HORSE RACING : Pleasant Tap Will Skip Last Races in ACRS

Pleasant Tap moved from ninth place into a tie for third in the American Championship Racing Series standings by winning the Suburban Handicap on Saturday, but trainer Chris Speckert has no plans to run the 5-year-old horse in the last two races on the schedule.

The last two stops on the nine-race tour are the $500,000 Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park on Aug. 8 and the $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 30. But instead of running in them, with a better chance at $1.5 million in bonuses, Speckert will keep Pleasant Tap in New York, where he probably will run in the $500,000 Woodward on Sept. 19 and the $850,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Oct. 10.

Speckert wants to keep Pleasant Tap at Belmont Park, where in his last two starts he has won the Suburban and finished second, beaten by a neck, in a trouble-filled Nassau County Handicap.

Strike The Gold, winner of the Nassau and second in the Suburban, picked up seven points and became the new leader in the championship series with 27 points. Best Pal, probably sidelined for the year because of a leg injury, is next with 23 points, followed by Twilight Agenda, Sea Cadet and Pleasant Tap with 17 points apiece. First place in any of the races is worth 10 points.

The point leader at the end of the series will earn $750,000, with the next three finishers earning $375,000, $225,000 and $150,000, respectively.

“Three million dollars is enough for me,” said Speckert, when asked about the bonuses. He was referring to the $3-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park on Oct. 31, which is the ultimate goal for Pleasant Tap.

Thomas Mellon Evans owns Pleasant Tap and Another Review, who is also trained by Speckert. Another Review is scheduled to run in the Pacific Classic. He was third in the Hollywood Gold Cup, which was race No. 6 in the championship series, and has only five points in the bonus standings.

With Pleasant Tap and Best Pal out of the picture, Strike The Gold could clinch the $750,000 bonus with a victory in the Iselin.

Reports that David Vance would replace Cliff Goodrich of Santa Anita as the chairman of the board of the ACRS were confirmed Monday.

A vice president of the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp., which owns Remington Park, Thistledown and Louisiana Downs, Vance is also a trustee of the New York Racing Assn.

“I’ve enjoyed serving (as chairman) for two years,” Goodrich said, “but it’s time to make a change.”

The Santa Anita Handicap was part of the series the first two years, but there have been reports that Santa Anita might not participate next year. One of Vance’s jobs will be restoring the strength of the series, which will lose Oaklawn Park as a participant after two years.

Horse Racing Notes

A.P. Indy, the Belmont winner, might run next in the Del Mar Budweiser Breeders’ Cup Stakes at a mile on Sept. 13. . . . Trainer Francois Boutin said that Arazi’s next start will be at Longchamp in Paris on Sept. 6. . . . Chris McCarron took off his mounts at Hollywood Park to attend the second week of a trial in federal court in Los Angeles. McCarron and Laffit Pincay are suing their former business managers. Pincay rode Monday and had two winners.