Hollywood Turf Handicap : Great Communicator Rallies, Redeems Himself

In a storybook ending to a race that was advertised and delivered as the best grass event of the California season, Great Communicator won the $500,000 Hollywood Turf Handicap on Monday.

Less than two lengths separated the first six horses under the wire at the end of the 1 1/4 miles. But it was Great Communicator’s distinctive shadow roll that bobbed home first, barely ahead of the favorite, Nasr el Arab.

Winning jockey Ray Sibille, as is his custom whenever Great Communicator runs, headed to the telephone after weighing in to call his mother in Sunset, La.

“If I win, I want her to know right away,” Sibille said. “If I lose, she tries to cheer me up.”

For the first time since last Feb. 20, Mrs. Emerite Sibille was getting good news from her son.

Great Communicator, the upset winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf and more than $2 million in 1988, had fallen out of favor with the betting public, even though he had a first and a second in his three 1989 starts.

His last race, a sixth-place finish in the April 23 San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita, was seen in some quarters as a sign that he was over the hill.

“That’s what bothered me more than anything,” said Thad Ackel, trainer and part owner of the 6-year-old gelding.

“It was like he wasn’t even given the benefit of the doubt for throwing in one bad race. Well, I never lost an ounce of faith in him. And guess what? He’s back.”

After Great Communicator’s lackluster San Juan, Ackel took over as the gelding’s full-time groom in an attempt to get him back to his best form. The Turf Handicap proved him right on all counts.

Great Communicator, carrying 123 pounds, broke cleanly from post position five and soon found himself in an ideal position, cruising along in third behind pacesetters Equalize, the co-highweight at 124, and longshot Delegant.

At the same time, Patrick Valenzuela found himself pinned on the rail and far back aboard Nasr el Arab, also carrying 124 and favored at 8-5 by the 33,019 fans on-track and the 10,344 off-track.

“At no time did I see any daylight, until I finally got through in the stretch,” said Valenzuela, who had ridden the bay colt to an impressive victory in the San Juan.

Down the backstretch Nasr el Arab began threading his way along the inside rail, shadowed by Chris McCarron and Pay the Butler from the outside. Meanwhile, up front, Sibille was going into his act.

Great Communicator will run his hardest only when asked with authority. Sibille learned that early, but newcomers are still amazed to see him riding hard, sometimes even going to the whip, with more than a half mile to run.

“It was a lot different today, though,” Sibille said. “He went to those leaders when I asked him to and was on the bit all the way. I knew we were OK.”

Equalize, the East Coast invader who was the 2-1 second choice, had the lead at the top of the stretch. But soon he and jockey Jose Santos were surrounded, by Nasr el Arab on the inside and Great Communicator coming hard on the outside.

“I was yelling, ‘Jose! Jose! I’m in here!” said Valenzuela. “But he wouldn’t let me through. I guess I would have done the same thing in his place.”

Valenzuela held his ground until Santos finally drifted enough to let Nasr el Arab by.

By then, however, Great Communicator had already pushed his head in front. And once in front, he is difficult to pass. Nasr el Arab, finally free of Equalize, made it close, but couldn’t catch the winner.

Equalize held on for third, one length behind the top two and a half-length in front of Skip Out Front. The winning time was 1:59 2/5.

After being favored in his first three races this year, Great Communicator went off as the third choice and returned $11.80, $4.60 and $3.20. Nasr el Arab paid $3.40 and $2.40 and Equalize returned $2.80. The $2 exacta was worth $38.

“I never did lose faith in the horse,” Sibille said. “Right after the San Juan, Thad and I talked it over for a long time.

“I went over all the tapes of his winning races because I thought maybe it was something I was doing.”

As far as Ackel is concerned, a combination of the loose Santa Anita turf course for the San Juan and a suspicious hoof were reason enough to give Great Communicator a chance to prove himself again.

“When you’re as close to a horse as I am to this one, you tend to get bothered when people criticize,” Ackel said.

“Anyone with a child knows what I’m talking about. So you can imagine how proud I am of his race today.”

Horse Racing Notes

The $275,000 first prize boosted Great Communicator’s earnings to $2,858,840, moving him into the career top 20. . . . The on-track crowd was the smallest ever for Memorial Day at Hollywood Park. . . . Two heavy hitters arrived Monday for next weekend’s big races. Blushing John, winner of the Pimlico Special, and Ravinella, one of Europe’s best fillies last year, are on the scene for the Californian on Sunday and the Gamely Handicap on Saturday, respectively. . . . California Horse Racing Board Executive Secretary Leonard Foote has scheduled a news conference for this Thursday to announce the status of allegations that horses trained by Wayne Lukas, Lazaro Barrera and three other trainers tested positive for cocaine. . The charges are expected to be dropped.