HOLLYWOOD PARK : New Challenge for Itsallgreektome

Wally Dollase is well aware of the facts: Itsallgreektome has failed to finish in the money in four of five starts on dirt; his only victory on the surface came 22 months ago, and he hasn’t raced on the main track since early last year.

So, why is the nation’s top grass performer of 1990 running in Saturday’s $1-million Hollywood Gold Cup against Farma Way and Summer Squall?

“I see it as a new challenge and it could open up a lot of new options for us,” said Dollase, the 4-year-old gelding’s trainer. “It’s a $1-million race; he’s capable of running with these horses and he’s got the home-court advantage.

“He’s been training on this track for two years and he’s always liked this track. He’s never had any problem handling it. He’s a gelding now and he’s smart enough and has had enough racing to cope with the dirt (hitting him in the face).

“Last week (June 19), he worked seven furlongs (in 1:24 2/5) and he’s never worked like that before in his life. He finished strong in his five-eighths work Monday. He’s doing great, so why not give it a shot?”

The lone Eclipse Award winner in the Gold Cup field, to be ridden by Corey Nakatani, will carry 119 pounds, three less than co-highweights Farma Way and Summer Squall and one less than Prized.

Prized, third behind Exbourne and Itsallgreektome in last month’s Hollywood Turf Handicap, hasn’t tried the main track since finishing 24 1/4 lengths behind Easy Goer in the 1989 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park.

“I thought he’d get 117 or 118 (pounds) because he doesn’t have any dirt form,” Dollase said. “I think (Californian winner) Roanoke and (runner-up) Anshan got the best of the weights.”

Should Itsallgreektome run poorly Saturday, he can always go back to the turf, where he has a victory, two seconds and a fourth in four 1991 appearances.

Dollase says it would be wrong, however, to count the gray’s earlier main-track failures against him.

“Those races weren’t indicative of anything,” he said. “He was sprinting in most of them, and that isn’t his game. He was running against pretty good horses like Kentucky Jazz and Burnt Hills and he couldn’t get ahold of the Santa Anita track. This horse needs the surface to be to his liking or he doesn’t run his race. He’s shown us that several times on the turf. This is his kind of track.

“This horse rises to the occasion. He’s going to have something to run at and he might be closer (to the pace) than you think. He’s only run four times this year, and we haven’t overrun him on purpose. His mind is terrific and when he wants to do something he runs well.”

There were other considerations in opting for the Gold Cup rather than entering another Hollywood Park race on the grass.

“I’d just as soon run against these horses as (against) Tight Spot, the way he’s been running,” Dollase said. “Why not go for $1 million vs. $200,000 (the purse for the July 4 American Handicap, expected to be Tight Spot’s next start).

“Farma Way may be vulnerable. He comes off a hard race (the Nassau County Handicap June 8) and he’s been shipping around the country, too. That last race wasn’t an easy one on any horse. It might have taken something out of him mentally as well as physically. Summer Squall is fresh and looks tough, but you never know if he’ll like this track.

“We’ve beaten Anshan and we’ve beaten Prized. This horse is very good right now. I felt the same way before the Breeders’ Cup (Mile, when he ran second at 39-1). Everything’s good.”

If Itsallgreektome wins or runs well Saturday, he will go on to the $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 10 at Del Mar. If not, he will probably surface the next day in the Eddie Read Handicap before going on to the Arlington Million.

Eight other horses are expected to be entered in the Hollywood Gold Cup this morning.

The other probables for the 1 1/4-mile race and their riders are Farma Way, Chris McCarron; Summer Squall, Pat Day; Prized, Eddie Delahoussaye; Anshan, Gary Stevens; Roanoke, Laffit Pincay; Music Prospector, Russell Baze; Western Playboy, Kerwin Clark, and Marquetry, David Flores.

Anshan was the lone Gold Cup horse to work Wednesday morning, going a half-mile in :46 2/5 under Stevens.

“It was super, outstanding,” said the rider who will be aboard Anshan for the first time Saturday, after being dismissed by Wayne Lukas, trainer of Farma Way. “It felt like an open gallop. It was about the easiest half-mile work I’ve ever had. He was very, very relaxed. I’m excited.”

Horse Racing Notes

There are three other added-money races on Saturday’s program--the $100,000 Triple Bend at seven furlongs, the $75,000 Jim Murray Handicap at 1 1/2 miles on the turf and the $60,000 Super Diamond at 1 1/16 miles.

The Friday night feature is the $61,400 Majestic Light at 1 1/16 miles on the grass. The field includes Sounds Fabulous, Honor Grades, River Traffic, Heavy Rain, Mizter Interco, Major Howey and Nijinsky’s Prince.