Weekend Racing at Hollywood Park : North Sider, Seldom Seen Sue to Meet in Vanity

When North Sider and Seldom Seen Sue tangled in the Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita in March, North Sider was 9 lengths the better horse, winning the stake while her rival drooped home 10th in a field of 12.

Since then, the two horses have gone different ways. North Sider made a successful whistle-stop tour across the United States, while Seldom Seen Sue remained in California, carving out a reputation of her own.

The North Sider vs. Seldom Seen Sue rivalry will be resumed Sunday at Hollywood Park in the $200,000 Vanity Invitational at 1 miles. It’s unlikely that there will be 9 lengths separating them this time, and Seldom Seen Sue will probably even be favored, since she has already won a pair of stakes at Hollywood this season. North Sider recently returned from the East, where she averaged more than two starts a month in the time she was gone.

Nine fillies and mares are entered in the Vanity. The lineup, in post-position order: Sacahuista, ridden by Chris Antley, 109 pounds; Infinidad, Corey Black, 113; Frau Altiva, Frank Olivares, 112; Seldom Seen Sue, Chris McCarron, 120; Micenas, Fernando Toro, 113; Annapurna, Rafael Meza, 112; Clabber Girl, Gary Stevens, 115; Reloy, Pat Valenzuela, 120; North Sider, Laffit Pincay, 121.

Wayne Lukas trains three of the starters--Sacahuista, Clabber Girl and North Sider--and Charlie Whittingham trains two--Infinidad and Reloy--but because of separate ownerships, none of them will be linked in the betting.

Since the Santa Margarita, Seldom Seen Sue has been third in the Silver Spoon Handicap at Hollywood Park and first in the Hawthorne Handicap and the Milady Handicap. The 4-year-old filly went off the 8-5 favorite the day North Sider, a year her senior, beat her at Santa Anita.

“I take the blame for that race,” said Gary Jones, who trains Seldom Seen Sue. “I didn’t train her the right way, I trained her too hard going into the race.”

Jones got Seldom Seen Sue last summer in a trainer switch away from Michael Harte, and going into the Santa Margarita, she had four wins and a second in her five previous starts.

“She had been running well without much rest in all those races,” Jones said. “Then there was a gap of more than a month before she ran in the Santa Margarita. I didn’t know the right way to bring her up to the race, but now I’ve learned.”

Since leaving California, North Sider has won two stakes at Oaklawn Park, one at Monmouth Park and one at Belmont, giving her 6 victories in 11 starts this year. She could go over the $1-million mark in purses Sunday.

North Sider will have to run well in the Vanity to make a believer of Whittingham, however. His Reloy beat North Sider in the Santa Ana Handicap, two weeks after the Santa Margarita, although that race was on grass. Reloy will be making her first start on dirt in the Vanity.

“North Sider might have won all those races, but that’s a weaker group back there,” Whittingham said. “And when she won in California, I don’t think she faced the best out here.”

No matter what Seldom Seen Sue does Sunday, Jones has ambitious plans to seek out the best competition for her the rest of the year. Jones got his first taste of an Eclipse Award last year, winning the male handicap title with Turkoman, and he believes that Seldom Seen Sue is a candidate for female honors in 1987.

Toward that goal, Jones might boldly enter Seldom Seen Sue in the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga Aug. 8. The Whitney has been run 59 times, and only two females--Gallorette in 1948 and Lady’s Secret last year--have won it.

“There are some advantages to running her in the Whitney,” Jones said. “Broad Brush will be there, but he’d be giving us plenty of weight.

“If we get beat by him, it’s no disgrace. But if she beats him, she becomes a super horse. And even if we lose, we’d be weighted off the loss, and that would help her down the line.”

Well down the line, of course, is the Breeders’ Cup at Hollywood Park Nov. 21. Last year, the $3-million Classic eluded Jones when Turkoman finished second to Skywalker at Santa Anita. The Horse of the Year title went out the window, as well.

Horse Racing Notes

Judge Angelucci, who won the Californian June 7, heads a five-horse field in today’s Bel Air Handicap at Hollywood Park. . . . Sacahuista will try to become the first 3-year-old to win the Vanity since It’s in the Air in 1979. Sacahuista ran just last Sunday, finishing second to the 36-1 shocker, Perchance To Dream, in the Hollywood Oaks. . . . Corey Black, last year’s leading California apprentice, is riding for two weeks at Hollywood during a vacation. Black has been riding under contract in France for trainer Andre Fabre and plans to return. . . . Micenas, one of the starters in the Vanity, is owned by Merv Griffin. . . . Rosedale, winner of the San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita, will leave soon for Australia, where he’ll be prepared to run in the Melbourne Cup in November.