Tabasco Cat Makes Grass Debut Today : Hollywood Park: After 17 starts on dirt, he now faces 13 rivals in the $400,000 Hollywood Derby.

The first time John Henry ran on grass, after winning three of 18 starts on dirt, he won by 14 lengths. What followed was a mostly grass career that produced four Eclipse Awards for turf and a grass record of 30 victories and $5.2 million in purses.

Lure struggled on dirt at the start of his career. Introduced to grass at Belmont Park, the same track where John Henry had made his turf debut 14 years before, Lure won by 10 1/4 lengths and went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 1992 and ’93.

Unlike John Henry and Lure, Prized was already a major winner on dirt when he made his first grass start--in a $2-million race, the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park in 1989. Prized’s $900,000 victory in that race accounted for almost half the money he earned.

Into this uncertain realm comes Tabasco Cat, who has already accomplished quite a bit on dirt, having won the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, the last two legs of this year’s Triple Crown, while earning $2.3 million.

Tabasco Cat’s grass debut, after 17 starts on dirt, could hardly come in a tougher spot: Today’s $400,000 Hollywood Derby will be run only two weeks after his 11th race of the year, a narrow loss to Concern in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. And he will be racing 13 rivals in a field that makes racing luck a prerequisite.

For this 1 1/8-mile test, Tabasco Cat worked a half-mile Tuesday in :48 4/5. The workout was at Santa Anita and on dirt--not at the track or over the surface he will be competing on in the Hollywood Derby. In fact, Tabasco Cat has never worked on grass.

“Working a horse on grass for a grass race is overrated,” trainer Wayne Lukas said. “This horse has a nice, round foot that should be perfect for the grass.”

Tabasco Cat’s sire, Storm Cat, had an abbreviated career on dirt, but Storm Cat’s sire, Storm Bird, was a champion 2-year-old on grass in England and Ireland.

Tabasco Cat, who will be ridden for the 14th consecutive race by Pat Day, drew post position No. 6.

Here is the field, in order of post: Marvin’s Faith, Yokohama, Powis Castle, Signe Divin, Fadeyev, Tabasco Cat, Lahint, Numerous, River Flyer, Pollock’s Luck, Unfinished Symph, Dare And Go, Torch Rouge and Eagle Eyed. Fadeyev and Lahint will be coupled in the betting, with all horses carrying 122 pounds.

There will be two other grass stakes today, with seven entered in the $250,000 Citation Handicap at 1 1/4 miles and 12 scheduled to run in the $150,000 Hollywood Turf Express at 5 1/2 furlongs.

Jeune Homme, winner of last year’s Citation, is back from France for another try, carrying 117 pounds. Beneficial is the high weight at 118. Others running are Square Cut, Captain Rock, Wharf and the entry of Southern Wish and Shandon Lake.

Soviet Problem, runner-up to Cherokee Run in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, would have been favored in the Turf Express, but her owners have chosen to run her in a $1.8-million race, the Sprinters Stakes, in Japan on Dec. 18. Cool Air, another filly, was second to Soviet Problem in the Laurel Dash and has drawn the No. 10 post today. She will carry 122 pounds, spotting her opponents four to nine pounds. Ocean Indien drew the rail, and the rest of the lineup consists of Sir Hutch, D’Hallevant, Gundaghia, Ke Express, Wild Gold, Rotsaluck, Marina Park, Lost Pan, Troyalty and Starolamo.

Horse Racing Notes

Post time for today’s first race is 12:10 p.m. and the Hollywood Derby, the second live race on the card, is scheduled for 12:40. It will be shown on ESPN. . . . Exchange and Hollywood Wildcat, who were sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, will return to grass next Sunday in the $400,000 Matriarch. Exchange is being supplemented into the race for $20,000. . . . Slew Of Damascus, unraced since his fourth-place finish in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar in August, is being supplemented, for $7,500, into the Hollywood Mile next Sunday.