HOLLYWOOD PARK : ‘Eldorado Posts Major Upset in American ‘Cap

Trainer Neil Drysdale didn’t see Man From Eldorado, the new horse in his barn, until Wednesday. Man From Eldorado’s three opponents in the $212,000 American Handicap were introduced to the 4-year-old English colt on Saturday, as he scored the biggest stakes upset of the season at Hollywood Park.

With heavily favored Golden Pheasant trying to close ground in tight quarters on the rail, and pace-setting Bold Russian attempting to hold his position in the middle, Man From Eldorado came from the outside and won the $122,000 purse by a neck before a crowd of 17,339.

Bold Russian, an English-bred 5-year-old who has been racing in the United States less than a year, held on for second, a neck in front of Golden Pheasant. It was two lengths back to the only other starter, Prudent Manner, with Tight Spot, the 4-5 morning-line favorite, having been scratched.

Charlie Whittingham, the trainer of 3-5 Golden Pheasant, would have preferred that the Arlington Million and Japan Cup winner make his run from the outside under Gary Stevens.

“He was down on the rail, and we’d have been better off if he had gone around,” said Whittingham, who was seeking his eighth victory in the American and the first since 1981.

“But maybe he (Stevens) couldn’t get out. But it was only a four-horse race, and I think he could have gotten out on the turn. This horse usually doesn’t run good when he’s down on the inside like that.”

Stevens won both the 1990 Million and the 1991 Japan Cup with Golden Pheasant, and on May 24 he rode the 6-year-old roan to a strong victory in the Inglewood Handicap at Hollywood.

“If I could have gotten to the outside, I could have won,” Stevens said. “He runs best on the outside.”

Leaving the backstretch, Bold Russian held the lead, Man From Eldorado was outside him and Golden Pheasant was behind them, a close fourth but boxed in by the third-place horse, Prudent Manner, who was ridden by Chris McCarron.

Man From Eldorado, a Mr. Prospector-Promising Girl colt bred by John and Betty Mabee of San Diego, races for Englishman Peter Savill. Carrying 114 pounds, nine less than the top-weighted Golden Pheasant, he was timed in 1:47 and paid $20.40 as the longest price on the board.

Man From Eldorado was ridden by Kent Desormeaux, who dropped his whip about 50 yards from the wire. Desormeaux tied a Hollywood Park record with six winners Friday night and began Saturday’s card with another victory.

In England, Man From Eldorado had won one of seven starts, with one second. His only victory came at the Goodwood course in May of last year and in his last two starts this year, he finished ahead of only two horses, getting beaten by 73 1/2 lengths.

Man From Eldorado came to Drysdale’s barn on Wednesday after clearing quarantine and on Saturday he raced on Lasix, a diuretic given to bleeders, for the first time.

“Guy Harwood (Man From Eldorado’s English trainer) told me that this horse has always had a lot of talent,” Drysdale said. “But he had the problem of breaking blood vessels when he ran over there. I thought Kent gave him a lovely ride. We were getting a lot of weight (from Golden Pheasant), but my horse still ran very gamely at the end.”

Before the race, Drysdale had told Desormeaux not to lose contact with the field, but that was no problem as Man From Eldorado broke sharply and was lodged in second place, behind Bold Russian. Man From Eldorado made the lead for several strides on the far turn, then gave it back to Bold Russian.

“Eddie (Delahoussaye, Bold Russian’s jockey) thought I was done,” Desormeaux said, “but my horse was confused and got to gawking when he got the lead. I let him suck back and go after them again.”

Riding between Golden Pheasant and Man From Eldorado in the final strides, Delahoussaye was confident.

“I thought we had beaten them all,” he said. “I was more worried about the gray (Golden Pheasant), but the other one came back.”

Drysdale said that the plan was for Man From Eldorado to run in the $250,000 Sunset Handicap, at 1 1/2 miles, on July 26.

A $20,000 fireworks show on the infield at Hollywood Park following a 13-race program Friday night upset dozens of horses in their stalls and several broke loose, including a valuable filly who was caught in a track parking lot.

“It shouldn’t have happened,” said trainer Charlie Whittingham. “It wasn’t good.”

Trainer Neil Drysdale said one of his horses, spooked by the noise, got loose and wound up in a parking lot. Drysdale declined to identify the horse, until he had notified the owner, but indicated that she was not injured.

“There were trainers around me--Rick Mettee, Paco Gonzalez and Bob Marshall--who all had people chasing horses,” Drysdale said. “The problem was aggravated because it was at night. I saw one of Rick’s horses today and he didn’t look too good.”

The fireworks followed a six-hour racing card that drew 20,127 fans to Hollywood Park and accounted for an overall crowd of 44,020, counting satellite betting locations. The first race was run at 4 p.m. The total handle of $11.2 million broke a Hollywood record for a week day.

Trainer Gary Jones said that he put extra help at his barn because of the fireworks, and although some of his horses were unsettled, none got loose.

Horse Racing Notes

Pat Valenzuela, injured in a spill that led to the death of two horses that ran in Friday’s fifth race, was released from the hospital Saturday. Valenzuela, who suffered a bruised rib cage, complained of soreness and won’t ride today, with Gary Stevens replacing him aboard Never Round in the Silver Screen Handicap. Valenzuela has been named to ride horses entered on Monday’s card . . . Vying Victor is the 2-1 favorite in the Silver Screen. Natural Nine is 3-1, Never Round 4-1 and Capote Magique 5-1.

Tight Spot worked seven furlongs on the grass Saturday in 1:29 4/5 . . . In Excess, a horse-of-the-year candidate for 1991 until his ninth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, has been retired because of an injury suffered in the Nassau County Handicap at Belmont Park last month. In Excess won 11 of 25 starts, earning $1.7 million. Last year, he left California, where trainer Bruce Jackson said the tracks were not kind to his tender feet, and completed a whirlwind sweep of the Metropolitan, Suburban, Whitney and Woodward Handicaps in New York. Kelso had been the only horse to sweep those races.