HOLLYWOOD PARK : Cobra King Strikes for McCarron

Gary Biszantz chuckles about the success he has had with horses that he has sold and then reacquired. Biszantz and his wife Betty, who race Cobra King, might be laughing all the way to the Kentucky Derby with their latest afterthought.

Fully recovered from his fourth-place finish at 7-10 in the Del Mar Futurity two months ago, Cobra King stepped into the upper echelon of the 2-year-old ranks Sunday with a hard-fought half-length victory over Hennessy in the $103,175 Hollywood Prevue Breeders’ Stakes.

Hennessy, whose early races were punctuated by a victory in the Hollywood Juvenile in July, was back in California after a second-place finish against Unbridled’s Song in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Belmont Park last month.

Sent off as the 3-5 favorite, Hennessy battled with Cobra King just behind the pace-setting Matty G for three-quarters of mile, took the lead by a head at the top of the stretch, but then was outrun by the Biszantzes’ colt the rest of the way. Cobra King, ridden by Chris McCarron, edged ahead at the sixteenth pole and stayed there.

Cobra King’s time for seven furlongs was 1:21 1/5, two-fifths of a second slower than the stakes record that was set by Afternoon Deelites last year. As the second choice, he paid $6.40 for $2. Exetera and Matty G, both trained by Ron McAnally, finished third and fourth, respectively, in the six-horse field.

Hennessy will return for the $500,000 Hollywood Futurity at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 17, but the Biszantzes and their trainer, Mike Puype, will probably go ahead with their plan of wintering Cobra King in Florida, where the Gulfstream Park series for 3-year-olds awaits.

“I’ll still have 18 horses with Walter Greenman out here,” Gary Biszantz said, “and Mike will have a division of 12 at Gulfstream. I have a lot of grass horses, and because of the way Santa Anita has been, with its turf course, I want to make sure they’re at a track where they’re assured of running.”

Biszantz bred Cobra King, mating his wife’s mare, Straight Story, with Farma Way, the winner of the 1991 Santa Anita Handicap. Straight Story was a poor producer, so the Biszantzes put her in an auction in 1993 while she was in foal with Cobra King. When the bidding stalled, the Biszantzes bought her back for $13,500.

“It’s funny how it’s worked with horses that I’ve bought back,” Gary Biszantz said. “I had a horse called Powerofthenitys that I sold for $12,500. I bought him back for $45,000 and he made more than $150,000. I also sold Three Peat for $35,000 when he was a 2-year-old. Right after the sale, I walked back to the man and gave him $45,000 for the horse. Three Peat made about $350,000, winning the Bay Shore and Dwyer Stakes in New York.”

Cobra King has four victories and a second in six starts and Sunday’s $58,800 sent his earnings over the $211,000 mark.

Before Sunday, McCarron has ridden him only once, winning the Sunny Slopes Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.

“He’s got a lot of talent, and he had excuses why he didn’t run his race at Del Mar,” McCarron said. “He was found to be a little sick after the race. I think he made believers out of people today. He showed me that he has class.

“He was in the heat all the way, so he had to show a lot of determination, a lot of skill. He showed all the assets of a nice horse. I just had to tap him a couple of times left-handed because he tries so hard. I’m not sure about his ability to go on, but he is bred to run all day. But like the cliche goes, you don’t know until you do it.”

Trainer Wayne Lukas raced Hennessy on Lasix for the first time, alluding to a bleeding problem that the horse had when he trained at Monmouth Park this summer.

Gary Stevens second-guessed himself for the ride on Hennessy.

“I’m kind of kicking myself in the butt,” Stevens said. “I wish I would have gone on at the three-eighths pole. I had a lot of horse and maybe I was a little too over-confident. Maybe I didn’t have enough respect for the winner. I just galloped into the stretch with my horse, and made a horse race out of it from the quarter pole on. My horse seems to have a little better acceleration than the winner does, and I think I could have caught a little advantage if I had kicked on with him at the three-eighths pole.”

Horse Racing Notes

Pat Valenzuela, suspended for the rest of the Del Mar meet after a no-show on opening day, will ride at Hollywood Park, starting this week. Idle since mid-September, Valenzuela has the assignment on Shemaran in next Sunday’s $400,000 Hollywood Derby. . . . Besides Cobra King, another 2-year-old son of Farma Way was a stakes winner Sunday. Beefchopper, well-beaten by Honour And Glory in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland last month, won the $100,000 Hawthorne Juvenile Handicap.