Horse Racing : Magical Mile Seeks to Prove Debut Was No Illusion

If Magical Mile was running in New York instead of at Hollywood Park, he might be described by now as the second coming of Devil’s Bag, Easy Goer or even Secretariat.

New Yorkers go overboard on horses much more than Californians do. There might have been more written about Devil’s Bag as a 2-year-old than there was about Secretariat in his entire career. Devil’s Bag was scratched from the Kentucky Derby and never ran again.

Easy Goer has gotten the same treatment during his brief career, which is why some Eastern journalists were so relieved when the colt redeemed himself by winning the Belmont after Sunday Silence beat him in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.

In California, the tendency is to let the top horses establish themselves on the track before enshrining them in the Hall of Fame.

Magical Mile has run only one time, and although he shattered Hollywood Park’s track record by covering five furlongs in :56 2/5, all that’s being said about trainer Warren Stute’s colt so far is that he appears to be the best 2-year-old on the West Coast.

Magical Mile will run Saturday in the $100,000 Hollywood Juvenile at six furlongs.

Eddie Delahoussaye, who has never won the stake, has nevertheless ridden some outstanding 2-year-olds, including Roving Boy and Gato Del Sol. Delahoussaye won the Kentucky Derby back to back with Gato Del Sol and Sunny’s Halo in 1982-83.

“This colt (Magical Mile) is one of the best 2-year-olds I’ve ever been on,” Delahoussaye said. “Of course, you can’t go by just one race, because you’ve got to wait and see if they can stretch out, but the potential with this one is there. For one thing, he’s mature for a young horse. He’s not that green. He reminds you of an older horse.”

Magical Mile suffered a minor leg cut in his debut and missed two weeks of training, then Stute couldn’t find a race to use as a prep for the Juvenile.

“This will be his first race in two months, and you have to be concerned about that,” Delahoussaye said. “But he’s been working good and I won’t trade my chances with anybody. There’ll be some other horses running Saturday who’ll be in the same situation.”

There will be either a small field or a large group running in the $500,000 Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park a week from Saturday, depending on whether Easy Goer runs. Trainer Shug McGaughey is expected to make the decision on Easy Goer today, with the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 5 being his other option.

Easy Goer and Sunday Silence were weighted at 126 pounds for the Haskell, but Sunday Silence is staying at Hollywood Park to run in the $400,000 Swaps on Sunday.

King Glorious, winner of the Ohio Derby and beaten only once in his career, worked six furlongs at Monmouth Wednesday in a good 1:12 4/5. King Glorious has been assigned 123 pounds.

Another probable for the 1 1/8-mile Haskell is Music Merci at 120 pounds, but he would have to be flown to New Jersey from Los Angeles. It seems that the only definite starter besides King Glorious is Le Voyageur (114 pounds), the French-raced colt who made his American debut by leading the Belmont for a mile before finishing third, eighth lengths behind Easy Goer but only a length behind Sunday Silence.

Only four horses--Endow, Notorious Pleasure, Prized and Raise a Stanza--are expected to challenge Sunday Silence in the Swaps.

Bill Shoemaker has won the Sunset Handicap 13 times, never with a distaffer, but he will get that chance Friday night at Hollywood Park when he rides No Review in the $250,000 race. In her last start, No Review finished third in the Beverly Hills Handicap for fillies and mares on July 2.

Shoemaker, who will turn 58 on Aug. 19, is retiring early next year and will be honored Friday during a special evening program at Hollywood Park.

Shoemaker rode in his first Sunset in 1949 and overall he has missed only four runnings of the stake since then. Besides the 13 victories, he has finished second four times and third three times.

Seven horses are entered in the Sunset, including Frankly Perfect, who will be favored to give trainer Charlie Whittingham his 11th victory in the stake. Six of Whittingham’s victories have come with Shoemaker in the saddle.

Friday night’s lineup, with jockeys and weights:

Desert Crest, Chris McCarron, 114 pounds; Pranke, Pat Valenzuela, 117; Putting, Gary Stevens, 114; Frankly Perfect, Eddie Delahoussaye, 123; No Review, Shoemaker, 110; Pleasant Variety, Laffit Pincay, 114; and Miserden, Robbie Davis, 108.

Present Value, the 5-year-old who won the Michigan Mile and One-Eighth at 49-1 last Saturday at Detroit Race Course, could be the answer to a Shoemaker trivia question.

Unless Shoemaker wins a stake during his farewell tour, which is scheduled to end at Santa Anita next Feb. 4, Present Value will be remembered as his last stake winner in the United States. Shoemaker rode Present Value to a 1 1/4-length victory in the National Jockey Club Stakes on May 6 at Sportsman’s Park, the first time he ever rode at the Chicago area track.

With a price of $300,000, it was with some reluctance that trainer Ron McAnally approved the sale of Bayakoa, and now the Argentine mare has won five straight stakes.

“I thought $300,000 was too much,” McAnally said, “but then I heard that they paid $500,000 for Rosadora, which made the price of our mare sound better.”

Rosadora finished fourth, far back of Bayakoa, in last Saturday’s Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Rahy, winner of the Bel Air Handicap at Hollywood Park last Sunday, was the third highest-priced yearling to be auctioned in the country in 1986 when the son of Blushing Groom sold for $2 million.

Whenever a horse flirts with Dr. Fager’s record for the mile, as Rahy did when he won the Bel Air in 1:33 last Sunday, John Nerud reminds that Dr. Fager’s 1:32 1/5 came while carrying 134 pounds at Arlington Park in 1968. Rahy carried 117 pounds in the Bel Air.

Earlier in 1968, Nerud brought Dr. Fager to Hollywood Park to run in the Californian. The trainer thought that the conditions of the race meant Dr. Fager would carry 127 pounds.

An official from Hollywood Park met Nerud upon his arrival at LAX. “I’ve got good news and bad news,” the trainer was told. “The good news is that the horse is doing fine; the bad news is that you’ll really have to carry 130 pounds.”

Dr. Fager won the Californian by three lengths.

Horse Racing Notes

Hollywood Park’s season closes on Monday. . . . The Orange County Fair meeting for thoroughbreds and quarter horses opens next Tuesday night at Los Alamitos. It runs for 17 nights through Aug. 12. Post time for the first race is 6:45. . . . At the Del Mar meet that opens next Wednesday, Gary Stevens will try to become the first jockey to win three straight titles since Bill Shoemaker in 1952-53-54. . . . If Wayne Lukas wins his third consecutive training title, he will join a Del Mar group that includes Willie Molter, Red McDaniel, Farrell Jones, Bobby Frankel and Mike Mitchell. . . . The owners of Super Diamond, the 9-year-old gelding who earned $1.4 million and won the Hollywood Gold Cup and nine other stakes, are hoping to keep the horse in competition as a jumper.