HORSE RACING LEXINGTON STAKES : Hansel Keeps On Rolling, Wins by Nine Lengths

The final three important prep races for the 117th Kentucky Derby produced only one definite development: Hansel is going to Churchill Downs with a couple of good races to his credit.

Following up his victory in the Jim Beam at Turfway Park three weeks ago, Hansel waltzed to a nine-length victory Sunday over only three opponents in the $133,450 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland and tied the race record by running 1 1/16 miles in 1:42 3/5.

The Lexington was run on the same weekend as Aqueduct’s Wood Memorial, which may produce only one Kentucky Derby starter on May 4; and Oaklawn Park’s Arkansas Derby, which produced a winner who is doubtful for the Derby.

Cahill Road, the winner of the Wood, wrenched an ankle and tore some ligaments in the race. His trainer, Scotty Schulhofer, said Sunday that the future for the full brother of Unbridled, the winner of last year’s Derby, would be determined in the next week to 10 days. Cahill Road will either get a long rest before he attempts a comeback or be retired in favor of a stud career that would begin next year.

Olympio, the winner of the Arkansas Derby, had a tough race and his trainer, Ron McAnally, said Sunday that only two weeks between that stake and the Kentucky Derby might not give owner Verne Winchell’s colt enough time to be at his best. The Preakness, at Pimlico May 18, seems a more likely spot for Olympio, but the horse will be shipped to Keeneland Tuesday and will be only 70 miles from Churchill Downs in case his handlers change their minds.

McAnally and Winchell also have Sea Cadet, the third-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, who has been mentioned more for the Preakness than the Kentucky Derby.

Other Arkansas Derby finishers headed for Kentucky are Corporate Report (who ran second), Richman (third), Quintana (fourth) and Subordinated Debt (sixth). Three of them are more likely to run in the Derby than Richman, who might wind up in the shorter Illinois Derby because his ability to run 1 1/4 miles is suspect.

Lost Mountain, who finished second, three lengths behind Cahill Road, is a possibility for the Derby. As for Meadow Star, whose undefeated streak ended at nine races when she ran fourth in the Wood, trainer LeRoy Jolley will take another day before deciding about the Kentucky Derby.

Hansel might be on a two-stake streak, and his record of five victories, one second and two thirds in nine tries is a hallmark of consistency, but he never has beaten a top horse. After the scratch of Bamboo Road, what remained in the Lexington was a field of three horses and only one stakes winner. Shotgun Harry J., who led the race for a half-mile, finished second, 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Speedy Cure, the Tampa Bay Derby winner, and Metfield was last, almost 15 lengths behind Hansel.

“Win, lose or draw in the Derby, I’ve got this horse just where I want him going into the race,” said Frank Brothers, who trains Hansel for owner Joe Albritton. “He’s sharp and he’s fit, and timing is very important when you’re getting a horse ready for the Derby.”

Randy Romero and Pat Day rode Hansel to stakes victories last year, but Jerry Bailey picked up the mount in the Jim Beam. Day, not sure Brothers was going to run Hansel in the stake, committed to ride Richman, who finished second in race, beaten by 2 1/2 lengths.

Bailey was aboard again Sunday and has the mount on Hansel in the Derby. “If he wins that easy in two weeks, I’ll really have a smile on my face,” Bailey said. “This race was exactly what was called for. It was enough so that he got a little bit out of it, but it didn’t take anything out of him.”

Horse Racing Notes

Normally a good work horse, Dinard turned in a slow 1:18 3/5 Sunday in a six-furlong exercise at Churchill Downs. Trainer Dick Lundy discounted any alarm about the Santa Anita Derby winner. “Everything is all right,” Lundy said. “He ran even all the way. We just wanted to stretch his legs this time. The next two (workouts) will be more serious.”. . . . By contrast, Fly So Free worked a sharp :48 2/5 for a half-mile at Churchill on Sunday. . . . Strike The Gold, who knocked off Fly So Free in the Blue Grass, was timed in 1:04 2/5 for five-eighths of a mile and trainer Nick Zito said that Chris Antley will ride the colt in the Derby. Antley wanted to see what Meadow Star did in the Wood before making a commitment.

Scan, a disappointment at Santa Anita, is a prospect for the Belmont Stakes in June and trainer Scotty Schulhofer said he would prep for the race in the Peter Pan. “He’s gotten over his California expedition,” Schulhofer said. “Those tracks are too hard out there, and it takes a certain type of horse to run over them. I don’t like to punish horses; I try to keep them sound.” It was owner William Haggin Perry’s idea to run Scan at Santa Anita this winter. . . . Corey Black, the transplanted Californian, has won 20 races in the first 13 days of the Keeneland meeting and leads Jerry Bailey, the next jockey in the standings, by seven wins.