HOLLYWOOD PARK : Flawlessly Defeats a Trapped Jolypha by Nine Lengths

Kent Desormeaux had car trouble while in the San Diego area Sunday, causing him to miss his first three mounts on the card.

Desormeaux reached the track in time to win the seventh race, but a half-hour later, after finishing second with favored Jolypha in the $307,700 Beverly Hills Handicap, he probably wished he had stayed in San Diego.

With only three other horses in the 1 1/8-mile grass race, the 4-5 Jolypha and Desormeaux were trapped on the rail while Flawlessly, on the outside, scored a nine-length victory.

Desormeaux left the track to a chorus of boos from the crowd.

According to an eyewitness in the box seat area, Bobby Frankel, Jolypha’s trainer, threw his binoculars after the race. Approached by a member of the Hollywood Park publicity staff after the race, Frankel said: “How stupid can those . . . (jockeys) be. Don’t . . . talk to me. I don’t want to talk to anyone. Goodby.”

Desormeaux blamed Pat Valenzuela, aboard Party Cited, for Jolypha’s predicament. “I hope Pat bet on Flawlessly,” Desormeaux said. “That’s all I can say. Period. He was trying to get second. Second pays more than first, I guess. That’s all I can say.”

As Desormeaux watched the replay of the race in the jockeys’ room, he said: “The other horse (pace-setter Steff Graf) died quicker than Pat’s horse died.”

Asked to elaborate later, Desormeaux said: “You stood in front of the TV and watched the race. That’s exactly what happened.”

The French-raced Jolypha, making her second start since running third against males in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last October in her American debut, barely salvaged second place, by a nose over Party Cited, who finished two lengths ahead of Steff Graf. Toussaud, Jolypha’s stablemate, and Wedding Ring were scratched.

The furor over the ride by Desormeaux clouded a spectacular return by Flawlessly, the 1992 female grass champion who returned to action after a seven-month absence. The 5-year-old daughter of Affirmed and La Confidence, a Nijinsky II mare, became the first back-to-back winner of the Beverly Hills since Swingtime in 1977-78.

Charlie Whittingham, who saddled Flawlessly, also trained Swingtime. “She’s an older, stronger mare,” Whittingham said of Flawlessly, and when asked about Jolypha’s problems, he said: “They (Jolypha’s camp) had trouble when I entered my mare on Friday.”

Describing the way he rode Party Cited, Valenzuela said: “I had the second horse (Jolypha) inside of me, and I was trying to catch (Flawlessly). Chris (McCarron) was long gone and I couldn’t hold second. I mean, the second horse probably was much the best, but you have to ride for your owners and get all the money you can. Once I saw that I couldn’t win it, I tried to get second and just couldn’t do it.”

Flawlessly, timed in 1:47, paid $3.80 as the second choice, winning for the 12th time in 20 starts. The purse of $180,200 pushed her earnings over the $1.5-million mark for her owners and breeders, Louis and Patrice Wolfson.

“She had been training so well that it was scary,” jockey Chris McCarron said of Flawlessly. “She had been moving forward so much better this time than she had for this race last year. But when Charlie says they’re fit, you know they’re fit. She’s a champion. I was very confident.”

Flawlessly, who carried 123 pounds Sunday, two more than Jolypha, also won last year’s Beverly Hills after a seven-month layoff.

Horse Racing Notes

Hollywood Park-based trainer Mark Hennig had a big day for the Team Valor Stable, saddling Star of Cozzene to win the $500,000 Caesars International Handicap at Atlantic City and also winning the $114,500 Locust Grove Handicap at Churchill Downs with Lady Blessington. Jose Santos rode Star of Cozzene, who evened his rivalry with Lure at two victories apiece by overtaking the Claiborne Farm runner in the last sixteenth of a mile for a one-length victory. Lure, the 4-5 favorite, was 9 1/4 lengths ahead of Finder’s Choice, the third-place horse, and Val Des Bois ran fourth. Star of Cozzene, utilizing the rain-soaked course that he prefers, paid $7 to win, running 1 3/16 miles on a turf officially listed as firm in 1:53 1/5. At Churchill, Corey Black rode Lady Blessington to a half-length win over Gone Seeking. Lady Blessington, paying $6.80, ran 1 1/8 miles on grass in 1:50.

Best Pal has been assigned high weight of 121 pounds for Saturday’s $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup. Of the expected starters, the other weights are 118 for Bertrando, Marquetry and Sir Beaufort; 117 for Latin American and Rough Habit; 115 for Missionary Ridge and Potrillion; 114 for Lottery Winner and 113 for Major Impact. . . . Alex Solis suffered a minor leg injury in the third race and took off the rest of his mounts. . . . Chris McCarron rode three winners. . . . In a race simulcast from Golden Gate Fields, Flagship Commander, a 2-year-old gelding ridden by Martin Pedroza and trained by Bob Baffert, scored a five-length victory in the $100,000 Ladbroke Futurity. Flagship Commander’s first start, against maidens at Hollywood Park on June 9, resulted in a four-length victory.