HOLLYWOOD PARK : Answer Do Wins Turf Express Again; Will Stay Put This Time

Answer Do, running in the second division, won the $112,500 Hollywood Turf Express for the second consecutive year at Hollywood Park Friday, but there were a couple of major differences this time.

For one, he wasn’t 37-1 as he was when he beat Waterscape and Yes I’m Blue in 1990. For another, he won’t be hitting the road again.

After the To Agouri-Mou gelding’s victory last year, trainer Lyman Rollins loaded him on his van and headed home to Arizona.

After Answer Do had rallied to defeat Apollo by three-quarters of a length in 1:01 2/5 for the 5 1/2 furlongs on turf Friday, Rollins, 71, said: “We’re going to stick around for the opening of Santa Anita (Dec. 26).

“He runs well on the grass, and we figured maybe the speed would come back to us. That’s the key to him: if they set a lot of pace. This horse has had an excuse so many times. He had a good, clean trip today and it worked out right.”

In his two starts during the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita, Answer Do wasn’t particularly fortunate. He was best in losing by a head to Frost Free in the Ancient Title Handicap, then lost in another photo finish, to Letthebighossroll, in the California Cup Sprint. Both races were on dirt.

Ridden for the first time by Eddie Delahoussaye Friday, the 5-year-old had two horses beaten turning into the stretch but overpowered the field late and won going away. Apollo was second in his first start in blinkers, holding off 17-1 shot Cardmania by a neck.

“Boy, he really accelerated when I got into him in the stretch,” Delahoussaye said. “This big sucker started rolling. It was time for me to win a race. I’d had four seconds today. It was time to get one--keep the fans happy a little bit. He ran great.”

The second-best horse ever sired by Ole Bob Bowers, Gundaghia won the first division of the Turf Express.

A son of the sire who produced John Henry, Gundaghia tracked favored Media Plan to the stretch, then took charge under Corey Nakatani and won by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:01 2/5. New York-based Club Champ rallied late for second, 1 1/2 lengths ahead of the filly Sun Brandy. Media Plan, the 2-1 choice, faded to fourth.

The victory was Gundaghia’s ninth in 18 starts, but his first in seven tries on the grass.

“When we first got this little horse as a 3-year-old, we never really thought much of him,” trainer Bob Baffert said.

“But he just kept getting better and better. I always thought he would like the grass, but he’s limited with the distance. Five-and-a-half furlongs is right up his alley.”

Judging by the size of the fields, the inaugural Autumn Turf Festival at Hollywood Park is a success.

The three-day, five-race sequence--including Friday’s Turf Express, today’s Miesque and Citation and Sunday’s Hoist The Flag and Matriarch--was so popular that all except the Matriarch had to be split into divisions. And the Grade I Matriarch came close, drawing 15 fillies and mares.

With racing over for the year in Europe, R.D. Hubbard, Hollywood Park chairman and chief executive officer, wanted to attract foreign runners, and he hasn’t been disappointed. Counting the field for the Turf Express, 12 horses will have made their first starts in the United States this weekend.

Trainer John Gosden, who will have four representatives--Snow Forest in the first division of the Miesque, Nucleus in the first division of the Citation and Lord Charmer in the second and Sussuration in the Matriarch--says the best is yet to come for the Festival.

“I think it’s working and I think it will only get better with time,” said Gosden, who trained Royal Heroine, Bates Motel, Bel Bolide and Zoffany, among others, in the United States before returning to his native England three years ago.

“I think you’ll get more and more horses, and Thanksgiving (weekend) is a good time to hold it.”

With divisions of the Miesque and Citation, plus the simulcast of the Bay Meadows Derby, five of the 10 races offered at Hollywood Park today will be stakes.

Second behind Opening Verse in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, Val Des Bois is the 8-5 favorite in the first division of the Citation, which is 1 1/8 miles and will be run as the seventh race.

Before the Breeders’ Cup, Val Des Bois was an unlucky loser against Ibero in the Col. F.W. Koester at Santa Anita. Chris McCarron will again ride for Bobby Frankel, who also will saddle 12-1 shot Incessant.

Other contenders include Classic Fame, who won the 1990 American Handicap over the Hollywood Park turf; Notorious Pleasure, who was beaten by a nose by Classic Fame Nov. 8 at Santa Anita; and French Seventyfive, the runner-up in the California Cup Mile.

In the second division, which is the eighth race, Best Pal will make his turf debut, even though trainer Gary Jones is less than thrilled with his 119-pound assignment.

Wolf is the 2-1 morning line choice for the race as he seeks his 10th victory in 11 starts. Second at Del Mar in his American debut, Wolf rallied from far back and beat Japan Cup winner Golden Pheasant Oct. 4. Eddie Delahoussaye will be aboard for Neil Drysdale.

The rest of the field: Diable Au Corps; Spending Record; Carleton F. Burke Handicap winner Super May; Pleasant Tap, who had a second and an eighth in two previous turf appearances; Fly Till Dawn, who will be making his first start since last Jan. 21, Eton Lad and Lord Charmer.

Restricted to 2-year-old fillies, the one-mile Miesque will go as the third and fifth races. Storm Again, who hasn’t been worse than third in five starts and is owned by Hubbard, is the 3-1 choice in the first division. Melo Melody, perfect in two sprint starts on the dirt, is the 5-2 favorite in the second.

Horse Racing Notes

Eddie Delahoussaye, who also won the ninth race aboard favored Regal Peace, and Corey Nakatani also had two winners. . . . The wind was so strong at Hollywood Park before the 10th race Friday that the starting gate resting in the infield was pushed 20-30 yards.

Jockey Hector Torres was suspended for five days, beginning Wednesday, for causing interference into the first turn while riding winner Perfect Raj in Thursday’s fifth race. Steward Dave Samuel said there was no disqualification or inquiry after the race because Askette, the filly Perfect Raj bothered, was eased.