HOLLYWOOD PARK : Weight, Valkyr No Worry for Soviet Problem

A California girl who has done her share of traveling, Soviet Problem may be hitting the road again after a successful return to the races on a special 14-race, Saturday night program at Hollywood Park.

Doing exactly what she was supposed to at 2-5 odds in the $107,500 Valkyr Handicap--namely, win--the 5-year-old Moscow Ballet mare may be on her way to South America.

Her connections--owners John Harris and Don Valpredo and trainer Greg Gilchrist--have broached the possibility of sending her to Brazil for a $500,000, five-furlong sprint on Aug. 5.

Carrying the highest impost of her career--127 pounds--over a turf course softened by rain, Soviet Problem went right to the front under Chris McCarron while pressured by longshot Gorky Square. Soviet Problem disposed of her, drew three lengths clear in the stretch, then had more than enough left to beat 5-2 second choice Flying In The Lane by a length.

In winning the Valkyr for the second consecutive year and winning her 15th of 20 starts, she ran the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:02 2/5.

Flying In The Lane, who had won her previous start on the Hollywood Park course, finished three-quarters of a length ahead of 15-1 shot Snowy’s Mark. Then came Miss Intergreen, Gorky Square and Mystical Sky.

“She felt great and ran super,” said McCarron of Soviet Problem, who hadn’t raced since Dec. 18. “She broke good and made the lead easy enough. I asked her to run coming off the turn and she responded.

“The weight might have been getting to her a little bit, but she didn’t get tired at all. She was very strong coming back after the race.”

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Sleep Easy, who has won two of her three starts for trainer Bobby Frankel, is the 2-1 favorite in the $100,000 Princess Stakes today at Hollywood Park.

A 3-year-old daughter of Seattle Slew owned and bred by Juddmonte Farms, Sleep Easy will be trying two turns for the first time in the 1 1/16-mile Princess, which is a prep for next month’s Hollywood Oaks.

Helped by her outside post on a day on which the track was favoring those racing in the outside lanes, she won the seven-furlong Railbird Stakes by a length in her most recent appearance.

Three fillies who chased her that day--runner-up Texinadress, third-place finisher Laguna Seca and Predicted Glory, who was sixth--are back in the Princess. The 3-1 second choice is Artica, who returns to the main track after seven races on the turf.

Horse Racing Notes

Jockey David Flores, who was dumped by Miss Heaven Sent after she finished seventh in the sixth race Friday night, was taken to Centinela Hospital Medical Center after complaining of neck pains. He was discharged from the emergency room and rode Saturday night. . . . There will be another 14-race card today at Hollywood Park, but the post time is the usual 1 p.m. . . . Jockey Matt Garcia will begin a five-day suspension on Wednesday for an incident while riding Shaker in Friday night’s sixth race.