HOLLYWOOD PARK : Ruhlmann Holds Off Lively One

A rejuvenated Ruhlmann turned Saturday’s $108,100 Native Diver Handicap into a fitting homage to the horse for whom the Hollywood Park feature was named, as he held on for a last-gasp victory over stablemate Lively One.

Native Diver, a speed burner with a flair for the dramatic, was California’s most popular racehorse in the mid-1960s. The black son of Imbros won more than a million dollars, three Hollywood Gold Cups and a niche in the national racing Hall of Fame at Saratoga, Fla.

Ruhlmann embodies the Native Diver spirit, daring the opposition to either run with him early or try to catch him late. Sometimes, he runs himself into the ground and has nothing left for the stretch. But when Ruhlmann is on his game, he ranks with the best older horses in the country.

In the Native Diver, it was Chris McCarron’s job to ration Ruhlmann’s speed for nine furlongs. But as McCarron describes it, whatever Ruhlmann wants, Ruhlmann gets.

“You need to find a happy medium with this guy,” McCarron said. “You can’t really take a strong hold of him or he’ll run off, but you can’t exactly let the reins dangle, either. It was just fortunate that he went his first quarter so slow today, because he needed it at the end.”

After loping through an opening split of :23 4/5, Ruhlmann pricked his ears and took off to run the second quarter in :22 3/5. The 4-year-old son of Mr. Leader went from 1 1/2 lengths in front of second-running Happy Toss to five lengths ahead down the backstretch.

“He does that all the time, even in the morning,” McCarron said. “Just pricks his ears and cuts that second quarter.”

Ruhlmann’s burst strung out the field for an eighth of a mile. He appeared long gone, much as he did at Hollywood last spring in winning the Mervyn LeRoy Handicap. Robbie Davis, aboard Lively One, was near the back of the pack, helpless in the face of Ruhlmann’s free hand on the front end.

“The slow pace the first part didn’t help us, either,” Davis said. “But if you try to hurry my horse he won’t give you his big finish. I just had to wait and move with him like I always do.”

Davis almost got the job done anyway. At the head of the stretch, it was apparent that Happy Toss would not be able to catch Ruhlmann. All eyes turned toward the center of the track, where Lively One was in full flight. It wasn’t exactly Easy Goer trying to catch Sunday Silence in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but it was still a chase to the wire.

The final margin was a shrinking neck, as Ruhlmann hit the wire in 1:48. He paid $5 to win as the narrow choice over 8-5 Lively One. Stylish Winner closed from last place to pick up third money.

“One more jump and the calf would have caught the butcher,” trainer Charlie Whittingham said as he celebrated his one-two finish and third stakes win of the meeting. “The winner’s tough on the lead like that.”

Does Ruhlmann remind Whittingham of Native Diver in any way?

“He’s got a whole lot of speed, just like the old black horse,” Whittingham said. “But I had a horse named Pretense who beat Native Diver every time--except for that Gold Cup here when a loose horse bothered him.”

Ruhlmann and Lively One have an intramural series going for nine-furlong superiority in the Whittingham barn, and both horses will be back next season to continue their rivalry. Ruhlmann leads the series, 2-1, but as the Native Diver proved, Lively One is not far behind.

Horse Racing Notes

Lanfranco (Frankie) Dettori, England’s leading apprentice rider this year, won his first American race in Saturday’s ninth aboard Smart Dollars for trainer Chris Speckert. Dettori’s father, Lanfranco Sr., is Italy’s Bill Shoemaker, a 14-time champion who is still riding at age 48, and was on hand to greet his son in the winner’s circle. After spending the winter at Santa Anita, the younger Dettori will be riding first call for the powerful Luca Cumani stable in England next year . . . Smart Dollars is owned by John Daly, whose Hemdale film company has released “Platoon” and “The Last Emperor” in recent years.

Topped by Music Merci and Raise a Stanza, 11 3-year-olds entered Santa Anita’s opening-day Malibu Stakes. Missing from the lineup, however, is Navajo Storm, the Storm Bird gelding who was so impressive in breaking his maiden at Hollywood a month ago. “The horse came out of his work last Sunday a little bit tired,” said Steve Walker, Jack Van Berg’s assistant. “Everything needed to go 100% perfect to run in the Malibu, so Jack just decided to wait.”

Ron McAnally also decided to wait, passing up today’s Matriarch Stakes with Hawkster’s sister Silver Lane. The trainer said she would be running in the San Gorgonio Handicap at Santa Anita on Jan. 7 . . . Apprentice Corey Nakatani, who bruised his knee earlier this week in a spill, pulled a hamstring in Saturday’s third race and took off the rest of his mounts . . . Post time for today’s final program of the Hollywood meeting is noon.