THOROUGHBRED RACING : Big Day of Racing at Belmont: Five Stakes Worth $1.2 Million

Bob Brennan said that today’s stakes overflow at Belmont Park will be the best day racing has had since last year’s Breeders’ Cup.

“Just looking at the horses running on this card gives me goose bumps,” said Brennan, whose undefeated 2-year-old colt, Dehere, is part of the show.

It’s a show that will still go on, said Belmont executive vice president Jerry Lawrence, even though Friday’s program was canceled because heavy rains washed out a section of the track.

No rain is in the forecast for the rest of the weekend in New York, and Lawrence said that he expected his track crew to have the racing strip repaired by today.

With the prospect of a main track that will be off and a turf course that will be less than firm, handicappers were retreating to further research five stakes that will be worth more than $1.2 million. Many of the survivors will be heading to California, to run in the seven races on the $10-million Breeders’ Cup day at Santa Anita on Nov. 6.

Besides the $100,000 Futurity, with Dehere the 3-5 favorite, the other Belmont stakes today are the $500,000 Woodward for older dirt horses; the $400,000 Man o’ War on the grass; the $100,000 Matron for 2-year-old fillies; and the $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap for sprinters.

Three of the six horses running in the 1 1/8-mile Woodward will earn an additional $900,000 bonus that goes to the top point-getters in the American Championship Racing Series. The Woodward is the last of the nine- race series.

Devil His Due, winner of two races in the series, is the leader in the battle for the $550,000 first-place bonus with 31 points. The three horses right behind him--Valley Crossing with 25 points, Missionary Ridge with 24 and Bertrando with 22--are also running today. With the first five finishers in the Woodward earning points on a 10-7-5-3-1 basis, Devil His Due can win the $550,000 by finishing third.

Bertrando, who is running with an entrymate, Missionary Ridge, is a free-running colt who won’t be hurt if the track comes up muddy. In the slop at Santa Anita in January, Bertrando ran off and won by nine lengths in the San Fernando Handicap.

Considered suspect at 1 1/4 miles before his victory over Best Pal at Del Mar, Bertrando is returning to the nine-furlong distance that suits his style and stamina. The Belmont linemaker has made the Bobby Frankel-trained entry the 8-5 favorite, followed by Devil His Due at 2-1, West By West at 5-2 and Valley Crossing and Miner’s Mark at 6-1. Under weight-for-age conditions, all of the horses will carry 126 pounds except Miner’s Mark, who’s assigned 121 pounds because he’s only a 3-year-old.

The last time Devil His Due ran, in the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga, he was third, beaten 4 1/4 lengths by Brunswick, a horse who had a 10-pound break in the weights.

Star Of Cozzene is a 2-1 favorite in the Man o’ War, and his price should be even shorter by post time, with the turf expected to be soft as it was last month, when the 5-year-old romped to an easy victory in the Arlington Million.

“He’s unbeatable in the soft going,” said Barry Irwin, president of the Team Valor syndicate that campaigns Star Of Cozzene.

The Man o’ War distance is 1 3/8 miles, 220 yards longer than the Arlington Million, and there are some other soft-turf lovers in the nine-horse field. Spectacular Tide won on a damp course at Saratoga six weeks ago, and Serrant, who’s run only in France, saw soft going frequently. Against lesser competition, Serrant has won nine in a row and 11 of 13 overall.

Also running in the Man o’ War are Furiously, who beat Star Of Cozzene on firm ground with a better trip at Saratoga; Bien Bien, one of California’s best grass horses; Solar Splendor, winner of the stake the last two years; Dear Doctor, second to Solar Splendor both times; Dr. Kiernan and Antartic Wings. Solar Splendor doesn’t win much else besides the Man o’ War. He has a 2-for-12 record the last two years.

Dehere is a grandson of Secretariat, who won the Futurity in 1972, en route to two consecutive horse-of-the-year titles. After beating maidens at Monmouth Park in June, Dehere swept the three Saratoga races for male 2-year-olds. Slew Gin Fizz, second to Dehere twice at Saratoga, will try again today, and his bloodlines aren’t too shabby, either. His grandfather is Seattle Slew.

Horse Racing Notes

Slerp, winner of the Pat O’Brien Handicap at Del Mar, will carry 137 pounds in the Fall Highweight Handicap, two pounds more than Senor Speedy and Fly So Free, the next horses in the weights . . . Strategic Maneuver, undefeated in three starts, is the 8-5 favorite in the Matron . . . On Sunday at Belmont, Paseana will battle Turnback the Alarm and three others in the $200,000 Ruffian Handicap.

The Molson Export Million for 3-year-olds, at Woodbine on Sunday, drew six starters, including Sea Hero, winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Travers; Colonial Affair, winner of the Belmont Stakes; and Peteski, Canada’s Triple Crown champion. Others running are Kissin Kris, Cheery Knight and Truth of It All. Sea Hero is the 8-5 favorite.

John Maluvius, who worked as a racing official at every major track in California, died Wednesday at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood. Maluvius, 81, had undergone recent treatment for a brain tumor. Maluvius, who worked as racing secretary at Hollywood Park and Del Mar, was the last survivor from the roster of racing officials who worked opening day at Santa Anita on Dec. 25, 1934. Maluvius is survived by Dorothy Maluvius, his wife of 58 years.