Native Charmer Beats Gato Del Sol by Length in Hollypark Opener

Sunny skies, balmy temperatures and a humdinger of a horse race was the bill of fare for the 27,765 fans who came out to help Hollywood Park open its 67-day spring-summer meeting Wednesday.

Coming just two days after the close of Santa Anita’s highly successful meeting, Hollywood Park officials hope to keep the momentum going with good weather, giveaways, promotions and purses expected to exceed $4.3 million.

One promotion will award $1 million for picking the winners of all nine races. Its inauguration produced a $10,000 winner in Carmen DeCalderon of Hollywood, who correctly predicted four straight winners. The contest will be a regular feature of Sunday racing.

It was a grand day, especially for the English. Trainer Richard Cross won the second division of the Premiere Handicap with Native Charmer, a one-length winner over Gato Del Sol.

Native Charmer, ridden by Canadian Sandy Hawley, returned $20.20, $7.40, and $3.20. Gato Del Sol, the 1982 winner of the Kentucky Derby, paid $4.40 and $3.00. Third-place finisher, Both Ends Burning, returned $2.40.

Cross also trained Marataya, the winner of the ninth race. Marataya provided Laffit Pincay with his third winner of the day.

Cross’ countryman, John Gosden, also trained a winner, saddling Retsina Run, who finished in a dead heat with Capture Him, in the first division of the 42nd running of the $60,000-added Premiere.

Retsina Run, ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye, held a narrow lead for most of the mile race on the turf. But coming off the turn and into the stretch, Capture Him, with Chris McCarron aboard, made a big move and appeared to hit the wire just in front of Retsina Run.

While waiting for the photo to be examined, both jockeys thought McCarron might have had the winner.

“It was close, but I thought you might have had it,” said Delahoussaye, who flew in from Kentucky Wednesday after riding Derby hopeful Skywalker in the morning.

McCarron concurred.

“I thought when we hit the wire I was ahead, but then a couple jumps afterward, his horse was back in front. It was close.”

So close that the stewards settled for two winners, with Val Danseur finishing third. Retsina Run, trained by Loren Rettele, returned $12.40, $10.20 and $5.60. Capture Him paid $3.00, $3.40 and $2.40. Val Danseur paid $3.80.

Gosden wasn’t disappointed in the tie, saying the only inconvenience would be “for the trophy makers. But this is much better than second.’

For Rettele, the tie reinforced his conviction that Retsina Run can handle the turf, even though he had been shut out in six previous tries.

“No one thought this horse could run on the turf because he did so poorly on the hillside course at Santa Anita,” said Rettele, whose horse broke by two-fifths of a second the stakes record of 1:33 4/5 set by Drumalis in 1984. “But this surface is flatter, and I knew the horse would run well. It wasn’t a surprise to me.’

Nor was Native Charmer’s victory a surprise to Cross.

“The horse had been running six and seven furlong races in England,” Cross said. “And last week we put it in at a mile and a half. That was probably a mile too far. This looked like it was about right.”

When asked if he was disappointed that Native Charmer’s time was a tick slower than the first division, he smiled.

“They don’t pay me for fast times,” he said. “Just to get in the winner’s circle.”

Horse Racing Notes Jack Lund, the new director of marketing, could generate some excitement himself since he has an impressive track record including stints at McDonald’s and Sea World. “I want to give people a good reason to come to the track,” Lund said. “The possibility of winning a million dollars I think will lure people here. At McDonald’s, the contests were very popular. And the No. 1 thing people wanted from the contest was the chance to become instantly wealthy. Not just rich or slightly better off, but to be wealthy. To have a chance to change their lives.”

Hollywood Park doesn’t have the San Gabriel mountains, but it does have some impressive scenery for celebrity watchers. Spotted in the crowd were Angie Dickinson, Robert Wagner and Jill St. John and Dynasty’s John Forsythe. Look for many of the rich and famous to turn up for interviews on Hollywood Park’s replay show, which will air on Channel 56.