THOROUGHBRED RACING : Thunder Gulch Comes Back for Swaps Stakes

The winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, a mare who could become No. 1 on the distaffers’ money list and the leading candidate for the national grass title are all entered to run in three stakes on the closing weekend of the season at Hollywood Park.

Thunder Gulch, who sandwiched his Derby and Belmont victories around a close-up third-place finish in the Preakness, is the 3-5 favorite in a field of seven 3-year-olds in Sunday’s $500,000 Swaps Stakes, which will be run at a shorter distance of 1 1/8 miles for the first time.

In the race before the Swaps, Paseana can displace Dance Smartly as the richest female to race in North America by winning the $300,000 Vanity Handicap. The record of $3.2 million was set by Dance Smartly, with the help of a $1-million bonus, when she raced in 1990-92.

Ron McAnally, who trains Paseana, said Thursday that he would recommend to the 8-year-old mare’s owners, Sidney and Jenny Craig, that she be retired if she wins the Vanity for the second time. Paseana is the 4-5 favorite against six rivals.

There’s a $312,500 bonus on the line Saturday for Sandpit, the 6-5 favorite against only four opponents in the $250,000 Caesars Palace Turf Championship, which has been run since 1938 as the Sunset Handicap.

Sandpit, who became eligible for the bonus when the 6-year-old Brazilian-bred won the Caesars International Handicap at Atlantic City a month ago, could enable trainer Richard Mandella to finish a sorry season with a flourish. The Mandella barn, which ranks third nationally with more than $3.7 million in purses, has won only four races at the Hollywood meet, but one of those was last Sunday’s Bel Air Handicap with Soul Of The Matter.

Hollywood Park’s 67-day season ends Monday; the $100,000 Juvenile Championship highlights the card.

As he has for 12 of the last 13 years, Wayne Lukas heads the trainers’ money list with $5.8 million, about 28% of the total coming from Thunder Gulch, who won the Florida Derby before the Triple Crown series began. Thunder Gulch hasn’t run at Hollywood Park since he was second, 6 1/2 lengths behind Afternoon Deelites, in the Hollywood Futurity in December.

A son of Gulch and Line Of Thunder, Thunder Gulch was foaled on May 23, 1992.

“He wasn’t a 3-year-old yet when they ran the first two legs of the Triple Crown,” Lukas said. “He’s matured and his strength level has improved. Whether he’s mentally sharp for racing is the unknown factor going into this race.”

Thunder Gulch will carry 126 pounds again, the same as in the Triple Crown races, but will be spotting the six other horses four to 14 pounds. Weights for the Swaps are determined by finishes in other races.

At 118 pounds, and second on the morning line at 5-2, is Mr Purple, who comes from the same barn as Paseana. Mr Purple, who skipped the Triple Crown, is undefeated in four dirt starts at Hollywood, two of them at the current meet.

T.J.’s Gold, who’s 20-1, never having run in a stake, drew the No. 1 post and has an impost of 112 pounds, a few pounds less than what his jockey, Eddie Delahoussaye, usually rides at. The rest of the lineup, in order, consists of Mr Purple, Corey Nakatani, 118 pounds, 5-2 odds; To Be Khaled, Goncalino Almeida, 112, 30-1; Thunder Gulch, Gary Stevens, 126, 3-5; Petionville, Chris Antley, 120, 8-1; Da Hoss, Chris McCarron, 118, 15-1, and Dazzling Falls, Laffit Pincay, 122, 8-1.

Nakatani, who already has clinched his first Hollywood riding title and leads the country in purses with $8.6 million, will be trying for his fifth stakes victory astride Sandpit. In his last start locally, Sandpit was second to Earl Of Barking, beaten by 2 1/4 lengths in the Hollywood Turf Handicap on May 29.

Sandpit is on the outside, carrying 124 pounds for the 1 1/2 miles. Inside him, starting at the rail, are Liyoun, with Stevens riding, at 115 pounds and 12-1 odds; Special Price, Delahoussaye, 122 pounds, 7-5; Urgent Request, Pat Valenzuela, 118 pounds, 10-1, and Jahafil, McCarron, 117 pounds, 5-1. Special Price, a French import, has been with trainer Neil Drysdale in California this year and won the Golden Gate Stakes by seven lengths at Golden Gate Fields in his last start.

Paseana will be carrying 123 pounds, four less than when she won the Vanity in 1992. Here’s the post-position lineup for the 1 1/8-mile race:

Wandesta, Nakatani, 119 pounds, 2-1; Real Connection, Pincay, 113, 20-1; Melrose Wine, David Flores, 111, 20-1; Paseana, McCarron, 123, 4-5; Private Persuasion, Stevens, 114, 10-1; Jackpot Jenny, Almeida, 110, 20-1, and Top Rung, Delahoussaye, 116, 5-1. Pirate’s Revenge, who upset Paseana by 3 1/2 lengths in the Milady Handicap last month, is unable to run.

Horse Racing Notes

Wayne Lukas said that because Timber Country, his Preakness winner, has missed a couple of workouts because of 100-degree heat in New Jersey, the filly Serena’s Song will represent the barn in the $500,000 Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park on July 30. . . . On behalf of several partners, Lukas was the leading buyer at the July selected yearling sale at Keeneland this week. The Lukas group spent $3.41 million on eight head. The most expensive horse at the sale, a Mr. Prospector-Daring Bidder filly, was bought by Michael Tabor, Thunder Gulch’s owner, for $1.25 million and will be trained by Lukas.

Cardmania and Cherokee Run, the champion sprinters for the last two years, have been retired. Cardmania, the oldest horse to win a Breeders’ Cup Sprint, was a 7-year-old when he won at Santa Anita in 1993. Trainer Derek Merdith’s gelding, who earned $1.5 million with 16 victories in 76 starts, will become a trail horse at the United Pegasus Ranch in Mira Loma. . . . Cherokee Run, a 5-year-old who won last year’s Sprint at Churchill Downs, has had recurring ankle problems and will stand at stud next year at Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky. . . . Southern Truce, a $16,000 claim by trainer Roger Stein who went on to a stakes-winning career that resulted in $867,578 in purses, was struck by lightning and killed recently at Stone Farm in Paris, Ky. The 7-year-old mare was in foal to Seattle Slew.