In McAnally’s Opinion, Geri Is Close to Cigar

No matter that owner Allen Paulson and trainer Bill Mott won’t have their best horse at Hollywood Park on Sunday.

Ron McAnally thinks Mott and Paulson still have the horse to beat in the $1-million Hollywood Gold Cup.

Looking for a Santa Anita Handicap-Gold Cup double with Mr Purple, McAnally fears Geri more than any other horse in the field of eight, and he says the son of Theatrical got a big break in the weights.

A winner of six in a row before floundering in the mud in the Pimlico Special on May 11, Geri was given 118 pounds for the Gold Cup, three fewer than high weight Tinners Way and two fewer than Helmsman.

Actually, racing secretary Martin Panza’s assignment is legitimate. Of Geri’s six consecutive victories, only two came in stakes races, and he is picking up three pounds off his last win. He carried 115 in the Oaklawn Handicap on April 6.

“He’s the horse I’m afraid of,” said McAnally, who got a first-hand look at Geri in Arkansas. Mr Purple finished fifth, beaten by 6 1/2 lengths, in the Oaklawn Handicap. “The way he ran at Oaklawn. . . . He’s some kind of horse.”

Before going to Mott late last year, Geri had raced in California for trainer Bill Shoemaker. He began his career with a third and a second in sprints, then stretched out and won two in a row, including an allowance win at this track just more than a year ago.

After arriving at Ontario airport on Wednesday, the 4-year-old was transported to Hollywood Park and is stabled at Shoemaker’s barn.

While McAnally wasn’t happy with Geri’s weight, another trainer thought Mr Purple is the one who is getting a break in the weights.

Wally Dollase, who will be represented by Helmsman and Nonproductiveasset, says the 4-year-old Deputy Minister colt is the one to defeat.

Under the allowance conditions of the June 2 Californian, Mr Purple carried 122 and finished only half a length behind Tinners Way, who had 116. This time, Mr Purple is in with 118, meaning there is a nine-pound shift with the 2-1 favorite on Russ Hudak’s morning line.

“There’s a lot more speed in here than in most 1 1/4-mile races,” Dollase said. “That’s going to set things up for a horse like Mr Purple. He’s going to be mighty tough.”

There was a surprise addition to the Gold Cup field Thursday morning which adds to the amount of early speed in the race.

Luthier Fever, declared out of the race after trainer Ted West was unhappy with the horse’s 1:44 1/5 mile work last Friday, was entered after all, apparently at the insistence of owners Alfonso and Jose Antonio Lanzagorta, who race as Cuadra TYT Inc. The 5-year-old worked half a mile in 47 2/5 Thursday morning at Santa Anita.

Second in the Santa Anita Handicap before finishing sixth in the Oaklawn Handicap, Luthier Fever, the race longshot at 20-1, will be ridden by Kent Desormeaux and figures closest early to probable pacesetter Siphon.

Even though the Gold Cup was depleted because of the foot problems of Cigar and Soul Of The Matter, the 57th running still includes six horses who are Grade I or Group I winners. Siphon won a Group I race in Brazil before coming to this country.

Only one of them, however, is still eligible for the MGM Grand Classic Crown $2-million bonus. Mr Purple wins the bonus if he follows up his Santa Anita Handicap victory with victories in the Gold Cup and Del Mar’s Pacific Classic on Aug. 10.

If he doesn’t take the top prize, owner Alex Campbell’s colt could still earn $250,000 for running in all three races and accumulating the most points. The only other Gold Cup entrants who can still earn part of the $500,000 participation bonus are Luthier Fever and Helmsman, who was fourth in the Big ‘Cap. Heading into Sunday, Mr Purple has 10 points, Luthier Fever seven and Helmsman three.

“I think he’s doing just as well now as he was before [the Santa Anita Handicap],” McAnally said. “He had a little rest between the Oaklawn Handicap [and the Californian]. He’s a nice fresh horse. I think he’ll make a good showing.

“My opinion has always been the longer distance you go with weight, the tougher it gets. There’s a nine-pound shift [with Tinners Way] and he only beat us a half-length.”

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Second to Cigar in the 1995 Gold Cup, Tinners Way is the morning-line choice, then comes the entry of Nonproductiveasset and Helmsman (3-1), Geri (7-2), Mr Purple (9-2), Siphon (5-1), Dare And Go (12-1) and Luthier Fever.

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Entries were also taken for two other stakes on Sunday’s card.

Afternoon Deelites tops a field of eight in the seven-furlong $200,000 Triple Bend Breeders’ Cup Handicap, and Semoran is the likely favorite among eight 3-year-olds in the $100,000 Affirmed Handicap at 1 1/16 miles.

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Jockey Chris Antley had his best day since coming to California in 1992, winning five races Thursday at Hollywood Park.

He swept the first three races with Cuepredictive, Fairness and Tower Full, then won the fifth with Courageous Wonder and the ninth with Nearly Perfect.

Horse Racing Notes

The Gold Cup will be the fifth race on the card with post time at 2:10 p.m. . . . The race will be telecast nationally by ESPN. . . . Jockey Matt Garcia was suspended for three days, beginning Saturday, for an incident while riding Sandy’s Half in the fifth race last Sunday. Sandy’s Half won the race in an upset, but wasn’t disqualified. Garcia was cited for “failure to make the proper effort to maintain a straight course down the backstretch, causing interference.” . . . Trainer Mike Orman was fined $300 for a medication violation on Ambivalent, who finished second in the seventh race on May 10.