Sharp Cat, City Band Give Lukas 1-2 Finish

Their abysmal finishes in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies behind them, Sharp Cat and City Band ran 1-2 in Saturday’s Hollywood Starlet, giving trainer Wayne Lukas’ barn $230,400 of the purse and leaving $57,600 for everyone else.

Sharp Cat, who ran ninth in the Breeders’ Cup at Woodbine on Oct. 26, out-finished her stablemate by 3 1/2 lengths, and it was 10 lengths back to High Heeled Hope, the third-place finisher in the eight-horse field.

Sharp Cat, ridden by Corey Nakatani for the first time, earned $172,800, winning for the fourth time in seven starts, and sending her total purses over the $500,000 mark. Second place was worth $57,600 to City Band, who was 10th in the Breeders’ Cup and had won the Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs since then.

Starting with Althea in 1984, Lukas has saddled five winners of the Starlet, including Serena’s Song and Cara Rafaela the last two years. His third consecutive victory in the stake came with a Storm Cat filly that was bought by her owner, Ahmed bin Salman, for $900,000, highest price ever paid for a 2-year-old filly in training. Bred by John Franks, Sharp Cat had been sold at auction twice before, for $80,000 as weanling and $205,000 as a yearling.

As the field left the far turn, Sharp Cat had already gone by City Band and Lukas knew he was in good shape.

“I felt good,” he said. “One, Sharp Cat is a legitimate two-turn filly. Two, City Band was very tight for this race, she had just come off a good effort at a mile and a sixteenth.”

Favored Sharp Cat ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:44 3/5 over a gooey track that was listed as good. She paid $5.80 to win.

Lukas said he would keep Sharp Cat in California for races this winter and likely send City Band, owned by William Young, back East.

If he could do it over, Lukas would give Jerry Bailey different riding instructions than what he received prior to the Breeders’ Cup.

“I over-coached,” the former basketball coach said. “I told Jerry to put her in the middle of the pack, and he held her back going into the first turn. Then she got rank and threw her head down. I wish now that we had just sent her.”

Sharp Cat resented too much handling again Saturday, when Nakatani started to move her to the outside going down the backstretch.

Nakatani has a streak of his own in the Starlet, having ridden both Cara Rafaela and Serena’s Song in the race. He also rode Creaking Board, the 1992 winner.

“When she switched [lead feet], she flicked her head back at me,” Nakatani said. “I didn’t want to get her going too quick. After she did that, she settled great.”

*

Trainer Bobby Frankel beat Windsharp with Wandesta in the Matriarch two weeks ago, and today he’ll try to beat the 5-year-old mare with his 6-year-old veterans, Raintrap and Bon Point, in the $500,000 Hollywood Turf Cup.

Windsharp, who has made a career of running against males--her only start within her division this year was the second-place finish in the Matriarch--is the 3-1 favorite. Frankel’s horses, who are owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, are 4-1 as a betting entry.

Windsharp needs a third victory over males this year to bounce back into contention for the Eclipse Award for females on grass. Wandesta has been retired.

“I don’t know,” Frankel said. “I thought everybody said that whoever won the Matriarch would win the Eclipse. I know my horse is the best and deserves the award.”

The Turf Cup field also includes Marlin, a 5-1 shot who faces older horses after winning the Hollywood Derby on Dec. 1. Only one horse--Itsallgreektome in 1990--has won both races.

Nakatani will ride Marlin instead of New York jockey John Velazquez, who was aboard in the Hollywood Derby.

“John wanted to come out,” Lukas said, “but he was under a lot of family pressure to make a family reunion in Ireland that was scheduled a long time ago. He might have had to get a divorce to make this race.”

Velazquez is married to the daughter of trainer Leo O’Brien.

*

Lukas has two starters, Leestown and Mellifont, running in today’s $250,000 Hollywood Futurity, but the 9-5 favorite is In Excessive Bull, who won the Hollywood Prevue on Nov. 10.

Horse Racing Notes

Admise, who had been considered for the Hollywood Turf Cup, is the 3-1 favorite in today’s $100,000 Dahlia Handicap. . . . Cobra King, who won four stakes before suffering a tendon injury in the Florida Derby, has been retired to stud and will stand at stud at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Ky. . . . Gary Stevens has been elected to a two-year term as president of the Jockeys’ Guild, succeeding Jerry Bailey, who held the post for seven years. . . . Kent Desormeaux starts a suspension Wednesday and will sit out the last five days of the Hollywood meet.