HOLLYWOOD PARK : Itsallgreektome Survives Foul Claim to Win Hollywood Derby by a Head

Few things come easy for Itsallgreektome, so there was no reason why Sunday’s $200,000 Hollywood Derby should have been an exception.

Coming from 10th place, Itsallgreektome bounced off of Septieme Ciel twice shortly before the wire, finished first by a head and then survived a foul claim to earn the $110,000 purse before a crowd of 20,531.

Itsallgreektome’s owner, Jheri Redding, is appealing the outcome of the Del Mar Derby, an August race won by Tight Spot. The victory was given to Itsallgreektome by the track stewards but taken away by a California Horse Racing Board referee. Also on the 3-year-old charcoal-gray gelding’s record are photo-finish losses in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Belmont Park and the La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar, plus narrow victories in the Ascot Handicap at Bay Meadows and the Spotlight Handicap at Hollywood Park.

This is a horse who usually has his trainer, Wally Dollase, on the edge of his seat, and on Sunday, with about a quarter of a mile to go in the 1 1/8-mile grass race, Itsallgreektome stirred doubts in his jockey, Corey Nakatani, even though they were in high gear on the far outside.

“Turning for home, I thought we might be too far back,” Nakatani said. “But this horse has a tremendous finishing kick.”

In Excess was on the lead then, having passed Marquetry, who set the pace from the start. In Excess also weakened and Septieme Ciel, who had trouble getting through on the turn, took the lead inside the eighth pole.

Nakatani had his mount perfectly timed for the wire, but Septieme Ciel, making his first start in the United States, was hanging on stubbornly.

Kent Desormeaux, riding Septieme Ciel because Laffit Pincay suffered a broken collarbone in a spill last Thursday, was whipping left-handed and he and his colt came over to bump with Itsallgreektome. The horses came off of each other, then bumped again shortly before the finish.

Desormeaux claimed foul, but the stewards allowed the finish to stand. “The first time we bumped, my horse changed his lead (foot),” Desormeaux said. “Then he got to trying to head off the other horse again. The second bump, he was intimidated and lost his drive.”

After watching the head-on replay angle, which the stewards used to help them with their decision, Desormeaux said: “I came out a certain extent. But my horse was jostled. His legs almost went out from underneath him at one point.”

While Nakatani explained the race from his viewpoint in the jockeys’ room, Desormeaux went by and said: “That horse of yours is one game son of a gun.”

They were rivals for a few minutes with big money on the line Sunday, but usually these two jockeys are friends. Desormeaux’s wife, Sonia, was the baby-sitter for Nakatani’s daughter when Nakatani went back to ride Itsallgreektome in the Breeders’ Cup Mile two weeks ago. Nakatani’s wife, Michelle, is Dollase’s daughter.

“The other horse was getting hit left-handed and drifted out toward my horse,” Nakatani said of the stretch run. “My horse just reacted. We bumped twice, and I had to grab my horse by the head to keep him off the other horse.”

Septieme Ciel, who won carrying 138 pounds in France in his last start, was at equal weights with Itsallgreektome, 122 pounds apiece. The 3-year-old son of Seattle Slew finished two lengths ahead of Anshan, another European invader, and it was another 1 3/4 lengths back to In Excess, with the late- running Silver Ending finishing fifth. Late money on In Excess made him the slight favorite and Itsallgreektome, timed in 1:46 3/5, a fifth of a second off the stakes record, wound up the second choice and paid $7.60 to win.

“This proves that the horse is genuine,” Dollase said. “I was worried about him coming back so soon after the Breeders’ Cup, but he was touting me about a week after he got off the airplane. He was just bouncing around and feeling terrific.”

Dollase thought he got a bargain the day he was able to buy Itsallgreektome in Lexington, Ky., for $75,000. Had the Sovereign Dancer-Sans Supplement yearling been offered at one of Keeneland’s high-profile sales there, Dollase estimates that he would have brought twice that price. Also, Dollase said, few people were aware that Itsallgreektome had the same dam as Big Stanley, another horse who liked to run.

“This horse has a lot of courage, and he always fires,” Dollase said. “He’s always been a lot to handle. They told me when they broke him at Cardiff Stud that he was like a bucking horse. He’d jump around with all four feet off the ground.”

Itsallgreektome’s first five races were on dirt, and since being introduced to grass in the Spotlight at Hollywood Park last May, he’s finished first four times and had three seconds and a third in eight starts.

The Hollywood Derby was Itsallgreektome’s third race in about six weeks and he’s going to get a rest until next year. Dollase indicated that the people behind him need a rest, too. This is a horse who is as hard on his handlers as he is on himself.

Horse Racing Notes

Septieme Ciel is now the property of a syndicate that includes R.D. Hubbard and he will race as a 4-year-old for his new American trainer, Richard Mandella. “He ran a tremendous race,” said Criquette Head, who saddled him for the last time on Sunday. “I just wish we could have run him in the Breeders’ Cup (Mile)), because that’s his best distance. Today he kept fighting and never quit.”. . . Anshan, saddled by John Gosden, the former California trainer who now works in England, is staying in America and will be trained by Charlie Whittingham. On Sunday he was ridden by Chris McCarron, who failed for the 15th time in trying to win a Hollywood Derby.

The Hollywood Park stewards have not heard from Pat Valenzuela in the week they’ve given him to explain another absence from riding last weekend. Valenzuela, who was suspended for 30 days after testing positive for cocaine late last year, has until today to report to the stewards. There were reports at Hollywood Park Sunday that Valenzuela’s attorney may meet with the stewards today. . . . Hollywood has a holiday program scheduled today. . . . Alex Solis rode three winners Sunday while Gary Stevens and Jose Santos, battling for the national money title, were both blanked. Stevens gained about $21,000 on Santos with two second-place finishes and has a lead of about $786,000.