywood Park's firm turf course (dogs up) Thursday morning . . . Eagle Eyed, pointing to the Eddie Read at Del Mar on Aug. 6 by Bobby Frankel, went three furlongs on Hollywood's fast main track in :36 with Eddie Delahoussaye up, while Neil Drysdale sent French Deputy the same distance in :37 3/5 . . . To Be Khaled is scheduled to work one mile at Santa Anita Friday and remains a possible starter in the $500,000 Swaps Stakes, trainer Vladimir Cerin said . . . Sans Ecocide will probably ship to Saratoga for the $250,000-guaranteed Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap (Grade I) on July 29, trainer Mike Puhich said. Puhich added there's a slight chance the Bo Derek Stakes winner could remain home for the $250,000-added Caesars International Turf Handicap.

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