HOLLYWOOD PARK : Exploding Prospect Wins Affirmed

It didn’t take Vladimir Cerin long to fall in love with the 2-year-old Miswaki colt he was sent last year.

“He showed promise the second he stepped off the van,” said the trainer. “That’s how good he looked.”

Months and several minor setbacks later, the object of Cerin’s affection has also demonstrated he can run.

Making it three straight wins after finishing a troubled fourth in his debut, Exploding Prospect went almost wire-to-wire in the $112,300 Affirmed Handicap before a meeting-high 23,520 Saturday at Hollywood Park.

Covering the mile on the main track in 1:34 1/5, the 4-1 third choice beat Splurger by two lengths and provided Cerin with his first victory in a race worth $100,000.

In a field devoid of speed, the sophomore took the lead under Laffit Pincay through a :23 first quarter, opened up a two-length edge after a :45 3/5 half and was never in danger after that.

Splurger, the 7-2 second choice, beat favored Flying Continental by three-quarters of a length for second with Cerin’s other entrant, Hollywood Reporter, another head back in fourth.

After breaking his maiden by six lengths at Oak Tree, Exploding Prospect beat allowance horses going a mile, but it looked like he might be going to the sidelines for a while.

Not long after his second win, Cerin was quoted as saying the Florida-bred had a serious shin problem. Obviously, it wasn’t too bad. “He only missed one day of training,” he said.

“He’s had a number of small, nagging problems, but he seems to have overcome them in style. I’m ecstatic with the result.”

Cerin, who has a stable of 15 at Santa Anita, was also delighted with Hollywood Reporter’s race. Making his first start since he was much the best upsetting Music Merci in a division of the Spotlight here last May, the Saratoga Six colt looked like he might make it a 1-2 finish for the stable.

However, he came up a little short and had to settle for fourth money.

“I thought Hollywood Reporter may need the race today and he showed it in the stretch,” he said. “They’re both very talented colts and it’ll be interesting to see them on even terms.

“My next goal is to bathe them, feed them, let them cool out and see how they come out of the race,” Cerin said. “The San Fernando (next month at Santa Anita) seems to be a good possibility. They should both be serious contenders in the older handicap races next year.”

Breaking out of a mini-slump with a double, Pincay was impressed after his first collaboration with the Affirmed colt.

“He’s a nice colt and he was really ready to run today,” he said. “He broke good, but I wanted to be laying second or third. I didn’t send him. He just pulled me to the lead.

“The pace was kind of slow. Twenty-three is walking for those horses. He finished strong and I was very impressed.”

Beneficiary of a perfect trip in the clear, Splurger could make no impact through the long stretch while the 121-pound highweight Flying Continental turned in a strange performance.

“He quit running around the turn and I thought he wasn’t going to get anything,” Chris McCarron said. “He was trying to keep up down the backside, but then he just quit on the turn. Then, he took off again down the lane (stretch) and was able to get third.”

Kent Desormeaux, who broke McCarron’s record for most victories in a year when he rode his 547th winner Thursday in Maryland, will be at Hollywood Park for the first time a week from today.

He is set to ride Ten Keys in the $500,000 Hollywood Turf Cup, and even if the son of Sir Ivor doesn’t run, Desormeaux, 19, has indicated he will accept mounts in Inglewood that day.

Aiming to finish 1989 with 600 winners, Desormeaux will soon leave his Maryland base to ride either in New York or California.

Michael Pino, Ten Keys’ trainer, and others think the Louisiana native will end up here.

“The living conditions and weather are better in California,” Pino said. “I think he’d like riding better in California than New York.”

Stylish King, the promising 2-year-old Roberto colt who broke his maiden impressively at first asking at Santa Anita, worked a half-mile in 47 2/5 Saturday morning in preparation for the $75,000 Prevue Stakes Wednesday.

Originally, Stylish King’s handlers were going to bypass the seven-furlong Prevue and go right into the $1 million Hollywood Futurity 10 days later.

“We decided to run him in the Prevue to get a better line on him,” said trainer Jay Robbins, who turned 44 Saturday. “If he’s going to run in the Futurity, he’ll have to be supplemented for $50,000 and he’s only run once.”

Also expected for the Prevue, which was won a year ago by King Glorious, is Tarascon, a California-bred son of Flying Paster who has won two straight for Dave Hofmans. He, too, would also have to be supplemented to the Futurity. In addition, Hofmans will send out Individualist I, a much-troubled second in the B.J. Ridder Stakes. Another strong possibility is Farma Way, who routed maidens Thanksgiving Eve. The Neil Boyce youngster turned in a :58 2/5 work Saturday morning.

Apprentice Chris Davenport made it three wins in her last four opportunities when she directed Raise A Pound to an 8-1 upset in the first race, then returned to easily take the sixth atop 8-5 choice On The Menu. Seemingly beaten by Five Daddy Five in midstretch, Raise A Pound came on again under Davenport’s urging to win the $12,500 claimer. Friday, the Ohio State grad took 34-1 shot Regal Fawn wire-to-wire in the eighth.

Victorious with four of 25 mounts at the meeting, Davenport, 23, is named on two horses today--longshots Sensitive Tom in the first and Ladies Play in the second.

Horse Racing Notes

Corey Black was ill Saturday and took off his mounts. . . . Special Happening, Tasteful T.V. and Effusive Bounty, the three fillies who were supplemented for $30,000 to the $500,000 Hollywood Starlet today, have history on their side. Stocks Up, Goodbye Halo and Very Subtle, the last three Starlet winners, were all supplemented. . . . The race before the Starlet is more than just another allowance sprint. The six-furlong contest carries only a $40,000 purse, but it has attracted Ruhlmann, who scratched from the grassy Citation Handicap a week ago, Olympic Prospect, who was fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, the rapid Sunny Blossom, Ron Bon, comebackers Synastry and Sebrof, California Jade and Coastal Voyage. . . . Correction: Tasteful T.V’s win on Breeders’ Cup day came four races before the Juvenile Fillies, not the Juvenile as stated here Saturday.