THOROUGHBRED RACING / BILL CHRISTINE : Strodes Creek Has the Look of a Favorite

At Belmont Park’s Barn 1, trainer Charlie Whittingham peered through the webbing that served as a front door for Strodes Creek’s stall. The big, dark brown colt was stretched out diagonally on a bed of straw, taking an early-morning nap despite the hubbub along shed row.

“Look at him,” Whittingham said approvingly. “Nothing worries him. There’s not a nerve in his body.”

At almost 8-1 in the Kentucky Derby, Strodes Creek was a shorter price than he had a right to be. He had run in only one stake, finishing third behind Brocco and Tabasco Cat in the Santa Anita Derby. Neither of his two victories was at a distance beyond a mile. At Churchill Downs, they were betting on Whittingham more than the horse, and the Hall of Fame trainer almost won his third Derby when Strodes Creek finished second, two lengths behind Go For Gin.

Now, for the 126th running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, Strodes Creek may be overbet again. In a preliminary line published by Roxy Roxborough, the Las Vegas oddsmaker, Strodes Creek, still without a stakes victory, is the 2-1 favorite, followed by Brocco and Go For Gin, each at 5-2, and Preakness winner Tabasco Cat at 4-1. The other probable starters--Amathos, Signal Tap and Ulises--will go off at much higher prices.

Asked if the early odds surprised him, Go For Gin’s trainer, Nick Zito, said: “Yes and no. Maybe Strodes Creek’s getting all the support because Charlie has told some people that he’s got the Belmont in his back pocket.”

Whittingham is neither surprised nor apologetic about being the possible Belmont favorite. The only times he has run in the Belmont, he came with Kentucky Derby winners, and both were beaten at short prices. Ferdinand, the second choice, ran third on a sloppy track in 1986, and Sunday Silence, who could have had a $5-million payday with a victory and a Triple Crown sweep in 1989, was 9-10 when he finished second, eight lengths behind Easy Goer.

“This track (the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Park, which is the same circumference as the distance of the race) is perfect for Strodes Creek,” Whittingham said. “It’s got sweeping turns, the kind that are made to order for a big-striding horse like this.”

Strodes Creek was withheld from the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, second leg of the Triple Crown. His stablemate, Numerous, finished fifth after a terrible start from the outside post at Pimlico. Whittingham will run Numerous in the $100,000 Colin, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds on Saturday’s Belmont card.

“Numerous has already run his 1 1/2-mile race,” Whittingham cracked. “After that start, that’s what it took for him to get around the track at Pimlico. I probably would have run Strodes Creek there, too, if the bonus was still at stake. It’s just as well that I didn’t. He’s had a lot of races this year, and he really didn’t become a 3-year-old until after the Derby.”

Horses automatically gain a year on Jan. 1, but Strodes Creek was foaled on May 17, 1991.

Despite losing to Easy Goer in the Belmont, Sunday Silence scored enough bonus points in the Derby and Preakness to earn an extra $1 million in 1989. The Chrysler Corp. dropped the bonus after last year, retaining the $5-million guarantee for a Triple Crown sweep.

Strodes Creek races for the three-way partnership of Whittingham, Arthur B. Hancock III and Robert and Janice McNair. Hancock, who owns the dam, Bottle Top, received a full brother to Strodes Creek about a month ago when she foaled a colt who was also sired by Halo.

Strodes Creek was not among the many horses that broke badly in the Kentucky Derby, but he ran into trouble on the first turn.

“He was going to be in good position but got shuffled back,” Whittingham said. “That left him with an extra five lengths that he had to make up.”

Strodes Creek gave Whittingham a scare Sunday morning at Belmont. After a two-mile gallop, his regular exercise rider, Sonia Simmons, sensed that he took a bad step, and jumped off instead of riding him back to the barn. Strodes Creek was returned in a horse ambulance, but extensive X-rays showed no problems.

“The horse was perfectly sound the next day,” Simmons said. “I think he bothered his testicle during the gallop. I thought that he might have hit himself or fractured one of his legs, and that’s why I jumped off, to see what happened. It seemed very bizarre, but it’s the only conclusion we can come to. He galloped a mile Monday morning, and he did it perfectly. It was just one of those freak accidents.”

Like A.P. Indy, who won the Belmont and was voted horse of the year in 1992, Strodes Creek had one testicle surgically removed. The operation normally doesn’t prevent a horse from becoming a breeder.

The Strodes Creek incident Sunday capped an eventful weekend for the 81-year-old Whittingham, who was taken to a nearby hospital Friday morning after complaining of stomach pains. He was released after a series of tests were taken.

“I think I ate some chicken that didn’t agree with me,” Whittingham said.

Apparently the problem was unrelated to a hospital visit that Whittingham made in Louisville, a week before the Derby. The diagnosis that time was an impacted bowel.

“I’m all right,” Whittingham said Wednesday. “I’d rather be here with a bad stomach than a bad horse.”

Horse Racing Notes

Chris McCarron, who will ride Go For Gin in the Belmont Stakes, has the mount on Numerous in the Colin. McCarron rode Numerous to victory in the Kentucky Derby Trial. . . . With Jerry Bailey riding Strodes Creek, Craig Perret has picked up the mount on Ulises. . . . Tabasco Cat was the last Belmont horse to arrive in New York. He had been training at Churchill Downs since winning the Preakness. . . . Trainer Charlie Whittingham plans to be at Hollywood Park on Sunday to saddle double Eclipse Award winner Flawlessly in the Gamely Handicap. . . . Scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast for Friday, and there’s also a chance of rain Saturday. Go For Gin, who won the Kentucky Derby in the slop, has three victories and two seconds in five starts on off tracks.