HORSE RACING : Tight Spot Is Assigned 126 Pounds, Golden Pheasant 123 for American

Tight Spot, the defending champion, was given 126 pounds and Golden Pheasant was assigned 123 for the $200,000 American Handicap on Saturday at Hollywood Park.

A winner of 10 of his 11 starts on turf, Tight Spot will be racing for the first time since suffering a bruised hoof in May. Trainer Ron McAnally had thought the problem was a career-ending ankle injury, but the deep bruise was discovered and the 5-year-old His Majesty horse resumed training shortly thereafter.

Tight Spot, last year’s Eclipse Award winner as best male grass horse, worked seven furlongs in 1:28 1/5 Friday.

After being sidelined for four months, Golden Pheasant returned and won the Inglewood Handicap on May 24 for trainer Charlie Whittingham. Successful in seven of 17 starts, the 6-year-old Caro horse worked a mile in 1:40 1/5 on Friday.

Both Flawlessly and Kostroma came out of Sunday’s Beverly Hills Handicap in good shape, according to their trainers.

Racing for the first time since Dec. 1, Flawlessly won for the seventh time in eight grass starts, beating Kostroma by a head in the Grade I event.

“She’s in good shape so far,” Whittingham said of Flawlessly, who was sidelined because of a splint injury after winning the Matriarch at Hollywood Park.

“There’s nothing left for her here. We’ll go to Del Mar, get her a race there (either the Palomar or Ramona Handicap) and then go to the Beverly D. (at Arlington International near Chicago).”

Sunday’s race was the third meeting of Flawlessly and Kostroma. Flawlessly leads the series, 2-1. Kostroma was sixth in the Matriarch and defeated Flawlessly in the Yellow Ribbon during the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita.

“They were a head apart (Sunday) and (Kostroma) gave us two pounds (124-122),” Whittingham said.

“It’s two wins against one, but they’re pretty close.”

Kostroma’s trainer, Gary Jones, is looking forward to a rematch at Del Mar.

“We came out of our running style because we couldn’t let Flawlessly go out alone,” he said.

“I’m not taking anything away from Flawlessly. She ran a good race, and Charlie did a good job with her.

“I think these two will beat each other some more. Charlie’s filly has never lost on the Del Mar course. (Kostroma) ran on it just once and set a stakes record (in the Osunitas last year).”

Horse Racing Notes

Major Impact, the 1-5 favorite, scored a three-length victory in Monday’s feature, a $34,000 allowance race for 3-year-olds over 1 1/8 miles on turf, before 7,010 at Hollywood Park. Major Impact, ridden by Gary Stevens, was timed in 1:48 1/5 and paid $2.40, $2.40 and $2.10. Eddie Valient returned $4.80 and $2.10 and West Of Heaven paid $2.10. The $2 exacta returned $13.60. Major Impact, a son of Roberto, earned $18,700 and increased his earnings to $54,900 for his owner/breeder, the Glen Hill Farm of Leonard Lavin.

Starting Wednesday, first post at Hollywood Park moves to 2 p.m. for the rest of the meeting. The lone exception is Friday, when post time will be 4 p.m. for the 13-race program. . . . Hollywood Park will simulcast the Queen’s Plate from Woodbine in Toronto on Sunday. Alydeed will be nearly 1-20 for the race, which will be shown at 2:10 p.m., before the first race at Hollywood Park. Alydeed was 1-20 when he won the recent Queen’s Plate Trial at Woodbine.

Vying Victor, who came down with a temperature, forcing him to skip the Ohio Derby, is the 120-pound highweight for the $150,000 Silver Screen Handicap on Sunday. Only 10 3-year-olds were nominated for the 1 1/8-mile Silver Screen, which is a prep for the $200,000 Swaps on July 25. Big Pal, Bold Assert, Natural Nine, Never Round, Capote Magique, Prospect For Four, Fax News, Caviar ‘N Dreams and Moscow M D are the other nominees.

Robert P. Strub, chairman and chief executive officer of the Santa Anita Operating Co. and the Los Angeles Turf Club, Inc., was recovering from heart surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital after experiencing chest pains Thursday night. Doctors said that Strub might be able to return home at the end of the week.

Services for Bobby Weeks, who died at his Hawthorne apartment June 22, will be held today at Kern Mortuary in Victorville at 2 p.m. Weeks, 75, a longtime racing official in California, was working as the paddock judge at Hollywood Park at the time of his death.