Weekend Racing at Hollywood Park : Precisionist Will Try Turf Course in Citation

No matter where he is, Precisionist almost always manages to steal the spotlight.

The last time he raced at Hollywood Park, during the summer meeting, he unseated jockey Chris McCarron at the start of the race, beat the rest of the field to the wire and kicked his heels after the finish just as the cameras clicked.

The photograph made quite a few newspapers.

In the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs earlier this month, Precisionist was hardly the favorite in the $1-million Sprint--he finished fifth--but the 1985 Eclipse Award winner got much of the prerace attention on television.

Last Wednesday, he was back at Hollywood Park, again doing the unusual. Precisionist has only raced on the grass three times in his career, but trainer John Russell wanted him to test the Inglewood turf before entering him in Sunday’s $100,000 Citation Handicap.

Chris McCarron gave Precisionist a 6-furlong work between the sixth and seventh races, and the 1985 Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion covered the distance in 1:12. That left Russell of two minds about Sunday’s Citation.

“(Hollywood Park) wouldn’t let me work him in the morning,” he said. “They insisted that if I did work him on the turf, I’d have to work him between races. I really didn’t want to do that because I was afraid he’d go too fast--which he did. The turf course is very fast, and he clearly liked it. He was working very willingly, perhaps a little bit more than we really needed.”

Still, Russell and owner Fred W. Hooper decided Friday morning that they would run Precisionist in the Citation. In his first turf start since 1984, he will be running against 10 others in the 1 1/8-mile, Grade II event.

But that was not the only surprise Hooper had in store. He also announced that Precisionist, brought out of retirement this year after being something of a flop at stud, would return to Hooper’s farm near Ocala, Fla., after the Hollywood Park meeting to give it one more try.

“He’s going to stud in the spring, so he won’t have many more chances (to run),” Russell said, adding that the 7-year-old might be entered in the $100,000 Native Diver Handicap on Dec. 10.

“The Citation came up at just the right time and it was coincidental that it was on the turf,” Russell said. “It wasn’t really any intent of ours to develop a new turf horse. We’ll see how he goes in this race before we decide whether to run him in the Native Diver.”

Precisionist, winner of more than $3 million, will carry high weight of 121 pounds Sunday, 3 more than Forlitano and 4 more than Skip Out Front.

The full field for the 12th running of the Citation, in post position order and including jockey and weight: Skip Out Front, Gary Stevens, 117; Miswaki Tern, Bill Shoemaker, 111; Delegant, Corey Black, 114; Five Daddy Five, Alex Solis, 113; Northern Provider, Aaron Gryder, 112; Wait Till Monday, Rick Dominguez, 112; Mazilier, Fernando Toro, 116; Honor Medal, Russell Baze, 116; Forlitano, Pat Valenzuela, 118; Precisionist, McCarron, 121, and Wanderkin, Laffit Pincay, 116.

Forlitano and Delegant, both owned by Evergreen Farm and trained by Charlie Whittingham, will run as an entry.

Today’s feature, the $100,000-added Silver Belles Handicap for fillies and mares 3-year-old and up, has attracted a field of nine, headed by T.V. of Crystal, who won the Grade II Linda Vista Handicap during the Oak Tree meeting, and Nastique, who finished a surprising second in the Grade I Yellow Ribbon Stakes on Nov. 6 at Santa Anita.

Nastique, with Bill Shoemaker up, will carry high weight of 119 pounds. T.V. of Crystal, with Laffit Pincay aboard, will pack 115.