Everything Big Except Field for LeRoy ‘Cap

If the Kentucky Derby and five other simulcasts from Churchill Downs weren’t enough, Hollywood Park is also offering 11 live races today with first post time at 11:20 a.m.

The main event on the local card attracted the day’s smallest field. Only four horses are entered in the $100,000 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap, the first prep for next month’s $1-million Hollywood Gold Cup.

Del Mar Dennis, who won the LeRoy in 1994 for his only victory at Hollywood Park, is the 6-5 favorite in the 1 1/16 mile race.

Owned by Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan and trained by Paco Gonzalez, the 6-year-old gelding has won two of three races since returning from a five-month layoff.

He beat Luthier Fever, who returned in his next start to finish second in the Santa Anita Handicap by a nose in an allowance race, then beat Just Java for his third victory in the San Bernardino Handicap. Sandwiched between the two wins was a sixth-place finish in the New Orleans Handicap at the Fair Grounds.

With most of the regular riders busy in Kentucky, Rene Douglas will be aboard Del Mar Dennis for the first time.

The LeRoy will also mark the return of Eltish, making his first start for trainer Bobby Frankel and seeking his first victory since 1994. He was second to Timber Country as a 2-year-old in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and was sixth in last year’s Kentucky Derby in his only two starts on dirt.

He has some solid drills for his comeback and, along with Dramatic Gold, is the longest shot in the small field at 3-1.

Dramatic Gold has a win and a second in three tries on the Hollywood Park main track while the other entrant, Siphon, who is 5-2, will be looking for his third consecutive win. He won a sprint at Bay Meadows, then stretched out and captured the Bates Motel at Santa Anita.

The program also includes the $75,000 Snow Chief, restricted to California-bred 3-year-olds.

Argonnier, who has never tried the Snow Chief distance of 1 1/16 miles, is the 5-2 favorite as he goes for his fifth win in eight tries.

E C’s Dream, who was going to run in the Kentucky Derby before his connections changed their plans, is the 3-1 second choice in the field of 10.

Hollywood Park Notes

Track Gal, who finished last in the A Gleam Handicap six days ago, bruised a foot in the race, trainer John Sadler said. . . . Fastness, who hasn’t raced since capturing the Citation Handicap last November, may make his 1996 debut in the Inglewood Handicap on May 12. . . . Seven 3-year-old fillies were entered Friday for Sunday’s feature, the seven-furlong Railbird Stakes. From the rail out, they are Tanja, Woodyoubelieveit, Raw Gold, Supercilious, Hidden Lake, Soviet Nights and Tiffany Diamond.