HOLLYWOOD PARK : With Bayakoa Scratched, It’s Gorgeous Afternoon in Vanity

Trainer Neil Drysdale said he could understand why Bayakoa’s handlers decided to scratch the 6-year-old mare from Sunday’s $200,000 Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Eddie Delahoussaye, who rode Gorgeous for Drysdale in the Vanity, didn’t quite agree with his trainer, but he was happy just the same that Bayakoa wasn’t running.

“I’m glad she (Bayakoa) wasn’t in,” Delahoussaye said. “I won the race. If these two missed each other some more, it would be easy on both of them.”

Gorgeous, brought along the inside by Delahoussaye at the top of the stretch, won the Vanity by five lengths, beating four fillies and mares with far less ability than Bayakoa, who had defeated Gorgeous in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff to clinch the national divisional championship.

Owner Frank Whitham and trainer Ron McAnally didn’t run Bayakoa because she was assigned 128 pounds by Hollywood racing secretary Eual Wyatt, who gave 124 pounds to Gorgeous. McAnally thought the four-pound difference was unfair, since that was the same spread between the two rivals in their last meeting, which resulted in a 2 3/4-length victory for Gorgeous. Since then, Bayakoa reeled off two facile victories at Hollywood and Gorgeous ran dismally against colts in the Pimlico Special.

It is conjectural whether the suspension of the Gorgeous-Bayakoa rivalry affected the crowd. The attendance was 22,821, one of the smallest Sunday turnouts of the season, but Hollywood Park’s Friday night racing schedule also affected the crowd last Sunday.

“Gorgeous beat us last time, and when horses win, they should pick up weight, as Bayakoa has all along,” McAnally said.

The trainer’s plans are to nominate Bayakoa for two stakes at Del Mar--the Palomar Handicap, on the grass, which will be run July 28; and the San Diego Handicap, against males, on Aug. 4.

That means that Bayakoa and Gorgeous probably won’t hook up again until the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Belmont Park in October, because Gorgeous’ schedule is expected to take her to Belmont for one or two prep races before the Breeders’ Cup.

Wyatt continued to defend his Vanity weight assignments Sunday. “Bayakoa’s people certainly have the prerogative to do what they did,” Wyatt said. “But I thought the weights were what they should be, and I’ve had no second thoughts about it. You have to remember that in weighting the top two horses, I also had to consider what would be fair for the other horses that were running. I haven’t lost that many horses over the years because of weight. Precisionist is the only other one I can think of.”

Gorgeous, who is owned by Robert N. Clay of Midway, Ky., ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48 1/5, paid $3 to win in a race that had no show betting and earned $110,000. The 4-year-old daughter of Slew o’ Gold and Kamar, a Key to the Mint mare, has won eight of 11 starts, excluding two losses to Bayakoa, and has earned $1.1 million.

Fantastic Look finished second, 3 1/2 lengths ahead of Kelly, and it was three-quarters of a length farther back to Beautiful Melody, Fantastic Look’s stablemate. T.V. of Crystal finished last.

The early pace was slow, with Beautiful Melody on the lead and Gorgeous in fourth place, about six lengths back. Delahoussaye shifted Gorgeous to the fence by the far turn, and there was plenty of room for her to get through past the fading Beautiful Melody when she made her winning move leaving the quarter pole.

Kent Desormeaux, who rode Fantastic Look, apparently was unhappy that Gary Stevens, aboard Beautiful Melody, allowed Gorgeous to get through, but Delahoussaye never seemed worried.

“I could see Gary’s filly coming off the fence,” Delahoussaye said. “If I get through, I’m a hero, but if I get stopped, I’m a bum. The way my filly was running, I think that if we got stopped, she would have run right over them.”

Delahoussaye said that there might have been a faster pace had Bayakoa run.

“Four pounds’ difference with these two horses shouldn’t make much difference,” Delahoussaye said. “Horses like Forego and Kelso carried 130 pounds or more in their day and still beat other horses. I can see if the spread is 10 pounds, then one horse might have an advantage over another one. I’m glad that they don’t weight horses like they used to, though, because it gives them a better chance to keep running.”

Drysdale broke out of a season-long slump. Before the Vanity, he had won with only three of 37 starters and his last win had come on June 1.