Frost Free Heats Up, Ends Skid : Other races: After three disappointing efforts, gelding goes wire-to-wire in $156,000 Hollywood Park race.

Trainer John Sadler didn’t need his ace to win the $156,600 Hollywood Park Budweiser Breeders’ Cup Sunday.

With Olympic Prospect, who won the first running of the event two years earlier, sitting this one out, Frost Free went wire-to-wire, holding off Coastal Voyage and favored Sam Who.

After disappointing in his previous three races, the 5-year-old It’s Freezing gelding broke on top under Gary Stevens, relaxed well on the lead and had enough left to win in 1:08 1/5 for the six furlongs on turf.

After capturing his first two starts of 1990, Frost Free had finished fifth as the 8-5 favorite in his initial try on the turf, the Sierra Madre Handicap March 21 at Santa Anita, then was fourth in both the Triple Bend Handicap and Golden Gate’s Oakland Handicap.

Sadler felt he had excuses for those three races and he was encouraged by Frost Free’s recent works. He worked five furlongs on the grass in :59 3/5 June 14, then blew out a half-mile in 46 flat last Wednesday.

“The reason I thought he could handle this turf course is that it’s so much different than Santa Anita’s,” said Sadler after Frost Free’s $17.80 upset. “This is a very firm course. Santa Anita’s is a lot looser, especially coming down the hill.

“Speed also had been looking very good on it this week and the main thing is I wanted a track he could get a hold of.

“He couldn’t handle the track at all at Golden Gate (May 28). It was really slow. He’s perfect in the slop, but that was a heavy, drying out track. It was very, very deep and he couldn’t handle it.”

Maybe, the return to Stevens was also a factor. The rider is now unbeaten in five collaborations with Frost Free.

“He’s one of the quickest gate horses I’ve ridden, so I felt pretty confident I’d be on the lead,” he said. “It was just a super race. He did everything right. I still think he’s a little better on the dirt than he is on the turf. He handled it well today, but he bobbled a few times on the turn. He’s all fight.”

Coastal Voyage, the 5-2 second choice, was a nose better than Sam Who, the beaten favorite in his first two starts of the year. He lacked room briefly on the turn, but Laffit Pincay had no excuses for the Lypheor gelding.

Round Sovereign was fourth, then came Major Current, Pentelicus, Ofanto, Weldnaas, Colway Rally, Wonder Dancer and Somormujo.

The Gold Cup wasn’t the only stakes success for Wayne Lukas Sunday at Hollywood Park.

Two races before, he was in the winner’s circle after the $106,500 Princess Stakes, which was hardly a shock. After all, he saddled three of the five entrants.

What was surprising was which 3-year-old filly was standing there with him. A Wild Ride, a 9-1 shot, rallied from last to beat Golden Reef and her two more highly-regarded stablemates, Patches and Hail Atlantis.

Winless since beating Dominant Dancer in the Junior Miss Stakes last August at Del Mar, A Wild Ride was last for the first six furlongs under Jose Santos, rallied along the rail, collared pacesetter Golden Reef with less than a sixteenth of a mile and was drawing away at the finish. The official margin was two lengths and she completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42 4/5.

Fourth, third and second in three sprint starts this year, A Wild Ride made it a double for Calumet Farm, which also owns Criminal Type.

“I thought it might get a little hot up front, so I told Jose to be patient,” said Lukas, who seemed genuinely startled at the outcome. “I thought he rode a real heady race because they were smokin’ pretty good.

“I had a sneaking hunch that (Golden Reef) might go and that left Jose as the only late-runner and that’s the way it came out.”

In her first try around two turns, Golden Reef, the 3-1 third choice, looked like a winner most of the way, but she weakened in the final furlong.

“She was very relaxed, but she was trying to get out with me all the way,” said Eddie Delahoussaye. “He (trainer Chris Speckert) might try her in blinkers next time.”