STRATEGY FOR CAESARS TURF CHAMPIONSHIP
APPEARS SIMPLE, AT LEAST ON THE SURFACE
With only five horses in the race, and an abundant amount of speed, strategy for Saturday's $250,000-added Caesars Palace Turf Championship appears to be a foregone conclusion: Urgent Request will be in front; Jahafil will stalk closely in second; Sandpit will settle comfortably behind the top pair, with Liyoun and Special Price picking up the rear.
Not necessarily so. "It doesn't always work that way," pointed out Special Price's trainer Neil Drysdale Friday morning at Hollywood Park. "If a speed horse can get loose and dictate his own pace, it won't set up for a horse coming from behind."
Sandy Shulman, trainer of Jahafil, sees the 1 1/2-mile race a bit differently. "Urgent Request will set the pace and we'll be behind him," Hollywood Park's leading trainer said. "Sandpit will be behind us and Special Price and Liyoun will be behind him. Hopefully, we won't be fifth when it's over.
"Hopefully, Urgent Request will go as fast as he went in the last race (the Hollywood Gold Cup) and fold up, and the closers will not catch us."
The Caesars Palace Turf Championship will be televised nationally by ESPN and presented as Hollywood Park's third live race with approximate post time 2:10 p.m.
The field for the Grade II event in post position order with riders, weights and morning line odds: Liyoun, Gary Stevens, 115, 10-1; Special Price, Eddie Delahoussaye, 122, 7-5; Urgent Request, Patrick Valenzuela, 118, 10-1; Jahafil, Chris McCarron, 117, 4-1, and Sandpit, Corey Nakatani, 124, 6-5.
TURCO WOULDN'T 'SWAP' PLACES WITH HIS DAZZLING FALLS
Chuck Turco, in his first visit to Hollywood Park in 21 years, likes the chances of Dazzling Falls in Sunday's $500,000 Swaps Stakes. The all-time money winning Nebraska-bred will take on Kentucky Derby winner Thunder Gulch and five other foes in the Grade II event at nine furlongs.
"There's a lot of horses (in the race) with tactical speed," the 34-year-old trainer said. "There's a possibility they might bunch up a little, and we've got the outside. We usually draw the one hole wherever we go, so we'll just have to see how things map out.
"It doesn't look like there's a horse in the race that really wants to shoot to the front, so it will be interesting to see how things go. I know where we'll be -- somewhere trying to catch up."
The Swaps field in post position order with riders, weights and morning line odds: T.J.'s Gold, Eddie Delahoussaye, 112, 20-1; Mr Purple, Corey Nakatani, 118, 5-2; To Be Khaled, Goncalino Almeida, 112, 30-1; Thunder Gulch, Gary Stevens, 126, 3-5; Petionville, Chris Antley, 120, 8-1; Da Hoss, Chris McCarron, 118, 15-1, and Dazzling Falls, Laffit Pincay Jr., 122, 8-1.
LONGSHOT HOPES TO HIT THE JACKPOT IN VANITY HANDICAP
In six career starts, Jackpot Jenny has never started in a stakes race. But when Pirate's Revenge, the probable favorite, defected from Sunday's Vanity Handicap due to illness, a couple of fence-sitters decided to enter the Grade I event and take their chances against champion Paseana.
Jackpot Jenny, who races for Jeff Nielsen of St. Paul, Minnesota, is one such filly. Jackpot Jenny has three wins and two thirds with earnings of $55,285.
"She was due in this morning from Churchill Downs," said Gregg Falk, assistant to trainer Randy Bradshaw, who will saddle the daughter of Regal Classic in place of regular conditioner Niall O'Callaghan.
Paseana can become the all-time North American filly/mare money earner with a victory in the Vanity. Dance Smartly holds the record at $3,263,835. Paseana, with $3,163,703, needs $100,133 to break the mark.
The Vanity will be presented as Sunday's seventh live race. The field in post position order with riders, weights and morning line odds: Wandesta, Corey Nakatani, 119, 2-1; Real Connection, Laffit Pincay Jr., 113, 20-1; Melrose Wine, David Flores, 111, 20-1; Paseana, Chris McCarron, 123, 4-5; Private Persuasion, Gary Stevens, 114, 10-1; Jackpot Jenny, Goncalino Almeida, 110, 20-1, and Top Rung, Eddie Delahoussaye, 116, 5-1.
ASK PETE TO MISS HOLLYWOOD JUVENILE CHAMPIONSHIP
Jim and Jane Smith's Ask Pete, undefeated in two starts at Yakima Meadows, will miss Monday's closing-day feature, the $100,000-added Hollywood Juvenile Championship, due to a stifle problem.
The 2-year-old Washington-bred gelding, trained by Gary Stevens' father, Ron, won his only two starts by seven and four lengths, respectively.
The probable field for the Grade II event to be decided at six furlongs: Bridge of Royalty, no rider; Desert Native, Corey Nakatani; Don't Tell Wayne, Alex Solis; Double Brass, Patrick Valenzuela; Hennessy, Gary Stevens, and Houseafire, Eddie Delahoussaye.
NAKATANI NOW A NATIONAL PRESENCE
The maturation of jockey Corey Nakatani is short and sweet. The 24-year-old Covina native, runaway winner of his first Hollywood Park riding title, is a recognized force on the national scene.
His mounts were No. 1 nationally with $8,688,535 through July 17, and he led Hollywood Park riders with 79 wins through Thursday, 23 more than his nearest rival.
"I thought we had a very good chance to win it (Hollywood title), coming off a very good second at Santa Anita," agent Bob Meldahl said Friday morning. "Perhaps he should have won that meet because he missed so many days. But I felt we had an excellent chance to win this meet, especially riding for (Bobby) Frankel, (Richard) Mandella (Ron) McAnally and (Bill) Spawr. I even won a couple races for (Sandy) Shulman.
"When you ride for trainers like that, you're going to have an excellent chance to be leading rider. It just seems like at one point during the Santa Anita meet, he developed his confidence and he's kept it going. No matter what horse he rides, they all seem to run to the best of their ability. Right now, Corey's like a baseball player who has his confidence going.
"When you get that confidence rolling, the baseball looks like a watermelon. When you don't, it looks like a pea."
GARY STEVENS: 90,000 MILES AND COUNTING
Jockey Gary Stevens has already accomplished many remarkable things in 1995 -- winning the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes on Thunder Gulch; capturing the Santa Anita Derby on the rags-to-riches Larry The Legend, and rolling wire-to-wire on Urgent Request in the
Santa Anita Handicap.
But perhaps even more remarkable is the amount of time Stevens has spent in the air. By unofficial count, the jockey, who spent the first portion of the year riding in Hong Kong, has already logged some 90,000 miles in the air this year.
Stevens' agent, Ron Anderson, provided the following figures on his riders' air travel through last week:
9,000 miles: Los Angeles to Hong Kong (contract rider for trainer Steve Leung)
9,000 miles: Hong Kong to Los Angeles (Santa Anita Handicap)
9,000 miles: Los Angeles to Hong Kong
9,000 miles: Hong Kong to Los Angeles (Santa Anita Derby)
9,000 miles: Los Angeles to Hong Kong
9,000 miles: Hong Kong to Los Angeles
3,000 miles: Los Angeles to Louisville (Kentucky Derby)
3,000 miles: Louisville to Los Angeles
3,000 miles: Los Angeles to Baltimore (Preakness)
3,000 miles: Baltimore to Los Angeles
3,000 miles: Los Angeles to New York (Belmont)
3,000 miles: New York to Los Angeles
3,000 miles: Los Angeles to New Jersey (Caesars International Handicap)
3,000 miles: New Jersey to Los Angeles
3,000 miles: Los Angeles to New York (Coaching Club American Oaks)
3,000 miles: New York to Los Angeles
3,000 miles: Los Angeles to New York (True North Handicap)
3,000 miles: New York to Los Angeles
Total: 90,000 miles
What does Stevens do with all his time spent flying?
"Sleep, watch movies, read, bookwork, a lot of little things," he said. "It gets old, but it's like riding in a race. If you mentally prepare for it, you can deal with it."
FREE SEMINAR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
Author Steve Davidowitz will be at Hollywood Park Friday night and Saturday to sign his book, "Betting Thoroughbreds" and discuss the entire racing card in the Players' Club in the Clubhouse.
Friday's seminar begins at 6 p.m., while Saturday's starts at 12 noon.