Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park : Forlitano Nips Precisionist at Wire, Breaks Stakes Record He Set in ’87

Trainer John Russell should have guessed after the seventh race at Hollywood Park Sunday that it was not going to be his day.

In the seventh, jockey Chris McCarron was left on the ground at the starting gate when the favorite, Paramount Jet, stumbled.

“He broke well, but at the second jump his feet just went out from underneath him,” explained Russell, who trains Paramount Jet for Fred W. Hooper. “When his head went down, he pulled Chris over his shoulder.”

McCarron was angry but unhurt, and determined to stay aboard in the next race, the $119,600 Citation Handicap in which he again was riding the favorite--the Hooper-owned and Russell-trained Precisionist.

For all but the final strides of the Grade II event on the turf, the 1985 Eclipse Award-winning sprinter had the crowd of 24,352 certain he was going to win. Leading from the start, Precisionist thundered into the stretch with a lead of at least 2 lengths.

“I didn’t think there was any way they were going to catch him,” McCarron said later.

However, neither McCarron nor the fans had counted on a superb late run by 1987 Citation winner Forlitano, who caught Precisionist at the wire and won by a neck. Covering the 1 1/8 miles in 1:46 3/5, Forlitano, ridden by Pat Valenzuela, bettered his own stakes record by four-fifths of a second.

The brown 7-year-old, by Good Manners out of Forlita, became the first repeat winner of the Citation and gave trainer Charlie Whittingham his fourth victory in the event. Skip Out Front, with Gary Stevens aboard, was third, another 3 1/2 lengths behind, and Miswaki Tern and Bill Shoemaker finished fourth.

All Russell could do was shake his head in disbelief.

“I thought I ran the two biggest locks today that I’ve run in years,” he said, referring to Paramount Jet and Precisionist.

“But you can’t underrate Forlitano. Look back at the races he’s won. He loves this turf course. It set up today for a horse to come from just off the pace and make a run. I knew that going into this race. It was the only misgiving I had about it.”

Valenzuela, who along with his cousin, Fernando, won 7 of Sunday’s 9 races, said the Evergreen Farm horse ran an excellent race.

“Chris had the advantage on us getting away at the head of the stretch and moving good,” he said. “But my horse picked it up and nailed him. My horse ran a dynamite race.”

Russell has a special affinity for Precisionist, who will retire for the second time after this meeting. He said Precisionist’s race could not be faulted.

“He ran a super race and he was a dead-fit horse,” Russell said. “He didn’t stop, he just got caught. He’s a lovely horse. There was nothing wrong with his race today. He’s well. He’s just a little bit unlucky at the moment. But in all truth he didn’t have to be unlucky to be beaten by Forlitano. He’s proven that on his day, with the right weight, he’s liable to beat anybody. And he’s fresher right now.”

Will Precisionist, who was making only his fourth start on the turf in a 44-race career, again return from retirement if his second attempt at stud duty fails?

“It would be a shame if he didn’t come back, simply because he’s so sound,” Russell replied. “You could see today, he’s just loving it. Chris said when he clucked to him at the top of the stretch, he took off like a rocket.”

Precisionist’s next start could be in the $100,000 Native Diver Handicap at Hollywood Park on Dec. 10.

“If he runs in the Native Diver, that will definitely be his last race,” Russell said.

And if he does not?

“Then this was his last race,” Russell said.

If so, it was a memorable, albeit unsuccessful, way to bring down the curtain on a brilliant career.

Horse Racing Notes

Forlitano’s victory was his first in 8 starts since winning the Citation last year. His $69,200 share of the purse took his earnings to $705,820 from 36 races. . . . Trainer Gary Jones, who saddled fourth-place finisher Angelina Ballerina in Saturday’s Silver Belles Handicap, said Sunday he was satisfied with the experiment. “We wanted to find out if she can run on the dirt, and we did,” he said. “I was pleased with the effort.” It was the chestnut granddaughter of Secretariat’s first start on the dirt after 13 turf outings.

South African-born trainer Charles Pinnell stands to inherit a good portion of trainer John Fulton’s stable when Fulton retires next month. Among the horses possibly headed Pinnell’s way is the stakes-winning Sylvan Express. . . . Nostalgia’s Star, the second-leading California-bred money-winner of all time behind Snow Chief, will be retired to stud duty at the end of the year, according to trainer Jay Robbins. Robbins bought the 6-year-old from John Mabee 4 years ago for $90,000 and saw Nostalgia’s Star earn more than $2 million.

Trainer Neil Boyce’s Calestoga has been assigned high weight of 122 pounds for Thanksgiving Day’s $100,000-added On Trust Handicap. The 1-mile race for California-breds has 13 nominees, including Mark Chip, who finished second in the On Trust in 1987. First post Thursday is 11 a.m., 2 hours earlier than usual. . . . On-track attendance is off 14% from a year ago, falling from an average of 18,926 last fall to 16,187 through the first 10 days of the current 34-day meeting.

Oak Tree meeting champion Pat Valenzuela leads a close jockeys’ race with 14 victories, followed by Gary Stevens and apprentice Fernando Valenzuela, who rode 4 winners Sunday, with 11 and Alex Solis with 9. Among the trainers, Charlie Whittingham’s two victories Sunday moved him to the top of the standings with 5. Mike Mitchell, Wayne Lukas, Julio Canani and Vladimir Cerin are second with 4 apiece. . . . Santa Anita’s 90-day winter-spring meeting, opening Dec. 26, will include 59 stakes races worth a record total of $8.25 million. Purses for 10 stakes have been increased, and 35 of the events will have purses of $100,000 or more. The 52nd running of the $1-million Santa Anita Handicap will be held on Sunday, March 5, and the $500,000 Santa Anita Derby is set for Saturday, April 8.