Flying Pidgeon Gets Chance and Beats Dahar : Late $10,000 Investment Pays Off in $165,000 Victory for the Florida Import

If trainer Charlie Whittingham had any hair, it probably would have been standing on end Monday afternoon as he watched the shocking stretch run of the $300,000 Hollywood Invitational.

Instead of the expected sight of favorites Dahar and Strawberry Road II--both from Whittingham’s prolific barn--battling for the win, Whittingham and others in the Hollywood Park crowd of 38,550 saw a Florida import named Flying Pidgeon pull away from the field to post an upset victory.

Flying Pidgeon was a late entry in this 1 1/2-mile turf race, and the 5-year-old Florida-bred horse made a late run from the back of the pack that certainly made the $10,000 supplemental fee his owners paid seem a small price.

For days, trainer Luis Oliveras mulled the decision about whether to run Flying Pidgeon in Hollywood Park’s Memorial Day feature. By last Thursday, Oliveras had decided to skip the race until he was informed that only five other horses had entered.

Apparently unafraid of Whittingham’s supposed stranglehold on this year’s Invitational, Oliveras convinced owners Uly DeParma and Armand Marcanthony to ship the horse to Hollywood on Friday.

Even though it was a last-minute decision, it was a profitable one. With jockey Santiago Soto handling the horse just right, Flying Pidgeon earned $165,000 Monday to boost his career earnings over the $1-million mark. Those at Hollywood Park who bet on the 7-1 shot received $16.40, $3.40 and $2.10.

Meanwhile, the coupled entry of Dahar and Strawberry Road II went off as an overwhelming 1-2 favorite, but the best Dahar could do was stagger home second under jockey Bill Shoemaker, and Strawberry Road II was a disappointing fifth in the six-horse field under rider Gary Stevens.

Dahar paid $2.20 and $2.10, while Both Ends Burning returned $2.10 to show.

Many seemed so certain that the Invitational would strictly be a match race of Whittingham-trained horses that it was easy to overlook Flying Pidgeon in the early going.

As is his pattern, Flying Pidgeon lagged back in the small field, falling behind by as many as 12 lengths. But nearing the far turn for the second time, Flying Pidgeon steadily moved up on the rail and then maneuvered to the outside and simply outran the rest.

Dahar, who came into Monday’s race a winner of two straight, was caught up in the slow pace and Shoemaker could not recover in time to pull it out. In fact, Shoemaker was lucky to find the room in the stretch to make it a close finish.

“I had no place to go,” Shoemaker said. “No choice. They were going too slow for me. But (Dahar) was the best horse. He should have won.”

Try telling that to the owners and handlers of Flying Pidgeon, a former claiming horse whose only notoriety until last year was that his name was misspelled.

Marcanthony, one of the horse’s owners, said he tried to sell the horse a staggering seven times early in Flying Pidgeon’s career but never got the price he wanted. It turned out to be the best non-decisions the owners ever made.

“We were always trying to get rid of him,” Marcanthony said. “By all rights, this should not be our horse now. We’re in the breeding business, so we really didn’t want to actively race this horse. For some reason, after claiming races, I kept buying him back. Then, once a friend of mine wanted to buy him for $50,000 and I would’ve taken it. But the vet said that Flying Pidgeon walked kind of funny from behind and he advised the friend not to buy.

“Another time, a vet said he just didn’t think the horse could run. This was all when he was a 2- and 3-year-old. I’m so glad we kept him and, I can tell you, we won’t sell him now. He’s earned too much for us to sell him.”

It was the owners’ confidence in Flying Pidgeon that enabled him to make it to Hollywood Park on such short notice.

Oliveras planned to run the horse in next week’s Red Smith Handicap at Belmont Park. But when Hollywood Park race director Tommy Trotter called Oliveras early Thursday morning and told him about the small field, the trainer’s plans changed.

“Any time they put up $300,000 and the field is that small, it’s worth taking the chance,” he said. “Sure, it cost $10,000, but you couldn’t pass it up.”

To convince the owners, all Oliveras had to do was remind them of the recent meetings Flying Pidgeon had against both Dahar and Strawberry Road II. For example, Flying Pidgeon finished way ahead of Dahar in last summer’s Arlington Million and finished reasonably close to Strawberry Road II in last fall’s Turf Classic at Belmont.

Toss in the fact that Flying Pidgeon carried six less pounds than Dahar and four less than Strawberry Roads II and there was plenty of reason to believe a win was possible Monday.

“I know this horse,” Soto said. “I know when to make the move.”

Said Oliveras: “I was pretty sure we could beat them, especially with the six pounds. I was more concerned with the pace. If it’s a really slow pace, he’s in trouble. He was behind today, but not anything like 20 lengths so there was plenty of time to move up. We were right there.”

Strawberry Road II led right from the break but faded badly in the stretch. Both Ends Burning, last year’s Invitational winner, took a different approach. The 6-year-old gelding broke slowly without his usual speed, and he could not muster much of a stretch drive from the inside.

Horse Racing Notes

With no Pick Six winners Monday, the carryover to Wednesday’s races will be $379,295. . . . Late charging Tourismo, an 8-1 shot, held off Arewehavingfunyet and Bolton to win Sunday’s Mehmet Stakes at Hollywood Park. Winning time was 1:35.4. . . . John Henry, a three-time winner of the Hollywood Invitational, has yet to have any timed workouts in his comeback bid at age 11. He has, however, been galloping regularly. . . . Precisionist and Greinton will square off again Sunday in the Californian. Super Diamond, a highly regarded horse trained by Eddie Gregson, will probably pass up the race because of Greinton’s recent dominance. Sunday morning, Greinton worked six furlongs in 1:11.3. Afterward, Gregson said: “I was sitting on the fence (about whether to run Super Diamond). But I’m ready to fall off.” . . . Gregson on the Precisionist-Greinton rivalry: “I’ll go on the record right now. Greinton will beat Precisionist.”