Opening Feature Gets a Bad Case of Cooties

There was an Alfred Hitchcockian twist to opening day at Hollywood Park on Wednesday, when dozens of birds from one of the track’s infield lakes hampered horses and jockeys on the stretch turn of the feature race.

Montecito won the $61,050 Jim Hill Stakes, after Clever Pilot, the leader leaving the turn, shied from several birds in her path and came off the rail. Other birds flew into the faces of jockeys, and Gary Stevens--who rode Montecito to her 4 1/2-length victory--said that he was struck in the head by a bird. Clever Pilot, the 17-10 favorite, finished fourth in the one-mile grass race for seven 2-year-old fillies, who were all making their grass debuts.

“I was lucky my filly didn’t go down,” said Alex Solis, who rode Clever Pilot. “When we came out of the turn, it seemed like there were about 100 of them there. All those darn birds flew right in her face. She didn’t know what to make of it. . . . She’s a baby, and never experienced anything quite like that. Those ducks flew right in front of them. I got lucky that she didn’t do anything stupid. They better get rid of those ducks. Somebody could get hurt.”

Actually, the birds are coots, dark-colored creatures that look like ducks. Another grass race was run later in the day without incident.

Racing lore is filled with races that have been run under bizarre circumstances. Years ago, at the old Tropical Park track in Florida, a horse jumped an alligator during a race. More recently, a deer darted across the track and struck a horse in a race at Turfway Park in Kentucky. Former jockey Larry Gilligan, now an official at Hollywood Park, remembers winning a race despite being struck in the chest by a sea gull during a race there in the 1960s, and last year a fan, who told authorities he wanted to kill himself, ran in the path of several horses during a stretch run at Del Mar. This year, two horses dodged a football that was lying on the track during the running of the Preakness at Pimlico.

When Clever Pilot reacted to the coots, there was a chain reaction that fanned out horses on her outside. Millbrae, who finished second, forced Clever Princess toward the middle of the track. All of this created a chasm on the rail for Montecito.

“The ducks flew up and all the horses in front of me scattered,” Stevens said. “As I was getting through on the rail, one of the birds flew up and hit me directly in the head. It kind of dazed me a little bit.

“I wasn’t real sure of where I was for about an eighth of a mile. But when I figured out where I was, I was in the right spot. In front. But that duck that hit me, he left a little reminder on my silks. Guess he felt at home with the Oregon Ducks colors I was wearing.”

Montecito, a $450,000 yearling purchase, races for Bob and Beverly Lewis, whose green-and-yellow racing silks match the colors of their alma mater, the University of Oregon.

Montecito had been nominated for Saturday’s $100,000 Maker’s Mark Stakes on dirt, but trainer Wayne Lukas dropped her into Wednesday’s grass race instead.

“The last time Gary rode her, he said that he thought she would like the turf,” said Jeff Lukas, his father’s chief assistant. “We gave it a shot, and sure enough, she really did like it.”

On dirt, Montecito had won only one of nine starts, and two races back she was a badly beaten fifth in the Oak Leaf at Santa Anita, on a day when Clever Pilot ran second. In her last start, Montecito finished two lengths behind Clever Princess, who finished third Wednesday. Wednesday marked the second time that Montecito had raced with Lasix, the bleeders’ medication.

Montecito paid $8.60 to win, running the mile in 1:35 and earning $34,050.

Horse Racing Notes

Race books that belong to the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Assn. didn’t carry Wednesday’s opening card because of a lack of a contract with Hollywood Park. Hollywood chairman R.D. Hubbard is unwilling to enter into a multiyear agreement with the Nevada group because he says that such a contract would not be approved by the Thoroughbred Owners of California. “We cannot deliver what they insist on,” Hubbard said. “And we agree with [the thoroughbred owners’] position.” Southern California tracks have been paying a commission of 3.5% on all bets made in Nevada. About $500,000 a day is bet on the Hollywood Park races there.