HOLLYWOOD PARK : Sleep Easy Has Hot Frankel Dreaming Big

Trainer Bob Baffert has a suggestion about Hollywood Park and if it were voted upon right now, it would probably pass in a landslide.

“They ought to call this place Frankel Park,” Baffert said after his Texinadress finished second to Bobby Frankel’s Sleep Easy in the $109,600 Railbird Stakes on Saturday.

Continuing a roll that began at Santa Anita, Frankel won twice more to give him 14 victories in 41 races through the first 23 days of the meeting and the Railbird was his fourth stakes success.

Beneficiary of the outside post in the field of eight 3-year-old fillies, Sleep Easy sat off the early pace, then wore down Texinadress in the final yards to win by three-quarters of a length under Corey Nakatani in 1:22 2/5 for the seven furlongs.

It was the second victory in three starts for the daughter of Seattle Slew, a surprising success for Frankel, who trains her for Juddmonte Farms.

“I wasn’t particularly high on this filly [before she ran],” he said. “I have another one [Call Account] I thought was better than her, but she’s got bad shins and probably won’t run until Del Mar.

“The first time I ran [Sleep Easy] it didn’t look like there was much speed in the race, so we sent her out of there and she ran better than I thought she could [a 6 1/2-length victory April 1 at Santa Anita]. The next time [May 6], I really didn’t want to run her seven furlongs. I wanted to run her long, but the long race didn’t go, so I had to stick her in there.

“She got stuck down inside, and she seems to like the outside a lot better. She showed a lot more courage on the outside. She’s lightly raced and I hope she can go on and do better things.”

Frankel will get his chance to run Sleep Easy at a distance next time. He plans to start her in the $100,000 Princess Stakes at 1 1/16 miles June 18.

“The key this time was that she drew a decent post,” Nakatani said. “She had a lot of trouble down on the inside last time. I think she’ll be able to go on. She makes a little noise breathing, but I can’t say that will stop her from going long. As long as she relaxes, I think she’ll be fine.”

Texinadress finished 2 1/2 lengths ahead of 32-1 shot Laguna Seca, who rallied from last. Denim Yenem, the 3-1 second choice, finished fifth.

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Hoping to move closer to Dance Smartly on the all-time earnings list for fillies and mares, Paseana is the 8-5 favorite against six opponents in the $100,000 Hawthorne Handicap.

With 18 victories in 33 starts and $3,070,403 in purses, Paseana is $193,433 short of the $3.2 million banked by Dance Smartly in her three-year career.

In the 1 1/16 mile Hawthorne, the first prep for the Vanity, Hollywood Park’s top race for fillies and mares, owner Sid and Jenny Craig’s 8-year-old mare will be trying to win for the first time in 1995. She was second in the Santa Maria and Santa Margarita at Santa Anita, then was third behind Heavenly Prize and Halo America in the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park last month.

She will be returning to perhaps her favorite track because she has four victories and a second in five tries at Hollywood Park. She will also be trying to end a three-year losing streak in the Hawthorne for trainer Ron McAnally, who had won the race three consecutive times before that.

The 9-5 second choice is the Martin and Pam Wygod entry of Pirate’s Revenge and Jacodra’s Devil, and the former is the stronger half of the duo.

A winner of seven of 15, Pirate’s Revenge ran her best race in her last appearance, winning the Miss Hollywood Park by nine lengths. Jacodra’s Devil is also coming off a victory, having taken the Santa Anita Budweiser Breeders’ Cup Handicap on April 16.

The rest of the field includes Top Rung, Tocopilla, Borodislew and Angi Go, who made it 15 victories in 28 starts when she won the seven-furlong A Gleam Handicap three weeks ago.

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Given the recent history of the $500,000 Hollywood Turf Handicap, Vaudeville is the horse to beat in the Grade I, which will be run Monday.

The 4-year-old will be ridden by Gary Stevens, who has won the Turf Handicap three of the last four years. He won twice for Bobby Frankel and Juddmonte Farms in 1991 and 1992 with Exbourne and Quest For Fame, then last year, scored a $30.60 upset on Grand Flotilla for trainer Jenine Sahadi and owner Mike Sloan.

Vaudeville was among 10 horses entered Saturday morning for the best race through the first 25 days of the Hollywood Park season, and the high weight and probable favorite will be Sandpit.

Shortening up in distance after finding the 1 3/4 miles of the San Juan Capistrano a bit much, Sandpit will break from the outside as he tries to start a new winning streak for trainer Richard Mandella.

Also scheduled are Celtic Arms, who won last year’s French Derby and was a troubled second in his 1995 debut; the filly Wandesta, who won a pair of Grade I stakes at Santa Anita; Del Mar Dennis, who will be trying turf for only the second time in his career; Savinio, Earl Of Barking, Talloires, Beneficial and Cocooning, who was claimed for $10,000 by owner-trainer Sam Aldabbagh last summer.

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Horse Racing Notes

The Peter Pan will be simulcast from Belmont Park today between the second and third races. . . . Trainer Wesley Ward was fined $1,000 by the Hollywood Park board of stewards Saturday after Wild Spice, who finished second in the first race on May 4, was shown to have been treated with bute in excess of the permitted level.