Will Third Time Be a Charm for Steinlen?

Steinlen apparently is going to keep running in the American Handicap until he gets it right.

Second in the 1 1/8-mile grass race the last two years, Steinlen faces six opponents in the $200,000 stake today, when he will be favored for the third consecutive time.

Steinlen must carry 125 pounds today, four pounds more than his other appearances in the American and seven to 12 pounds more than the other horses in the field, but he is returning to the scene of one of his biggest successes, a victory by a neck over Hawkster in the Hollywood Turf Handicap on May 28.

None of Steinlen’s opponents from that race are back to run today. Three of the horses from the Inglewood Handicap on June 17 are in the American field. They include Mohamed Abdu, who led almost all the way to win the Inglewood after being sidelined for more than 17 months with ligament damage, and Classic Fame and Shining Steel, who were third and last, respectively, in the race.

The jockey or the track or the distance don’t seem to make much different to Steinlen, a 7-year-old English-bred. Since Steinlen’s career in the United States started in earnest in 1988, he has won races from New York to Florida, from Kentucky and Illinois to California, at distances from a mile to 1 1/4 miles. Laffit Pincay, who rides him today; Jose Santos, Gary Stevens, Angel Cordero and Pat Day have all won with him.

Last year, after trainer Wayne Lukas got Steinlen to do something the horse had never done before, win at 1 1/4 miles, he went from the Arlington Million victory back down to a mile, winning the short Breeders’ Cup grass race and clinching the male turf championship.

A horse older than 6, and carrying more weight than 121 pounds, hasn’t won the American since the 8-year-old John Henry captured the stake carrying 127 pounds in 1983.

Horse Racing Notes

Steinlen, with $2.7 million in earnings, is creeping up on the $3-million mark, which only 15 horses have reached. . . . The American Handicap will be Steinlen’s 40th start and he’s looking for his 20th victory. The only time Steinlen ran on dirt was when he finished seventh in an allowance race at Santa Anita in March of 1988.