HORSE RACING : JAPAN CUP : McNall’s Golden Pheasant Wins at 18-1

Had the breeding market been better this year, Golden Pheasant might have been sent to stud. If the 5-year-old horse’s 1991 record had been better, he probably would have run in the Breeders’ Cup.

Winless this year, Golden Pheasant didn’t have the credentials to get into the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 2. So he was sent to Tokyo, and on Sunday he won the $2.77-million Japan Cup, beating Magic Night, a 3-year-old French filly, by two lengths in an 18-1 upset before about 140,000. Shaftesbury Avenue, from Australia, finished third.

The $1.2-million victory in the Japan Cup was the prelude to an incredible day for Bruce McNall, the Los Angeles sportsman who also owns the Kings and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Later Sunday, the Argonauts defeated the Calgary Stampeders, 36-21, to win the Grey Cup and the league title.

Wayne Gretzky, the Kings’ star who is a partner of McNall’s in the Argonauts, also owns part of Golden Pheasant.

Last year, after winning the Arlington Million, Golden Pheasant suffered a broken leg while training for the 1990 Breeders’ Cup. Three screws were surgically inserted in the leg and Golden Pheasant began a long recuperation.

“It was a clean break and they were able to patch it up pretty good,” said Charlie Whittingham, who trains Golden Pheasant. “Sometimes when a break is that clean, it’s easier for a horse to come back than when he has ligament damage.”

Whittingham remained at Hollywood Park Sunday while his assistant, Tim Yakteen, saddled Golden Pheasant in Tokyo. Gary Stevens, who also rode Golden Pheasant to his victory in the Million, was aboard Sunday. The winning time for the distance of about 1 1/2 miles was 2:24 3/5.

“We had him ready to run when we sent him over there,” Whittingham said of Golden Pheasant. Whittingham was trying to prepare Golden Pheasant for this year’s Arlington Million, but he ran out of time. The horse had been away from racing for a year when he finished last in an allowance race at Del Mar on Sept. 11.

“He’s never liked the Del Mar track,” Whittingham said.

After that race, Golden Pheasant finished second in an allowance race at Santa Anita on Oct. 4 and then was seventh on soft turf in the Budweiser International at Laurel on Oct. 19.

“He’ll probably run again next year,” Whittingham said.

“The stud market’s still not very good.”