Prized Could Keep This Clover Rolling in Money

Clover Racing Stables of Pasadena has only recently begun putting together racing syndications, but if a 3-year-old colt named Prized could spring another of his upsets Sunday at Woodbine, Clover would become one of those rare ownerships that wins two $1-million races in the same year.

At 50-1, Martial Law won the $1-million Santa Anita Handicap for Clover in March, and although Prized won’t go off anywhere near that price Sunday in the Molson Export Million, he’s not expected to beat Clever Trevor, who since a 13th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby has emerged as perhaps the third-best 3-year-old--behind Easy Goer and Sunday Silence--in the United States.

Like his stablemate in the Big ‘Cap, no one gave Prized much of a chance in the Swaps at Hollywood Park in late July, either. That stake figured to be in the bag for Sunday Silence, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and only four other horses showed up to run.

Prized, trainer Neil Drysdale and jockey Eddie Delahoussaye put a hole in the bottom of that bag. Second by four lengths at the head of the stretch, Prized seemed to be hopelessly beaten, but inexplicably, Sunday Silence quit running, and Delahoussaye found another gear for his colt as they rallied for a three-quarter-length victory.

Prized’s upset of Sunday Silence has been typical of the entire year for Clover, a consortium of almost 30 different partnerships that was started in 1987 and is managed by Barry Irwin, a bloodstock agent and former columnist for the Daily Racing Form, and Jeff Siegel, a public handicapper whose daily selections appear in newspapers throughout Southern California.

Clover has found itself in the clover because of unexpected finishes. The same day Martial Law paid $103 to win at Santa Anita, Galba won the New Orleans Handicap at the Fair Grounds and paid $63. Within the week, Prized won a small stake at Santa Anita, and Lizzy Hare, who got Clover going with a victory in the Del Mar Oaks in 1987, was a stakes winner at 14-1.

Friday here, John Culver, one of the six Clover partners who race Prized, got out a pen and did some hypothetical figuring. Theoretical parlays are bogus, because they don’t allow for the extra money that would affect the odds, but they’re still fun, and after finishing his calculations, Culver said: “A $2 win parlay on those four horses--Galba, Martial Law, Prized and Lizzy Hare--would have been worth about $170,000.”

All of Clover’s investments don’t turn out to be a Martial Law or a Prized--a $160,000 colt died of stomach complications almost before his racing career had started--but Irwin and Siegel don’t promise a Kentucky Derby rose garden.

“We’re changing people’s lives,” is the safe slogan Clover has used, and many of their investors come in more for the thrilling diversion than with high expectations.

Half of Prized is still owned by Barbara LaCroix, who bred the horse--a mating of her stallion, Kris S., with My Turbulent Miss.

Clover bought its 50% interest in Prized soon after he scored an 8 1/2-length victory in a maiden race last December in the third start of his career. Clover syndicated its share in the colt for an estimated $340,000.

Prized’s last race was the Swaps. The colt has grown and matured since Drysdale first got him, but so has Clever Trevor, who has been installed as an 8-5 favorite in the 1 1/4-mile Molson.

Prized and Delahoussaye drew the inside post for the Molson, and the colt will carry 123 pounds, the weights based on the horses’ records. Outside Prized, in order, come Domasca Dan, who is 4-1 with Sandy Hawley riding and carrying 117 pounds; Pause Again, 30-1, Dave Penna, 117; Mercedes Won, 10-1, Lloyd Duffy, 126; Clever Trevor, 8-5, Don Pettinger, 126; Doc’s Leader, 15-1, Bill Fox, 117; Charlie Barley, 5-1, Robin Platts, 119, and Toledo Salamanca, 15-1, David Clark, 117.