HOLLYWOOD PARK : Winchell Will Gamble on Olympio

In September 1966, Vern Winchell spent $15,000 to enter his 2-year-old filly, Mira Femme, in the $226,525 Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes at Arlington Park near Chicago. She hung on to win by three-quarters of a length, and Winchell wiped his brow and pocketed $96,525.

Flash forward 24 years, and Winchell finds himself with another hot 2-year-old and another expensive gamble. To run his Prevue Stakes winner, Olympio, in Sunday’s $1-million Hollywood Futurity, the former king of doughnuts must pay a $50,000 supplementary fee for the privilege.

“It’s a lot of money,” Winchell said earlier this week from his Las Vegas home. “But I doubt very much if we’ll be clear out of it. That being the case, I think it pays to take the shot.”

Winchell is gambling far more on Olympio than the Futurity’s $50,000 late fee. Ever since the dust cleared after Olympio’s remarkable debut on Oct. 13 at Santa Anita, the owner has been receiving almost daily offers to sell all or part of the colt. It was, without a doubt, the most exciting losing effort of the season.

“I could hardly believe what I was seeing,” Winchell recalled. “It reminded me of a rush Silky Sullivan made one time at Santa Anita.”

Winchell was not exaggerating. Olympio was left standing in the gate that day like a guy waiting for the next bus. By the time he got in gear, he trailed the leaders by more than two dozen lengths. Then, approaching the far turn, he began to run like a 78-r.p.m. record against a bunch of 45s.

Olympio still was some 15 lengths behind with a furlong to run, but at the wire he was beaten by only 1 1/2 lengths.

“Right after the finish, he went by the winner so fast that (Olympio) actually thought he won the race,” Winchell laughed. “In his own head, I’m sure he thinks he’s undefeated.”

Olympio, who is trained by Ron McAnally, won his next race by 6 1/2 lengths, then took the Nov. 3 Prevue at Hollywood in a three-way photo-finish with Barrage and General Meeting. They will both be back for Sunday’s Futurity, along with Norfolk Stakes winner Best Pal and the Wayne Lukas-trained colt, Cien Fuegos.

Olympio is a half-brother to Classino, a colt of considerable ability who also was trained by McAnally in 1987 and early ’88. Classino won one of three starts, by 10 lengths, but then died mysteriously. Attending veterinarians were convinced the colt was stricken by a neurological disease, although no autopsy was performed.

“I’ve been in the horse business 32 years, and I realize these horses are subject to all sorts of injuries and problems,” Winchell said. “I think I’ve experienced most of them, but a new one seems to come up all the time.”

Winchell claimed Carols Christmas, the dam of Olympio and Classino, in 1980 for $25,000. He liked her speed and her pedigree, but he was worried about her posture.

“She had a pretty bad swayback,” Winchell said. “I was concerned that she might pass it on to her offspring. But she never has. Her foals have all been quite good-looking.”

Especially Olympio. With a coat the color of butterscotch pudding and a white blaze trickling down his forehead, he’s the kind of horse little children love to hug. He is not a big colt--conformation experts would call him “neat”--but his stride covers a lot of ground for his size.

Winchell and McAnally have been in the game long enough to rein in their enthusiasm for Olympio until he passes Sunday’s test. Even then, dreams of a Kentucky Derby could run dry when his bloodlines take over. Everything about Olympio’s immediate family indicates a mile to 1 1/8 would be his maximum range.

Winchell said he will settle for a brilliant miler. Anyway, he has taken a colt to the Derby only once before, and that was in 1981 when Classic Go Go, the sire of Classino, finished fourth, six lengths behind Pleasant Colony.

The owner had his best Derby shot in 1962 with his first good horse, Donut King. The California-bred colt had beaten the best field of 2-year-olds assembled anywhere in 1961 when he won the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park.

The next spring, Donut King was ranked among the favorites for the Kentucky Derby. Then, barely a week before the Derby, McAnally discovered a tenderness in a hoof. It turned out to be a bone disorder from which Donut King never fully recovered.

Ask McAnally to name the best horses he has ever trained and, after naming John Henry and Bayakoa, he will add Donut King without a blink. Obviously, Olympio has a way to go. Sunday could be a big step.

Horse Racing Notes

Trainer Ron McAnally is expected back today from a horse-buying trip in South America. He spent the last few days under tight security in Buenos Aires, where an army officers’ mutiny and terrorist bombings had the city in turmoil. . . . Olympio will have his final Futurity prep Saturday morning in a leg-stretching quarter-mile. . . . Prevue runner-up Barrage worked a half-mile in 48 seconds Wednesday morning for trainer Vladimir Cerin; General Meeting worked five furlongs in 1:02 for Dave Hofmans, and Deputy Meister went the same distance in a leisurely 1:05.

Del Mar’s first $1-million race, the Pacific Classic, will be part of the American Racing Championship Series announced Wednesday. The 10-race series will be aired on ABC-TV and include the Santa Anita Handicap and the Hollywood Gold Cup. A bonus of $750,000 awaits the top performer in the series.

Laffit Pincay was out Wednesday morning to work a horse for the first time since breaking his collarbone on Nov. 8. He was aboard Fly Till Dawn, the Budweiser International winner, who will make his next start in the $500,000 Hollywood Turf Cup on Dec. 16.