Weekend Racing at Santa Anita : Mohamed Abdu Seeks 5th Win in San Luis Rey

Mohamed Abdu was sold by Middle East interests to a Beverly Hills couple partly because the 4-year-old colt was a nervous wreck.

When Mohamed Abdu was turned over to Dick Mulhall last fall, his new U.S. trainer was quick to confirm the horse’s temperament.

“He’d shake and be wringing wet even before you took him out for a gallop,” Mulhall said.

Mohamed Abdu still hasn’t turned into an equine version of Perry Como, but he has won four straight races, all at Santa Anita, and he shoots for No. 5 Sunday in his biggest test, the $250,000 San Luis Rey Stakes at 1 1/2 miles.

Eight other grass runners are entered in the San Luis Rey. From the rail out, the field consists of Swink, with Laffit Pincay riding; Rivlia, Chris McCarron; Mohamed Abdu, Eddie Delahoussaye; Tertiary Zone, Alex Solis; Trokhos, Fernando Toro; Great Communicator, Ray Sibille; Vilzak, Pat Day; Monroe, Jorge Velasquez; and Motley, Bill Shoemaker.

All of the starters will carry 126 pounds. Swink and Motley, both owned by Nelson Bunker Hunt, will run as an entry. Rivlia was sold by Hunt to Emmanuel De Seroux earlier this week, more as a breeding prospect than a runner, and Charlie Whittingham, who has been training him, will saddle the horse again Sunday. Whittingham, who has won the San Luis Rey four times in the 1980s, indicated that he might not start both Swink and Motley.

Mohamed Abdu, an Irish-bred named after an Arabian singer, won two of six starts in Europe. Last fall, he was sold, for an undisclosed amount, by Ahmed Salman, a member of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia, to Meyer Gaskin, a wholesale meat dealer, and his wife, Mollie.

The Gaskins have been posing in the winner’s circle with Mohamed Abdu ever since. The colt started his U.S. career in November with a win on Santa Anita’s 6 1/2-furlong turf course. He added two more victories at the same distance, and then on Feb. 28 he won at a mile, taking the Arcadia Handicap by 4 lengths.

“He’s still nervous, but he’s much better than when I first got him,” Mulhall said. “We’ve spent a lot of time with him trying to calm him down, walking him, playing with him, schooling him in the paddock.”

Because Mulhall ran him at 6 1/2 furlongs in his first three starts, there was the natural tendency to label Mohamed Abdu as a sprinter.

“I’ve always felt that he could go long, because of his breeding,” Mulhall said. “He’s by Rusticaro, who’s by Caro, and that indicates distance. The first time I ran him 6 1/2, it was just to get a race under him. But then he bruised his foot, and we had to lay him off for a month. When he came back, it was like starting over, so I ran him at 6 1/2 again.”

As do most of the trainers with horses in the San Luis Rey, Mulhall has his eye on the San Juan Capistrano Handicap on April 24.

These are exciting times for the Gaskins and Mulhall. They also have What a Diplomat, a 3-year-old colt bred by the owners who won the San Rafael Stakes before running fifth in the San Felipe Handicap last Sunday.

What a Diplomat bled from the lungs in the San Felipe.

What a Diplomat won’t run in the Santa Anita Derby on April 9. Mulhall is considering the Jim Beam Stakes at Turfway Park a week from today, the Lexington at Keeneland on April 16 and the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields on April 23.

“My horse isn’t a super horse,” Mulhall said, “but I don’t think any of the other 3-year-olds out there are super, either. But we’re staying away from the Santa Anita Derby because I think the best 3-year-olds in the country are right here.”

Horse Racing Notes

For a race that was run reasonably clean, the San Felipe Handicap took its toll. Lively One and What a Diplomat bled, Saratoga Passage came out of the race with a lung infection and probably will miss the Santa Anita Derby, and Jet Charlie, who stumbled leaving the gate, nicked himself on the leg. . . . Schiller isn’t running in the San Luis Rey because of an abscess on a foot. . . . Trainer Michael Stidham, who sent Manzotti to Pimlico to win the John B. Campbell Handicap last Saturday, now has the 5-year-old in New York, with races at Aqueduct and Garden State Park as possibilities. Manzotti ran 1 miles in 2:01 4/5, breaking the track record by 1 1/5 seconds. . . . The Scout, who broke down in a race last weekend, fractured a foreleg. His racing career is over but efforts are being made to save him for breeding.