Borodislew Wins Hawthorne

The 1996 Hawthorne Handicap had a lot better conclusion for Borodislew than did the previous running.

Beaten 22 1/2 lengths by Paseana when finishing sixth in the Grade II race last year, Borodislew, a 6-year-old mare, rallied to upset 9-10 favorite Jewel Princess by a head in 1:41 1/5 for the 1 1/16 miles Saturday.

Owned by Marshall Naify’s 505 Farms and trained--on the second go-round--by John Shirreffs, the 7-2 second choice has won two of her three starts this year and she is 10 for 24 lifetime.

With Gary Stevens not riding for personal reasons, Corey Nakatani inherited the mount on Borodislew, who was with Eduardo Inda for five races last year before going back to Shirreffs.

After the ’95 Hawthorne, Inda took over the daughter of Seattle Slew, and she rattled off four consecutive wins before getting buried in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She finished more than 25 lengths behind runaway winner Inside Information.

“We freshened her up and gave her a chance to feel good again,” said Shirreffs, a reluctant interview who had to be chased down the stretch by reporters to answer questions. “Being able to train her again was another key--she requires a lot of training because she’s a big [mare]. The problem was keeping the weight off her and keeping her fit at the same time. She has to be trained hard in order to run well.”

Around the turn, it looked like Borodislew, Jewel Princess and most of the others in the Hawthorne field were running for second money. Urbane, who had beaten softer competition in races at Bay Meadows and Pimlico before returning to this area, had opened a five-length advantage under Alex Solis after a 1:10 2/5 six furlongs.

But Borodislew began to cut into that margin, got the lead in midstretch, then held off Jewel Princess, who was looking for her fourth win in five starts this year. Urbane wound up another half-length back in third, six clear of Rhythninjava. Sleep Easy and Klassy Kim completed the order of finish.

“She was stuck on the inside, and she doesn’t run down there like she does on the outside,” trainer Wally Dollase said of Jewel Princess. “She couldn’t get out and [Nakatani] rode a smart race [staying outside of Jewel Princess].”

*

Northern Spur, the 1995 Eclipse Award winner as the nation’s top male turf performer, was among six horses entered Saturday morning for Monday’s $500,000 Hollywood Turf Handicap at 1 1/4 miles.

Beaten in his first start of this year after concluding 1995 with wins in the Oak Tree Invitational and Breeders’ Cup Turf, Northern Spur got back on track with an impressive victory on May 1.

Tried at a distance which isn’t his best--1 1/16 miles--he laid close to the pace under confident Chris McCarron handling and went on to win in 1:39 1/5.

Horse Racing Notes

A.P. Assay, a 2-year-old daughter of A.P. Indy, crushed maidens in her first start, running 4 1/2 furlongs in 50 4/5 seconds. She’s trained by Paco Gonzalez and owned by John Toffan and Trudy McCaffery. . . . Great Treasure gave trainer Ron McAnally his 1,500th victory when the 3-year-old won Saturday’s sixth race. . . . Jockey Chris Antley will begin a five-day suspension Wednesday after being disqualified aboard Lago in Friday night’s fourth race. . . . Antespend, who disappointed in two races back East, returns to Hollywood Park and the grass in today’s $125,000 Honeymoon Handicap at 1 1/8 miles. To be ridden by Antley, she is the 2-1 favorite against eight other 3-year-old fillies.