DEL MAR : Solis Provides the Perfect Finish to Trainer’s Winning Weekend

The only person who had a better two days than Alex Solis was Charlie Whittingham.

A day after Golden Pheasant gave Whittingham his third victory in the Arlington Million, Live The Dream gave the trainer his third Del Mar Handicap in the last four years. Solis, fresh off a nine-length victory on Beyond Perfection in the Debutante 24 hours earlier, was the rider.

“I got the cake and the icing Sunday,” Whittingham said after Live The Dream defeated 11-1 shot Mehmetori by a half-length in a stakes and course record 2:13 for the 1 3/8 miles. “This is some ice cream on top of it.”

The 2-1 favorite and 118-pound highweight, the 4-year-old son of Northern Baby was able to save ground while reserved off the extremely fast pace, stayed out of trouble and outfinished Mehmehtori, the only 3-year-old in the race.

Vastly improved in recent months for Whittingham and his owners Mary Jones Bradley and Nancy Chandler, Live The Dream has two wins and two seconds in his last four starts. He has won six of 17 on the turf.

“This horse is getting better with age,” said Whittingham, who won the Handicap last year with Payant and in 1987 with Swink. “He’ll get better yet. He’ll go up to Oak Tree now.”

Before Monday, Live The Dream and Solis had collaborated for victories in the Hollywood Derby and Fiesta Handicap and were second in the Sunset.

“What a wonderful weekend, it’s like a dream,” Solis said.

“This horse is real game. He likes to fight. When that other horse (Mehmetori) got a head in front of him, he went right after him and, once he got in front of him, he wasn’t going to let him by.

“He’s a real nice horse. He handled the course fine. He’s real fun to work in the morning. I was glad to see a fast pace. I was able to make the right move at the right time. The main thing in a race like this is to save ground and stay out of trouble and (Live The Dream) did his job. Charlie had him ready, like he always does.”

The race lightweight at 107, Mehmetori was 10th after a mile, but he made a big move while wide down the backside and around the turn to briefly take the lead entering the stretch. But from there he was his own worst enemy, according to jockey Julio Garcia.

“My horse was lugging in too much,” he said. “I couldn’t hit him too well left-handed because I was too tight with the other horse.”

Soft Machine, the longest shot in the field at 96-1, was third, almost three lengths behind Mehmetori, then came Putting, Chief’s Image, Rial, Mashkour, Fly Till Dawn, Lowell, Royal Reach, Brisque and Great Communicator.

It was apparent early that Fly Till Dawn, who was able to upset Classic Fame, Golden Pheasant and others in the Eddie Read Handicap three weeks earlier when he was able to go very slow on the lead, wasn’t going to be around at the finish Monday.

He and Royal Reach opened a seven-length lead on the rest of the field through a 46 2/5 half mile, too fast a pace for 1 3/8 miles on the deep Del Mar turf course.

The Handicap also seemed to prove that Great Communicator is over the hill. Possibly the nation’s best turf horse in 1988 and the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf that year, the 7-year-old Key To The Kingdom gelding has now lost seven races in a row and hasn’t been close in three 1990 appearances.

A 3-year-old daughter of Devil’s Bag, Devil’s Orchid won the $61,750 June Darling Stakes, which preceded the Del Mar Handicap.

Winning for the fifth time in seven starts, the 8-5 favorite chased stablemate Centennial Time for the first five furlongs, then drew off when asked by Russell Baze to win by three lengths. She covered the seven furlongs in 1:21 1/5 and is now unbeaten in three starts since joining Richard Mandella’s barn.

Kiwi ran on late to be second, six lengths clear of Centennial Time, who faltered after going 21 3/5 and 44 1/5 the first half-mile. Inverness Lady, Skeeter, Conclaire and Lifthigh The Cross completed the order of finish.

Devil’s Orchid, who was second and third in her two defeats, earned $33,750 for her owners, Shannon Farms.

Horse Racing Notes

Black Stockings, the 2-1 favorite in Monday’s fifth race, collapsed and died after running last. A 4-year-old roan daughter of Marfa, she had been eased by Chris McCarron through the stretch, then collapsed about 100 yards past the wire. The preliminary cause of death was internal hemorrhaging. . . . Martin Pedroza and Eddie Delahoussaye each won three times Monday. The former swept the first three races with Bright And Right, Right Crossed and Slewrena, and Delahoussaye won the next three with Dave’s Bid, Bel Darling and Spending Bucks. . . . For the three-day Labor Day weekend, Del Mar’s average handle, both on and off-track, was $10,180,653 and the average attendance was 51,050. . . . Warcraft, Live The Dream’s half-brother who hasn’t lived up to his early raves, will face Cee’s Tizzy and seven other 3-year-olds in Wednesday’s $75,000-added El Cajon Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.