HORSE RACING : Australasian Invasion Mounted With Rough Habit, Let’s Elope

Tie me kangaroo down, sport, it’s Australia week at Hollywood Park.

While American racing searches for a marquee name to capture the imagination of the public, two stars from Down Under will attract a ready-made cheering section of transplanted Aussies.

Australian heroes usually stay close to home, where their owners enjoy huge purses, bolstered by an extensive off-track betting network, and the horses are treated in a manner usually reserved for French chefs and Los Angeles hockey players.

But Let’s Elope, the modern queen of Australian racing, was ruled off in Australia after she had bled for a second time in competition. The rule has no exceptions. The 6-year-old mare has been in California for several months, training under the care of Ron McAnally, and could make her local debut in an allowance race next week.

Rough Habit, a blue-collar gelding in the John Henry mold, is taking advantage of a lull in the Australian flat racing schedule. He made the long journey this week from his training grounds in Taranaki, on the western coast of New Zealand’s north island, to run in the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 3.

Both horses were bred and raised in New Zealand before attaining fortune and fame across the Tasman Sea. Although Let’s Elope is probably the most famous Australasian thoroughbred to hit the West Coast since the legendary Phar Lap in 1932, Rough Habit is no slouch. He was rated second only to Let’s Elope at the end of the 1991-92 Australia-New Zealand season.

Rough Habit also sports a record of durability that makes American horses look like slackers.

During a 99-day span in the first half of 1992, Rough Habit ran in nine races, all but one rated a Group 1 event in either New Zealand or Australia. He won six, finished second twice and third once.

The blaze-faced bay came back with a campaign of similar intensity earlier this year, with seven races in nine weeks. He did not fare as well, winning only once, although he did have a second and two third-place finishes.

Rough Habit’s most recent flurry began on May 8 at Eagle Farm Race Course near Brisbane, where he is so popular, the locals named a racetrack bar in his honor. He ran five times in 43 days, most recently on June 12, when he was fifth in a Group 1 race of about seven furlongs.

There may be doubts about Rough Habit’s ability to handle dirt racing in a fast-paced, American-style event. There is no question, however, that he is an experienced shipper who has shrugged off the effects of his 19-hour flight from Auckland, via Honolulu.

“He’s done a lot of flying,” said Neville Wilson, who is supervising Rough Habit pending the Sunday arrival of trainer John Wheeler. “Back and forth from New Zealand to Australia in a wink. Up to Tokyo for the Japan Cup. He’s a real gentleman about it.”

Wilson is an accomplished racing photographer in New Zealand, but he was happy to put his business on hold for this adventure. Besides, he was a natural pick for the Hollywood Park trip. During the mid-1980s, he exercised horses for trainer John Gosden on the Southern California circuit.

Rough Habit will be stabled alongside trainer Kim Lloyd’s horses at Hollywood Park. Ten years ago, Lloyd was front-row center with a horse from Australasia making a sudden impact at Hollywood Park.

Pride of Rosewood, a 5-year-old mare, arrived in Los Angeles after the long flight from Auckland on May 22, 1983. She was supposed to run on May 30 in the Gamely Handicap against the best local turf mares.

“She spent two days in quarantine,” recalled Lloyd, who was an assistant to trainer Wayne Murty at the time. “When we got her, we had to do her teeth, give her new shoes, clip her coat and break her out of the gate. Eddie Delahoussaye worked her three-quarters of a mile about four days before the race, came back to us and said, ‘She’ll win.’ ”

She did.

The history of the Hollywood Gold Cup is replete with international influence. South African Colorado King won it in 1964. Italian champ Sirlad nearly upset Affirmed in 1978. Figonero and Kayak were from Argentina. Gallant Man, Perrault and Greinton began life in England, and Noor and Royal Serenade were Irish through and through.

Shannon II, bred in Australia, upstaged stablemate On Trust in winning the Gold Cup in 1948. Then, in 1963, the New Zealand-bred longshot Cadiz shocked a field that included Native Diver, Crimson Satan and Mr. Consistency.

“Here’s the way it goes,” said an Aussie race fan as he geared up for the week ahead. “If Rough Habit wins the Gold Cup, the headlines back home read ‘Australian Champion Comes Through.’ If he loses, it’s ‘New Zealand-bred Flops.’ ”

Horse Racing Notes

Apprentice jockey Sal Gonzalez Jr. had the most productive day of his career when he won four races Thursday at Hollywood Park. After winning the first with Marie De Siberie, Gonzalez, 17, won the third with Tokolosh, the fifth with High Mesa and completed his afternoon with a 13-1 upset on Local Lass in the eighth. . . . Saturday’s feature, honoring Times sports columnist Jim Murray, is topped by three horses from Bobby Frankel’s stable, including 1992 Pacific Classic winner Missionary Ridge. Twenty years ago, Murray described Frankel as “the only hot-walker in shed row who came to work in a Lincoln.” . . . Kent Desormeaux, who reached the 2,500-victory milestone Wednesday, took off his mounts at Hollywood Park on Thursday because of illness. . . . Best Pal, the probable top weight and favorite for the Hollywood Gold Cup, worked seven furlongs in 1:23 3/5 Thursday morning. Corey Black, his Gold Cup rider, was aboard for Gary Jones.