Lite Light’s Victory Also Ends Up Earning $150,000 for Children’s Charity

M.C. Hammer said Sunday that he won $150,000 in a side bet with Carl Icahn when the Hammer family’s Lite Light beat Icahn’s Meadow Star on Saturday in the Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont Park.

Hammer, who said he put up $200,000 to Icahn’s $150,000, said that the money he won will go to the Help the Children Foundation, a charity in the Bay Area.

When Lite Light was beaten by Meadow Star in the Mother Goose at Belmont last month, Icahn, the owner of Trans World Airlines, won a $35,000 bet with the rap star and turned the money over to a fund for wayward children that Icahn started in the New York area.

Hammer was at Hollywood Park to watch his 2-year-old filly, Aunt Pearl, make her first start. Aunt Pearl, a $215,000 Seattle Slew yearling, finished ahead of only one horse in a maiden race.

Asked if Lite Light might run against male horses later this year, Hammer said: “We’ve explored the possibility, but decided that it’s not necessary. It wouldn’t be the best thing to do for the horse.”

Hammer said that Lite Light will be sent back to Golden Gate Fields for a rest and will probably return to action in September. The 3-year-old filly is being pointed toward the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs on Nov. 2.