HOLLYWOOD PARK : Region Wins Bel Air Handicap; Sea Cadet Is Last in Comeback

A horse returning from a layoff won the $160,300 Bel Air Handicap at Hollywood Park on Sunday, but his name wasn’t Sea Cadet.

Sea Cadet, who has earned $1.7 million, spotted Region two pounds and about 16 months and couldn’t pull it off. Region, idle since a last-place finish in the Santa Anita Handicap on March 5, carried 117 pounds to a narrow victory over Tinners Way, also under 117 pounds, in the Bel Air, while Sea Cadet, out of action since Nov. 21, 1992, ran last in a field of six as the 119-pound highweight.

“Where had that horse (Region) been?” asked Ron McAnally, the trainer of Sea Cadet, after the winner ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:40 1/5, matching the stakes record and missing Power Forward’s 1987 track record by a fifth of a second.

Told that Region had been sidelined because of an ulcerated throat, McAnally said: “That sounds like my horse. He couldn’t get any air after three-quarters of a mile. He was making a loud sound, some kind of a noise. He had epiglottis surgery the year before last, but he still makes a noise. But at least he came back sound.”

Region was ridden by Gary Stevens, who was drafted by trainer Richard Mandella after Corey Nakatani suffered what is believed to be a minor injury to his left wrist in the third race. His mount, Stolen Loot, broke down near the quarter pole. At first Nakatani said that he would only sit out a few races and return for the Bel Air, but then he took off for the rest of the day. Stolen Loot suffered a broken right foreleg and was destroyed.

Eddie Delahoussaye, who had ridden Region in the Big ‘Cap, might also have been a possible replacement, but he is recovering from nasal surgery.

Region, a 5-year-old gelded son of Devil’s Bag, the champion 2-year-old colt in 1983, and State, a Nijinsky II mare, races for his Kentucky breeder, Caliborne Farm. The third choice behind 3-2 Tinners Way and 5-2 Sea Cadet, Region paid $8.60 and earned $92,800 for his seventh victory in 19 starts. Tinners Way, beaten by a neck, finished three lengths ahead of Williamstown, who led the way until the top of the stretch.

Stevens found room on the rail, an opening that might have belonged to Tinners Way and Kent Desormeaux.

“We didn’t get outrun, we got outrode,” Desormeaux said. “I was right where the winner was, and I elected not to take the chance of getting trapped. So I swung three-wide. Then the winner filled the spot that I was in. Unfortunately, that’s what happened.”

Stevens rides frequently for Mandella, recently winning the Beverly Hills Handicap with Corrazona.

“The hole opened at the five-sixteenths (pole),” Stevens said. “I moved a little earlier than I normally would. I was afraid it might be a little too early and that he was going to get a little tired, which he did.”

Stevens had ridden Region once before, finishing in a dead heat for first place with Finder’s Fortune in an allowance at Santa Anita in 1993. The Bel Air was Region’s first victory since the Skywalker Handicap at Santa Anita eight months ago. Other than the Big ‘Cap, his only other start this year had been a third-place finish--later changed to second after a disqualification--in the San Antonio Handicap.

Region was coughing after he ran so poorly in the Big ‘Cap. “We were pretty excited about him going into the year, and he ran a good race in the San Antonio,” Mandella said. “When they found the ulceration, between the epiglottis and the soft palate, I took him to my farm and we spent a month flushing it out and cleaning it up.”

Besides the throat, another of Region’s problems appeared to be that he didn’t believe how good he was.

“He would get intimidated by horses, and that would make him hard to ride,” Mandella said. “But now he’s a sweetheart to ride. We started training him with inferior horses in the mornings, and he was so much better than them, that got his confidence up.”

Region might give Mandella two runners in the $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 13. The other probable is Best Pal, who won the race in 1991, when Gary Jones trained him. Best Pal’s Pacific Classic prep is expected to be the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on July 30.

Horse Racing Notes

Alex Solis, the meet’s leading jockey, appealed a five-day suspension, then dropped the appeal and will begin serving it on Wednesday. Solis leads Gary Stevens in winners, 76-64. . . . Laffit Pincay on Sunday rode at River Downs, the track near Cincinnati, and won the $150,000 Budweiser Breeders’ Cup Stake with Highland Crystal, trained by Barclay Tagg. Pincay won the Gamely Handicap at Hollywood Park with Tagg’s Miss Josh in 1991.

Garrett Gomez, a leading Midwest jockey, has arrived in California and will begin riding at Hollywood on Wednesday. On successive days in April, Gomez won the Arkansas Derby with Concern at Oaklawn Park and the Lexington Stakes with Southern Rhythm at Keeneland. Gomez finished third with Concern in the Preakness.

Hollywood Wildcat, who isn’t expected to run, was assigned high weight of 124 pounds for next Sunday’s $300,000 Vanity Handicap. The starting highweight probably will be Golden Klair at 119 pounds. . . . Grand Flotilla was given the high weight of 119 pounds for the $250,000 Sunset Handicap, which will also be run on Sunday.