Horse Racing / Bill Christine : Successful Stephens-Pincay Combination Is Split This Time

Woody Stephens, who in quest of his fifth straight Belmont Stakes victory will saddle Danzig Connection Saturday, wanted Laffit Pincay to ride his colt.

And Chris McCarron, frustrated by 11 straight non-winning rides in Triple Crown races, called trainer Walter Kelley last week, hoping to ride Kelley’s colt, Johns Treasure, in the 118th running of the Belmont.

When the race is run, McCarron will be aboard Danzig Connection, and Pincay will be riding Johns Treasure.

More later about how all that developed, but this seems like a Belmont that’s out of sync without the Stephens-Pincay connection. They teamed for the trainer’s first three wins in the race--with Conquistador Cielo, Caveat and Swale--and last year, Pincay rode Stephan’s Odyssey to second place for Stephens, who won the race with Creme Fraiche, the other part of his two-horse entry. Eddie Maple rode Creme Fraiche.

Pat Day rode Danzig Connection to victory in the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park May 25. Day could have retained the mount for the Belmont, but he told Stephens that he was committed to ride Rampage, the fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby.

“If Tony (Matos, Pincay’s agent) had called, they could have ridden for me in the Belmont,” Stephens said. “I was surprised they didn’t call. Then I read in Joe Hirsch’s column (in the Daily Racing Form) that Pincay was going to ride Walter Kelley’s horse. That’s when I moved to get McCarron.”

Before that happened, though, McCarron called Kelley, asking to ride Johns Treasure. Kelley had already discussed riders with John R. Murrell, the Texas oilman who owns Johns Treasure, and they had decided to try for Pincay.

“We know you’re a good rider, but we’re trying to get Pincay,” Kelley told McCarron.

“Laffit’s agent is standing right here,” McCarron said, most obligingly--considering that he had just been turned down.

Kelley asked to talk to Pincay, and they made their deal. Should Johns Treasure earn a part of the purse, it will be a straight 10% commission for Pincay, who reportedly received a lucrative mount fee just to ride Groovy in the Kentucky Derby.

The unconfirmed amount was $30,000, which if true was $30,000 more than Groovy’s owners got from the race. Their speedball set ridiculously fast early fractions before he finished last in the 16-horse field.

Pincay also could have ridden the English horse, Bold Arrangement, in the Derby. With McCarron, Bold Arrangement finished second to Ferdinand, earning $100,000 for his owners and a probable $10,000 for the jockey.

“Maybe Tony and Laffit don’t like my horse,” Stephens said of the Belmont riding situation. “They made a mistake before, you know. In the 1984 Hollywood Futurity, they had the mount on Stephan’s Odyssey, but they got off him to ride another horse, and I won the race.”

Pincay rode favored Bold Smoocher in the Hollywood Futurity, finishing 12th in a 13-horse field. Maple won on Stephan’s Odyssey.

Although Johns Treasure has had only four starts and has never run in a stake, there would be a reason to prefer him over Danzig Connection in the Belmont. The day Danzig Connection won the 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan, Johns Treasure won at a mile in another race on the program and galloped out an extra eighth of a mile a second faster than Stephens’ horse ran his race.

“Time don’t mean nothing,” Stephens said. “What did Johns Treasure run his race against, non-winners of two (races)? There’s a lot of difference between that and running in a stakes race.”

Typically, Stephens got the last word. And when it comes to him and the Belmont Stakes, it usually pays to listen.

The Belmont is shaping up as a nine-horse race. Ferdinand, the Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up, will be favored. He probably will be joined by Rampage, Danzig Connection, Johns Treasure, Mogambo, Fobby Forbes, Bordeaux Bob, Imperious Spirit and Personal Flag.

Ferdinand, in his final Belmont workout, went a smart :58 2/5 for five furlongs.

Ferdinand’s second to Snow Chief in the Preakness has been partly attributed to the horse’s not handling the Pimlico track, preventing jockey Bill Shoemaker from placing him closer in the early stages.

“It looks like he’s handling the track here,” trainer Charlie Whittingham said. “But you really can’t tell in the mornings. The riders aren’t really sitting down on the horses like they’ll do in the races.”

Voting is under way among more than 100 turf writers to elect one trainer, one colt and one filly to the Hall of Fame at Saratoga.

Among the eligible trainers are two conditioners--Willard Proctor and Buster Millerick--still active on the California circuit. Other trainers on the ballot are Henry Forrest, Red McDaniel and Burley Parke.

The colts on the ballot include Ack Ack, Arts and Letters, Bald Eagle, Counterpoint and Riva Ridge.

Four of the fillies listed--Lamb Chop, Straight Deal, Airmans Guide and Moccasin--have little chance to be elected, because Genuine Risk rounds out the ballot and should be a cinch. Genuine Risk was only the second filly to win the Kentucky Derby, in 1980, and she also finished second in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Racing Notes Gary Thomas doesn’t sound like a trainer who plans to win the Belmont Stakes. Thomas’ concern is that Rampage hasn’t had a race since the Kentucky Derby. . . . Solva, who won the Miss America Handicap at Golden Gate Fields for owner Jerry Moss and trainer Bobby Frankel last Sunday, was bought in Italy by Moss but didn’t reach Frankel’s barn at Hollywood Park until six months later because of a tax problem. “The horse’s seller told the Italian government that the sale price was $25,000,” Frankel said. “Actually, we bought her for quite a bit more than that, and the Italian government knew it. So the horse stayed in Italy until everything was straightened out.” . . . Since Affirmed in 1978, Swale has been the only favorite to win the Belmont Stakes.

California Blaster, unable to beat First Mate in the first three legs of the Budweiser pacing series at Fairplex Park, may have a better chance Saturday night after hurrying home in 1:54 1/5 at the Pomona track last week. The final in the series, worth $50,000, is scheduled June 21. . . . One morning last November, quarter-horse jockey Jerry Nicodemus was in what appeared to be a career-ending accident at Los Alamitos. Nicodemus, 40, suffered a broken leg and a broken ankle. Last Sunday, after several months of rehabilitation, Nicodemus rode Ronas Ryon to victory in the $398,000 Kansas Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico. . . . A thoroughbred jockey, Carlos Marquez, will be riding again soon at Calder after suffering head and neck injuries in a spill in April at Santa Anita. Marquez, 44, hopes eventually to get back on the California circuit.