Norfolk to Decide Best Pal’s Future

John Mabee’s last name is pronounced maybe , and he’s still using that word to describe Best Pal’s chances of running in the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Belmont Park three weeks from today.

When Eastern Echo, the best 2-year-old colt in the East, was retired this week after a training injury at Belmont, the gates opened for many owners and trainers to reconsider the Breeders’ Cup.

“(Eastern Echo’s retirement) doesn’t change anything as far as we’re concerned,” said Mabee, the former Del Mar president who bred and races Best Pal. “We’re still going to look at how he runs Sunday and go from there.”

Best Pal, winner by a total of 12 1/2 lengths in his last three starts, including a 3 1/2-length victory in the Del Mar Futurity, heads a 12-horse field in Sunday’s $200,000 Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita. During the 1980s, the Norfolk was an assembly line for juveniles who went on to win other major races and Eclipse Awards.

The 1 1/16-mile stake is the centerpiece of a Columbus Day weekend that starts with the $500,000 Oak Tree Invitational today. Also on Sunday’s program is the $100,000 Koester Handicap at a mile on grass, and Monday’s card is highlighted by the $200,000 Oak Leaf Stakes, an important race for 2-year-old fillies.

The decision on whether Best Pal is shipped to New York following the Norfolk could be an expensive one, because Mabee would have to pay a penalty of $120,000 to make him eligible for the Breeders’ Cup. While that gamble could lead to an Eclipse Award, it is not a particularly sound financial risk, for first place in the Juvenile is worth $450,000.

Before Best Pal ever ran a race, be could have been made eligible for the Breeders’ Cup with a payment of $500. No one is more aware of the rules than Mabee, one of the original directors of the Breeders’ Cup, but Best Pal, a gelded son of Habitony, fell into a category of horses that weren’t nominated.

“We have about 80 or 90 babies every year,” Mabee said. “I would say that we put up the (Breeders’ Cup) money for about two-thirds of them. With that many horses, you just can’t cover them all. And when this happens, you’re still happy, because at least you know you’ve got a horse who’s good enough to merit the consideration.”

Five of the horses that couldn’t beat Best Pal in the roughly run Del Mar Futurity are back for the Norfolk, including Best Pal’s stablemate, Magnificent Red. Best Pal survived two foul claims to win the Futurity.

The other Del Mar horses hoping to do better are Pillaring, Got to Fly, Formal Dinner and Regional. Rounding out the field are Command the Wind, Regal Maneuver, Dave’s Bid, Sondeed, Le Farouche and Cadillac Red. Best Pal will break from the No. 7 post position.

Horse Racing Notes

An upset by Mehmetori in the Oak Tree Invitational would be a tonic for trainer Richard Mulhall, who is in Arcadia Methodist Hospital, after undergoing emergency surgery for a kidney stone in Kentucky last month. Mulhall, 51, is out of intensive care but still has a high temperature. Mehmetori won an opening-day stake at Del Mar, then ran sixth in the Del Mar Derby. He drew the No. 8 post, but it might have helped if it had been No. 4. Mulhall’s room number at the hospital is 444. Another Mulhall horse, Sondeed, is running in the Norfolk. He and Mehmetori will be saddled by Danny O’Bryant, a former Mulhall assistant who more recently managed a car wash.

Fly Till Dawn, winner of the Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar, faces 10 opponents in the Koester. The high weights, at 116 pounds, are Colway Rally and Notorious Pleasure. Fly Till Dawn carries 115. . . . Bruce McNall, owner of the Kings, will be at Longchamp in Paris Sunday to watch his Saumarez run in the $1.6-million Arc de Triomphe, France’s most prestigious race. McNall’s Trempolino won the Arc in 1987.

Truesdail Laboratories of Tustin has been selected as an interim testing facility for horses in Kentucky. Truesdail, which will do the work while the University of Kentucky reorganizes its horse-testing program, did not have its contract renewed by the California Horse Racing Board following a controversy over trainers who were accused of running horses that tested positive for cocaine. Trainers Roger Stein and Laz Barrera are suing Truesdail.

Janice Walters, a bookkeeper accused of embezzling $31,000 from trainer Charlie Whittingham, pleaded no contest to one charge, and two other charges were dropped. Walters has promised to repay Whittingham and has been placed on probation. Sally Ann Stubblefield, the Whittingham bookkeeper accused of embezzling about $1 million from Whittingham in a separate case, is still being held on $350,000 bail as she awaits a preliminary hearing on Oct. 17.