HOLLYWOOD PARK : Tight Spot Equals World Record

When he reached the finish line, Laffit Pincay knew there was something special about Tight Spot’s return to the races.

“I knew he’d done something good,” he said. “He finished (strong).”

What Pincay didn’t realize was exactly how fast the 4-year-old son of His Majesty ran in his first start since last August’s Del Mar Derby.

In beating High Rank by a neck Wednesday, Tight Spot completed the 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:44 4/5, equaling the world record shared by Frosty The Snowman and Exclusive Partner. Frosty The Snowman set the record June 18, 1989 at Woodbine in Toronto, and Exclusive Partner tied it last Oct. 5 at Santa Anita.

Never beaten in four starts on the grass, Tight Spot also became the first horse to score a wire-to-wire victory over the Hollywood Park turf this season. After relaxing well through 23 1/5, 47 and 1:10 1/5 fractions, the Ron McAnally-trained colt roared home the final three furlongs in 34 3/5 and the final eighth in 11 2/5 seconds.

Although he beat the rest of the field by five lengths, Tight Spot had to come up with a world-record performance to hold off High Rank, who ran the race of his career in his 12th start. The Lord At War gelding now has a victory and two seconds in three outings this year.

“I was really surprised to see someone beside me the way he was running in the stretch,” Pincay said. “The way he was running, he should have won by a lot. Horses usually don’t finish that strong.

“I think he’s a little bit stronger than he was last year. He was a little more willing. He did relax nicely, but I had to take a good hold because he really wanted to go.”

With McAnally busy with Olympio at Pimlico, assistant Eduardo Inda saddled Tight Spot Wednesday.

“He ran very well,” Inda said after Tight Spot paid $4.80 to win. “The last part is when he really ran. The last quarter was very impressive.

“With this race, the Hollywood Turf Handicap (May 27) is where you would look next. Ron will be very happy to hear about this.”

Prized, who won by a nose in his first start of the year 13 days ago, will not race in the John Henry Handicap on Sunday. He was the 123-pound highweight for the 1 1/8-mile turf race.

The 1989 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner, who will work on the grass this morning for trainer Neil Drysdale, will compete next either in the $500,000 Hollywood Turf Handicap or the $300,000 Californian June 9.

“He came out of his last race fine,” said Jeff Siegel, the vice president/racing for Clover Racing Stable, which owns Prized in partnership with Meadowbrook Farm. “We’ll make a decision on which race he’ll run in the next couple of weeks.”

The ultimate goal for the 5-year-old Kris S. horse is the $1-million Hollywood Gold Cup June 29, part of the American Championship Racing Series. Although the Breeders’ Cup Turf was Prized’s biggest victory, he has shown a fondness for the Hollywood Park main track. He upset Sunday Silence in the 1989 Swaps Stakes.

An unlucky loser to Opening Verse in the Early Times Classic last week at Churchill Downs, Itsallgreektome is back at Hollywood Park and is scheduled to make his next start in the Turf Handicap.

“He’s had two 1 1/8-mile races spaced about three weeks apart, so he should be dead fit to run 1 1/4 miles (the Turf Handicap distance),” trainer Wally Dollase said. “He’s won three out of four on the turf here. This is home base. He really likes it here.”

Opening Verse established a course record in the Early Times, covering the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47 1/5 while in receipt of seven pounds from Itsallgreektome.

“One thing I learned by running back there is that I know he likes the Churchill Downs turf,” Dollase said. “Our ultimate goal is the Breeders’ Cup. The grass was in perfect shape. It wasn’t slow and it wasn’t fast.”

Itsallgreektome, who has only one victory on the dirt, could return to that surface in the Gold Cup.

“We’ve nominated him,” Dollase said. “We may consider it because he’s worked exceptionally well over this main track.”

Character, second to Whadjathink in last Saturday’s Spotlight Breeders’ Cup Handicap, is being pointed toward the Belmont Stakes.

A British-bred son of Never So Bold, Character had an eventful journey in the Spotlight when finishing 1 3/4 lengths behind Whadjathink, who is in Maryland preparing for the Preakness a week from Saturday.

Character finished last in his only other start on the main track--March 17 at Santa Anita--but his connections--owner Jack Munari and trainer Bruce Jackson--have done well with turf horses making the transition to dirt. Their Jovial won the Swaps Stakes in 1990 and earlier this year. In Excess won the San Fernando Stakes in his first main track appearance.

“I think he would won have won (last Saturday) with a different trip,” Jackson said. “He should love 1 1/2 miles, and we’ll teach him to take to the dirt.”

Horse Racing Notes

Tight Spot won the Del Mar Derby last year but was disqualified by the stewards. The stewards’ decision was overturned last September after a hearing in front of referee Steve Schwartz and that decision was later upheld. The connections of Itsallgreektome, who was moved up to first after Tight Spot’s disqualification, have appealed the matter to the Superior Court. . . . A fire caused extensive damage to the Oak View, Calif., home of Gordon Glisson, the winner of the first George Woolf Award in 1950. The Woolf Award, which is presented annually, was lost in the blaze, but Santa Anita said it will be able to replace it within a few days. Glisson led the nation’s riders in 1949 with 270 victories. . . . Laffit Pincay had two other victories Wednesday: Ponderous in the second and Beautiful Legend in the fifth.