HOLLYWOOD PARK : Golden Pheasant’s Impressive Win Is Just Another Goal for Gretzky

When it came to the horses Wayne Gretzky owns in partnership with Bruce McNall, owner of the Kings, the Great One was beginning to think himself the Great Jinx.

Gretzky had never been on hand to see one of his thoroughbreds win.

Until Sunday.

Although the NHL’s all-time leading scorer arrived a little too late to see Northern Glance break her maiden at first asking in the third race, Gretzky didn’t miss Golden Pheasant’s impressive victory in the $159,900 John Henry Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Dominant against allowance foes in his American debut last month at Santa Anita, Golden Pheasant was equally overwhelming defeating Classic Fame, 1989 Eclipse Award winner Steinlen and two others in the 1 1/8-mile Grade II race.

Never far off the slow pace under Chris McCarron, the 4-year-old son of Caro and 7-5 favorite surged when asked and won by nearly two lengths in 1:47. Classic Fame was a neck better than Steinlen, the 126-pound highweight and 9-5 second choice.

“Any time you win anything, it’s exciting,” said Gretzky, who was joined in the winner’s circle by McNall, his wife and King teammate Larry Robinson.

“I happened to be in Europe with Mr. McNall when he bought this horse last year and it was the first one I was involved with.

“I followed racing a little bit when I was younger, but I learned if you’re going to get involved in something like this, you have to do it with people who know what they’re doing. I got hooked up with a guy who really knows what he’s doing.”

In receipt of six pounds from Steinlen, Golden Pheasant has now won four of his eight lifetime starts and he’s been worse than second only once. He was 14th of 19 in the Arc de Triomphe Oct. 8, his final race in Europe.

“This horse does everything so easily,” trainer Charlie Whittingham said. “He was a very good horse in Europe and I think he’ll probably be better yet here.”

The roan colt could meet up with Prized and Hawkster in the Hollywood Turf Handicap two weeks from today, but he may also try a new surface.

“We’ve never run him on dirt, but that’s a possibility,” Whittingham said. “The (Hollywood) Gold Cup (June 24) would be a possibility, but time will tell.”

Wherever Golden Pheasant surfaces, McCarron isn’t going to be willing to give up his seat.

“He’s so nice to ride,” he said. “It’s funny because when he first got here he was was almost roguish in the morning. The only way they could get him to train was with a pony and a shank over his nose.

“He’s not mean, he just tries to show everybody he’s a bully. He’s really a kind horse. I had my daughter Erin over at the barn the other morning and she was feeding him mints and patting his head.

“On the track, he’s very aggressive and a little ornery with the pony. He’s really kind, but his greatest asset is that he’s got a great turn of foot.”

A frequent spectator at Kings’ games, McCarron also found it nice to win one for the owner and star player.

“It’s a big thrill for me,” he said. “Wayne mentioned in the paddock that he’d never been in the winner’s circle before. I told him that I’d never won a faceoff before.”

No one can ever accuse apprentice Omar Berrio of not being resourceful.

Aboard 35-1 shot Our Brave in Saturday’s fifth race, the young Panamanian lost his whip while in a battle with favorite Hollywood Hays coming down the stretch.

So, Berrio reached up, grabbed his goggles and the silk cap on his helmet and used those to hit Our Brave on the shoulder. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for a victory, but Our Brave turned in his best race in quite some time.

“When I was a kid back in Panama, I once saw Alex Solis do the same thing in a big race down there,” said Berrio. “This was the first time I ever tried it.”

It hasn’t taken Julio Garcia long to make an impression in Southern California.

A top rider and Mister Frisky’s regular companion in Puerto Rico, Garcia decided to return to the United States last month. Three weeks into the Hollywood Park meeting, he finds himself on top of the standings.

Garcia won the second race Sunday with Pewter and 12-1 shot Callame and he holds a 14-13 lead over Robbie Davis and Russell Baze. Garcia’s agent is Tony Matos, who was fired after a long association with Laffit Pincay,

Horse Racing Notes

Also trained by Charlie Whittingham and ridden by Chris McCarron, Northern Glance, a 3-year-old daughter of Nijinsky II, ran down Jefforee in the third race. “Janet and I got here just in time to hear she’d won,” said Wayne Gretzky. . . . Golden Pheasant paid $4.80 to win and earned $92,400. . . . Bayakoa was assigned 125 pounds for Saturday’s Hawthorne Handicap. . . . The first 2-year-old race of the meeting will be run Wednesday.