Hollywood Invitational : Longshots Outlasted by Rivlia

What looked like a setup almost turned into an upset Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 27,170 at Hollywood Park.

Going into the day’s feature race, the $300,000 Hollywood Invitational, it appeared as if Charlie Whittingham could not help but find himself in the winner’s circle. After all, the 74-year-old trainer was saddling no fewer than three of the six entries.

As it turned out, one of them, Rivlia, a 5-year-old bay by Riverman out of Dahlia, did give Whittingham his seventh Invitational victory, but not before having to overcome the second-longest shot on the board, Great Communicator.

In the end, Chris McCarron got Rivlia, owned by Nelson Bunker Hunt, to the wire first, four lengths in front of Scott Stevens aboard Great Communicator, with Eddie Delahoussaye bringing another longshot, Schiller, home third a half-length behind.

Rivlia, who went off as the co-favorite with stablemate Rosedale, paid $3.40, $2.20 and $2.10. Great Communicator paid $3.60 and $2.10, while Schiller’s show price was $2.20.

The son of Dahlia, who won the race in 1976, covered the 1 1/2 miles on the turf in a stakes-record 2:24 1/5, but, as McCarron said afterward, getting to the wire first was what mattered, not the time it took.

Rivlia had been rank in his last outing, fighting McCarron all the way in winning the Golden Gate Handicap by a neck on May 24. This time, he behaved much better.

“Today I thought I’d try a little different tactic with him,” McCarron said. “Just let the reins loose and hope he rates himself. I don’t know if that was the reason he relaxed so well or if it’s just the fact that he’s getting better as he goes along. It’s probably the latter. Today, he was much more relaxed, much more composed and it worked out good.”

For a while, Stevens thought he might have a chance at the upset. Riding in his first Grade I event, Stevens, 26, had battled Delahoussaye and Schiller most of the way. Together, they had led the way from the start.

“He’s game and there wasn’t that much of a pace in the race, so he was able to save a little,” Stevens said. “At the head of the lane when I asked him and he gave me a little, I thought I had a chance, and then I saw him (Rivlia) coming on the outside. But he stayed game to run second, he kept moving along.”

That was more than could be said for the rest of the field. After the first three there was a gap of three-quarters of a length to Ivor’s Image, the only filly in the race. Then it was four lengths back to Rosedale and another 4 1/2 back to Louis Le Grand, both trained by Whittingham.

“They’re such big horses that the track was stinging their feet,” Whittingham said. “Neither one of them would take hold of the bit and start running.”

But with half the field in his barn, Whittingham wasn’t worried. One of them was bound to win.

Horse Racing Notes

Rivlia’s winning time was 4/5 of a second faster than the stakes record of 2:25 set by John Henry in 1984 when, under Chris McCarron, he won the race for the third time. . . . Noble Fighter was a late scratch from Sunday’s feature race. . . .Describing Seldom Seen Sue, the winner of Saturday’s Milady Handicap, as “the best dirt filly I’ve ever had,” trainer Gary Jones said he will point her toward the July 19 Vanity Handicap. There, she likely will meet Tiffany Lass, the filly who was unbeaten in her first seven starts before losing twice in a row to Seldom Seen Sue. . . . Charlie Whittingham offered an excuse for Hidden Light, whose disappointing sixth-place finish in the Milady was her third poor showing in a row. “She’s temperamental,” the trainer said, adding that Hidden Light had been run into the fence by Fairly Old early in Saturday’s race. “After that, she didn’t want to run,” he said. “She has to get into the clear in order to run, and she hasn’t been able to do that yet. Maybe I should say the hell with it and breed her, but it’s a litle late this year.”. . . Eddie Delahoussaye, second in the jockey standings behind Laffit Pincay at the start of the day, moved into a tie for the lead by winning the first, third and seventh races. Pincay, meanwhile, won the fifth, leaving each rider with 43 victories.. . . Hollywood Park’s next Grade I race is the $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on June 28