HORSE RACING / PIMLICO SPECIAL : Gorgeous Will Test Her Mettle Against Males

Neil Drysdale does not seem the kind of trainer who would run a filly against colts, even if the race is worth $1 million.

Drysdale, who can’t remember ever starting a filly against colts in an important race, will saddle Gorgeous here today for the Pimlico Special, which has received a $300,000 purse boost to become Maryland’s first seven-figure race.

Drysdale is uncomfortable discussing how Gorgeous got to the Pimlico Special, which would seem to indicate that the decision to run here was made by Robert Clay, owner of the 4-year-old filly.

Her opposition will consist of six colts and three geldings. Four of them, like Gorgeous, have earned more than $1 million in their careers.

The chief opponents are Ruhlmann, who has won a $1-million race this year, the Santa Anita Handicap; Opening Verse, from the same barn that won last year’s Special with Blushing John; and With Approval, last year’s Canadian Triple Crown champion, who has been training sensationally since arriving in Maryland.

Completing the field for the 1 3/16-mile race--the same distance as the Preakness that will be run here a week from today--will be Criminal Type, Music Merci, Mi Selecto, De Roche, Silver Survivor and Wind Splitter.

Whether Drysdale is a reluctant trainer or not, Gorgeous seems to be at her peak as she tries to become the second filly to win the Special. In 1944, Twilight Tear, a 3-year-old, trounced her only two opponents--Devil Diver and Megogo--and later became the first filly to be voted horse of the year.

Gorgeous, who has won seven of 11 starts with three seconds and a third, won the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park three weeks ago, equaling the track record for 1 1/16 miles and beating Bayakoa, the mare who had accounted for two of Gorgeous’ four defeats. One of Bayakoa’s victories over Gorgeous was in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff last fall at Gulfstream Park, a victory that determined the divisional championship.

“I’ve talked extensively with Mr. Clay about running Gorgeous here,” Drysdale said Friday. “There are quite a few advantages to do it, and there’s not much to speak of on the downside.

“Our options had been to run in the Milady and the Vanity (two handicaps at Hollywood Park). Despite running here, we can still run her in the Vanity, which was part of the original schedule.”

Bayakoa stepped out of her division and ran poorly in the Santa Anita Handicap. “I guess we’ve got the leeway to do the same thing,” Drysdale said. “But even if this race doesn’t work out, we can still regroup for our fall objectives.”

The weights, in Drysdale’s judgment, are not favorable. Ruhlmann will carry the most, 124 pounds, with Opening Verse at 120, With Approval at 118 and Gorgeous and Criminal Type at 117 apiece. Because fillies receive a five-pound allowance from males, Gorgeous theoretically was rated at 122 pounds.

“I didn’t think we’d be second-highest with this group,” Drysdale said. “After Ruhlmann, there are some very nice horses in here: With Approval, Opening Verse, Mi Selecto. This is a very substantial field.”

Drysdale has trained some outstanding fillies and mares, including Princess Rooney and Bold ‘n Determined, and he talked Friday as though there had been one day that Princess Rooney might have beaten the colts.

“In the first Breeders’ Cup (at Hollywood Park in 1984), Princess Rooney won the Distaff by seven lengths,” Drysdale said. “She ran a mile and a quarter in a faster time than they ran the Classic a little later, and I was told that the track was playing slower for the Distaff than it was for the Classic (which was won by Wild Again over Gate Dancer and Gorgeous’ sire, Slew o’ Gold). Going by that, I guess Princess Rooney would have won the Classic.”

Ruhlmann, who will be ridden by Gary Stevens, is expected to run out front today, and Eddie Delahoussaye, aboard Gorgeous, will have to determine how close they need to be to have a shot at trainer Charlie Whittingham’s horse in the stretch.

The absence of other front-runners to put pressure on Ruhlmann bothers Wayne Lukas, who trains Criminal Type. “Charlie holds all the cards in this race,” Lukas said. “It’s no secret that Ruhlmann will dictate the race.”

Whittingham said: “I hope it turns out the way Wayne thinks. I’ve got a good and quick horse out of the gate, and I don’t think the track will bother him any.”

Donnie Miller isn’t so sure. Miller, one of Maryland’s leading riders and the winner of the Preakness with Deputed Testamony in 1983, has an opinion, if not a mount, for the Special. “Sometimes those California horses come here and can’t handle this deep going,” Miller said. “I think the winner might be a horse that comes from someplace else.”

Last year, two horses who had been running in Arkansas, Blushing John and Proper Reality, ran 1-2. Horses with California backgrounds--Saratoga Passage, Stalwars and Lively One--ran no better than sixth. Opening Verse’s last start was an easy victory in the Oaklawn Handicap.

The rain that fell earlier in the week has stopped and the track is expected to be fast. That suits Drysdale. Gorgeous is one of the few horses with a Daily Racing Form “mud mark” who, in reality, dislikes the slop.