Track History Her Bag, Writing It or Making It

Jenine Sahadi, the publicist, used to update the history of Hollywood Park stakes races. . . .

Jenine Sahadi, the trainer, will try to make history Sunday in the Shoemaker Breeders’ Cup Mile at Hollywood Park. . . .

She will saddle the favorite, Fastness, for the $700,000 race that is the richest one-mile turf event in the United States this year. . . .

A year after getting her trainer’s license in 1993, Sahadi set a national record for purse earnings by a female trainer, $2,072,207. Last year, she broke her record by earning $2,216,600. . . .

However, she wants to be known as a good trainer, not just a good female trainer. . . .

“Training horses has nothing to do with gender,” she said. “This is a game of common sense. I know my horses well. I pay attention to their personalities and work habits.” . . .

Sahadi, 33, has been around horses all her life. She spent her summers at the Cardiff Stud Farm, which is owned by her parents, Fred and Helen Sahadi, and went to racetracks year-round to watch their thoroughbreds run. . . .

A graduate of USC with a journalism-communications major, she spent seven years in the publicity and marketing departments at Hollywood Park before moving from the office and press box to the backside. . . .

“I got bored sitting behind a desk,” she said. “I owned four horses and was paying trainers a lot of bills. If they could train horses, why couldn’t I?” . . .

She assisted Julio Canani for two years and the first horse she saddled as a full-fledged trainer, La Sarcelle, won on May 2, 1993, in Inglewood. . . .

Three weeks later, she won her first stakes race when Chicmond was moved up by disqualification in the Hawkins Special. . . .

But it was a second-place finish that gave the nation an up-close and personal look at Sahadi, the free spirit. . . .

As Fastness was losing by two lengths to Ridgewood Pearl in the Breeders’ Cup Mile last October at Belmont Park, an NBC camera caught her yelling a four-letter word. And a couple of minutes later, there she was on instant replay. . . .

“When I got home, there were 25 calls on my answering machine, every one of them about my reaction to the finish on TV,” she said. “They were all laughing. I’ll never regret what I did. I’m an emotional person. My horse had just got beaten in the Breeders’ Cup. What else was I supposed to say?” . . .

The odds are, though, that Sahadi will be grinning and shouting something quite printable after Fastness crosses the wire Sunday. . . .

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I don’t think this is the kind of sweeps week that the networks televising the NHL and NBA playoffs had in mind. . . .

A Chicago victory tonight at Seattle would make this the second consecutive year that both championship series have been decided in four games. . . .

But the goaltenders’ duel between Patrick Roy of Colorado and John Vanbiesbrouck of Florida in Game 4 made the Stanley Cup finals worthwhile. . . .

There was nothing boring about the 104 minutes, 31 seconds because there were so many scoring opportunities. I mean, 119 shots and only one goal! . . .

Call me a purist, but I preferred ESPN’s no-frills coverage of the Stanley Cup to Fox’s gimmicks. . . .

Four of the six members of the U.S. Olympic men’s beach volleyball team and two of the six women attended UCLA. Karch Kiraly, who was on the indoor team in 1984 and 1988, could become the first volleyball player to win three gold medals. . . .

State high school champions Michael Granville of Bell Gardens and Obea Moore of Muir will compete in the U.S. track and field trials in the 800 and 400 meters, respectively. . . .

Actor Edward James Olmos is honorary chairman of the Keep L.A. Running 5K-10K run Saturday at 8 a.m. at Dockweller Beach in Playa del Rey, a benefit for the L.A. County Employees Emergency Relief Fund. . . .

Look for Toronto, which nearly lost the event because of labor problems, to do a great job staging the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 26. . . .

After a few disappointing crowds, soccer fans will flock to the Rose Bowl on Sunday for the U.S.-Mexico, Galaxy-Tampa Bay doubleheader. . . .

Minnesota Twins’ fans are not exactly stuffing the All-Star game ballot boxes. Chuck Knoblauch is second in the American League in batting, but fifth in the second base voting. . . .

The best thing about the Detroit Tigers is their home uniform. . . .

On the automotive front, the Dodgers, who once had Jerry Reuss, have signed first-round draft choice Damian Rolls.