Hollywood Juvenile Championship : King Glorious Makes Fast Work of His Rivals

Chris McCarron may have been too late to ride his first mount Saturday at Hollywood Park, but at the other end of the afternoon he was on time and then some.

McCarron’s last mount of the day was King Glorious, who won the Hollywood Juvenile Championship by running 6 furlongs in 1:08 4/5, which missed the stake record by one-fifth of a second and was only two-fifths slower than the track record.

All this speed came from a 2-year-old colt who was making only his third career start, but apparently King Glorious knows just one way to run, like a zephyr. The only difference between his first two races at Golden Gate Fields and Saturday’s was that he was trailing a horse until halfway through the far turn, but the result was the same, with King Glorious winning the $111,450 stake by 4 lengths and none of the horses behind making a threat.

Once King Glorious and McCarron shot past Downtown Davey, the Juvenile was over. McCarron used the whip a couple of times through the stretch, just in case Bruho and Gary Stevens had any ideas about closing the gap. Bruho finished 4 lengths ahead of Mountain Ghost, with Wonders Delight, a filly, another 1 3/4 lengths back, a fourth-place finisher in the field of nine.

Dimaggio’s record for the Juvenile, the 1:08 3/5 clocking set in 1974, is still safe, as is the track record of 1:08 2/5, set by the 5-year-old, Bedside Promise, in last year’s Los Angeles Handicap.

McCarron was replaced by Eddie Delahoussaye on Popular Day, a 3-year-old colt who won Saturday’s second race. “I got hung up,” McCarron said after the Juvenile, and the Hollywood Park stewards later said that the jockey had been excused because of a “family problem.”

McCarron won the seventh race on Paisano Pete before be boarded King Glorious for the first time. The California-bred’s owner, Theodore Aroney of Carlsbad, told his trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer, that he wanted a Southern California jockey for King Glorious in the Juvenile, after Randy Schacht had ridden him at Golden Gate in a maiden win in track-record time and in a stakes-record victory.

“I had no argument about switching riders; we were lucky to get Chris,” said Hollendorfer, 39, the leading trainer at Bay Meadows and Golden Gate in the last three years.

King Glorious earned $111,450, paying $3.40, $2.80 and $2.40 as the heavy favorite. He and Bruho are sons of Naevus, with Bruho, a $50,000 claim by trainer Julio Canani in his first start seven weeks ago, paying $5 and $3.80. Mountain Ghost, at 74-1 the longest price in a crowd of 23,107, returned $7.40.

King Glorious had to have a crack in his right front hoof patched after his debut. “It was enough to worry about, but not enough to stop his training,” Hollendorfer said. “The way patches are now, if you get lucky, you can keep on going with a horse, and we didn’t want to miss any time with him because we were pointing for this race.”

Six of the starters--King Glorious’ stablemate, Professor Shane, and Mr. McQue were scratched--had won their previous races, and one of them, Downtown Davey, broke on top and held the lead for about a quarter of a mile, with King Glorious just outside him.

King Glorious had won his first two races in wire-to-wire fashion, by a total of 17 lengths.

“He acted like he was on the lead by himself,” McCarron said. “He scrambled for a stride or two out of the gate, but after that he was all right.

“He’s a good-made horse, and I like his manner and attitude. You don’t know whether he’s got the physical stamina to go long, but if he does, he should have the mental attitude to go with it.”

Wonders Delight was reluctant to load, and since she had the outside post, the other horses were forced to wait. Aaron Gryder, whose Music Merci was trying to win his third straight, said his horse stood for five minutes. Music Merci finished broke slowly and finished seventh.

With King Glorious and Downtown Davey battling for the lead, Stevens thought he was in a good spot with Bruho.

“I thought I had a great shot,” Stevens said. “When I was going by Downtown Davey, I think I was within 3 or 4 lengths of Chris and I was sitting pretty easy. But then I looked up and this sucker (King Glorious) is 6 lengths in front of me--boom--like that. And it was all over with.”

Races under consideration for King Glorious are the Sapling at Monmouth Park on Aug. 14 and the Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 14. He might have been a tad tired after the Juvenile, but he should have enough energy left for both of those stakes. His eight rivals Saturday didn’t take that much out of him.

Horse Racing Notes

Chris McCarron could have a big finish as the Hollywood Park meeting ends with programs today and Monday. Today he rides Stalwars, the favorite in the Swaps, and on Monday he’s aboard Rivlia, the co-high weight at 120 pounds with Political Ambition in the Sunset Handicap. The Sunset drew 13 starters. In post-position order, with jockeys and weights: Five Daddy Five, Alex Solis, 114 pounds; Roi Normand, Fernando Toro, 114; Rivlia, McCarron, 120; Lemmon Juice, Rafael Meza, 110; Putting, Gary Stevens, 117; Circus Prince, Russell Baze, 114; Knights Legend, Corey Black, 114; Ladanum, Aaron Gryder, 109; Sir Harry Lewis, Laffit Pincay, 115; World Court, Ray Sibille, 113; Political Ambition, Eddie Delahoussaye, 116; Baba Karam, Bill Shoemaker, 116, and Tertiary Zone, Frank Olivares, 110. . . . In Saturday’s fifth race, Fairly Omen, a 6-year-old gelding who was claimed by trainer Julie Neumann for $16,000 on April 16, won his fifth straight.