Weekend Racing at Del Mar : Sharrood Could Give Gosden Double He Seeks

Trainer John Gosden has had horses that have only come close to winning the Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar and the Budweiser-Arlington Million in suburban Chicago. In Sharrood, he has a 4-year-old roan who will try to end Gosden’s frustration in both races this year.

First things first. Sharrood, back from Arlington Park, where he conquered the same course that will be used for the Million Sept. 6, will carry top weight of 120 pounds, the same as Louis Le Grand, in the $200,000 Read today. Nine other horses are entered, and the entry of Louis Le Grand and Le Belvedere, owned by Allen Paulson and trained by Charlie Whittingham, is likely to be favored.

Le Belvedere was assigned 116 pounds for the Read, although he beat Sharrood by a neck with a five-pound advantage in the Inglewood Handicap at Hollywood Park May 31.

Since then, the horses have taken opposite turns. On July 4, while Sharrood was scoring his 3/4-length win in the Stars and Stripes Handicap at Arlington, Le Belvedere remained at Hollywood, where he almost unseated Bill Shoemaker coming out of the gate and finished sixth in the American Handicap.

“Sharrood loved the course at Arlington,” Gosden said. “The cover is deep and a lot like the best grass courses in Europe.”

Sharrood was unable to win in eight starts in Europe last year, after he had won four of five races there as a 2-year-old.

“His record as a 3-year-old is deceptive,” Gosden said. “He was running against some of the best horses over there almost every time he ran.”

Some of the horses who beat Sharrood last year included Dancing Brave, Shahrastani and Park Express.

Sharrood, though bred in Kentucky, had never raced in the United States until this year. Gosden got him in November, and the colt won his first American start in May at Hollywood Park. His only other appearances here have been in the Inglewood and the Stars and Stripes.

The result of a mating of Caro and the Cougar II mare, Angel Island, Sharrood cost his owner, Sheik Mohammed al Maktoum, $1.1 million as a yearling.

Mohammed, 38, and his three brothers, who with their father rule oil-rich Dubai on the Persian Gulf, started buying yearlings in America in 1980 and have spent about $300 million on horses here.

Mohammed studied at Cambridge in England, as did Gosden, but Gosden’s contact with the owner is largely though one of Mohammed’s farm managers.

Gosden’s horses have twice been second in the Read, Zoffany finishing behind Al Mamoon last year and Bel Bolide losing by less than a length to Prince Spellbound in 1983. Al Mamoon, who was second in the Read in 1985, is not running today because of a hoof problem.

Gosden hopes that Sharrood’s Read-Million parlay will be more pleasant than Zoffany’s. The second betting choice behind a four-horse entry at Arlington last year, Zoffany and a stablemate, Alphabatim, took each other out on the first turn, and Zoffany had to be removed from the track in a van.

“That was a long day and a long flight back,” Gosden said.

Gosden’s best finish in the Million was a second by the filly, Royal Heroine, in 1984. “To the ubiquitous John Henry,” the trainer added, referring to the grand old gelding who also won the first Million in 1981.

Gosden was asked why he hadn’t left Sharrood in Chicago, instead of bringing him to Del Mar and then facing a return trip to Arlington Park.

“Two reasons, actually,” the trainer said. “I don’t have any other horses at Arlington, and it would be difficult to keep an eye on him while I’m at Del Mar.

“Secondly, the only other race he could have run at Arlington was 1 1/2 miles, which is too far if you’re getting a horse ready to run (the Million distance of) a mile and a quarter. So the only place for him was the Read.”

The Read will be an easier spot for Sharrood than the Million, since one early line out of Chicago listed him as 15-1 for the Arlington stake. The best grass horses in the U.S.--Manila, Theatrical and Dance of Life--are supposed to be there, as well as Mtoto, the best in Europe.

In the meantime, though, Sharrood has enough to handle today, what with a large group of stakes winners up against him. The only horse in the field who doesn’t fit is Havatry, a colt who was running against $32,000 maidens two months ago.

Horse Racing Notes Because it will be televised by ESPN, the Eddie Read will be the seventh race, with an approximate post time of 5:35 p.m.. . . . Another stake on today’s program is the $50,000 Rancho Bernardo Handicap. . . . Galunpe, the Irish-bred 4-year-old, is trying to become the first female to win the Read. The best finish by a distaffer was Star Ball’s third in 1977. . . . Trainer Bobby Frankel, winner of the Read four times--with Al Mamoon last year, Wickerr in 1981 and ‘82, and No Turning in 1977--has entered Stop the Fighting and Iades, besides Galunpe. With a New York rider, Robbie Davis, named on Iades, there is speculation that the 5-year-old French-bred might not run. . . . Another of Frankel’s trainees, Aberuschka, will try to win the Palomar Handicap for the second straight time when the $75,000 one-mile stake is run on the turf Sunday.

Skip Out Front, a $32,000 claim by trainer Mike Harmatuck, who has no other horses at Del Mar, is in the Read field. Skip Out Front, who once ran for an $8,000 price, was nipped at the wire by Clever Song in the American Handicap at Hollywood Park and has earned almost $250,000.

Chris McCarron, who was at Saratoga Friday morning to work Alysheba a mile in preparation for next Saturday’s Travers, got caught at O’Hare Airport in Chicago because of heavy rain and did not make it back to Del Mar in the afternoon. Bill Shoemaker subbed for McCarron in the second division of the San Clemente Stakes and finished second aboard Chapel of Dreams. Alysheba, working with blinkers on, was clocked in a good 1:38 2/5.

Jockey Gary Stevens sustained a mild concussion after the first division of the San Clemente Stakes when his mount, Lizzy Hare, stumbled while being pulled up and unseated the rider. Stevens was taken to Del Mar Medical Clinic for X-rays after complaining of back pain. While X-rays were negative, doctors recommended that Stevens not ride today. Davie’s Lamb, the 3-2 favorite with Fernando Toro aboard, and Future Bright, an 11-1 outsider ridden by Pat Valenzuela, won their divisions of the San Clemente Stakes for three-year-old fillies before 16,114 fans.

There is talk of a match race between Olympic Prospect, who ran six furlongs in 1:08 last Saturday, and Calyx, a quarter horse stabled at Hollywood Park. . . . Jockey Laffit Pincay is excited about Sheesham, the 2-year-old daughter of Sham who won Wednesday’s Junior Miss Stakes. “She’s the first horse by Sham who has had the same long stride that the father did,” Pincay said.