RACE AT A GLANCE

STORYLINE: The last time the Breeders’ Cup was conducted at Hollywood Park, the Sprint was the most one-sided of the seven races.

Ten years ago, Very Subtle defeated 12 others in 1:08 4/5, beating 4-5 favorite Groovy by four lengths. It was Groovy’s only loss in seven starts that year, but his second consecutive loss as the odds-on choice in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

In winning for the sixth time in 1987, the Hoist The Silver filly provided trainer Mel Stute with his second Breeders’ Cup victory. The previous November, Stute had won the Juvenile Fillies with Brave Raj.

Very Subtle’s 16-1 upset also helped key a betting score for Stute, who has never been shy about backing his opinions at the windows. He recalled using Very Subtle with Epitome, who won the Juvenile Fillies at $62.80, in the daily double and the double returned $1,055.40 for every $2 wagered.

Victorious in stakes in California, Arkansas and New York before the Breeders’ Cup, Very Subtle drew post 11 for the Sprint and was ridden by Pat Valenzuela, who had also been on Brave Raj.

Having faced Groovy the year before in the Kentucky Derby with Snow Chief, Stute, who trained Very Subtle for owner Ben Rochelle, was confident. “With Pat, you already had a one-length head start [because of his quickness leaving the starting gate] and I remember I told him not to worry about [Groovy], that you could take him any time you wanted,” Stute said. “I was a little surprised she won as easily as she did.”

A Kentucky-bred who won only two of 13 starts in 1988 and ’89 after her Breeders’ Cup success, Very Subtle had no trouble outrunning Groovy and Angel Cordero Jr. from the start.

Very Subtle’s victory was the first by a filly or mare in the Sprint, but there have been two--Safely Kept in 1990 and Desert Stormer in 1995, both at Belmont Park--and other females have run well. Pine Tree Lane was second behind Smile in 1986, Meafara was second in 1992 and ‘93, Soviet Problem was beaten by a head by Cherokee Run in 1994, and the year before her victory, Safely Kept was second to Dancing Spree.

There are three females in the original field of this year’s Sprint--Europeans Carmine Lake and Pas De Response and locally based Track Gal, who has won three of five starts on the Hollywood Park main track.

However, the horse with perhaps the best chance of success is on the outside looking in. Exotic Wood didn’t make the 14-horse field, but will be in the gate Saturday if there is one defection.

If she does get in, she will be Stute’s choice. Just don’t expect the $34.80 Very Subtle paid 10 years ago.

* KEYS TO THE RACE: Post positions will be drawn Wednesday morning and, traditionally, posts toward the outside have fared well in one-turn races at Hollywood Park. There isn’t an abundance of blistering early speed in the main body of the race and the two times the Breeders’ Cup has been held at Hollywood Park, the winners have gone gate-to-wire. Any horse that shakes clear early could be difficult to overhaul.

THE HORSES

* Carmine Lake is a daughter of Royal Academy, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 1990. She will be trying the dirt for the first time Saturday, having won three of seven on the grass in France and England.

* Confide has won half of his six starts this year, but his biggest victory came in a Grade III. He is a son of Phone Trick and has been first or second in four of five starts at the Sprint distance.

* Crafty Friend likes Hollywood Park, having won the Bel Air Handicap and finished second in a track record-setting race last summer. He recently missed a couple of days of training because of a problem with his left ankle, but is said to be fine.

* Elmhurst got a setup for his late-running style in the Ancient Title and was able to win by a head in his first try at six furlongs. The gelding set a track record going 7 1/2 furlongs at Hollywood Park earlier this year and will be trying to give owners C.N. and Carol Ray and trainer Jenine Sahadi their second consecutive win in the Sprint. They won last year with Lit De Justice, voted the Eclipse as champion sprinter.

* Hesabull has been consistent this year, but has only one victory from nine starts. He was second in his only try at six furlongs, but does love the Hollywood Park track. In seven local appearances, he has three wins, two seconds and two thirds. His jockey, Gary Stevens, is looking for his first win in the Sprint.

* Kelly Kip is fresh off a 13-1 upset in the Forest Hills Handicap at Belmont Park and should be forwardly placed in a race that doesn’t have the blazing speed of some past Sprints. However, these New York sprinters often have a hard time keeping up early when they run in California.

* Men’s Exclusive, who is being supplemented to the race for $200,000, will be the choice of sentimentalists who would like to see jockey Laffit Pincay Jr., who has found stakes mounts hard to come by in recent years, win his first Breeders’ Cup race since Phone Chatter won the Juvenile Fillies in 1993. This will be his first mount since Go For Gin in 1994. The gelding has two wins and two seconds in four races at Hollywood Park.

* Northern Afleet has picked up two of his three wins this year going a distance, but the general feeling on this Afleet colt is that he is better sprinting and he gets the right rider in Jerry Bailey, who is again atop the national money standings.

* Pas de Response is a French filly who will be making her main track debut after winning five of eight overseas. She’s by Danzig out of a Mr. Prospector mare, so she should adapt to the dirt and did show speed. Three of her wins have come at six furlongs.

* Richter Scale, who is a three-quarter brother to Best Pal, could end up the favorite and he will try to become the first California-bred to win a Breeders’ Cup race. He is trained by Pat Byrne, who has a legitimate shot at winning three Breeders’ Cup races this year. Richter Scale, a son of Habitony, is two for two going six furlongs.

* Royal Applause was brought out of a brief retirement because his connections thought the Sprint was coming up weak. He certainly will contend if he can handle the dirt because he has nine wins from 14 starts and has earned nearly $600,000.

* Tale Of The Cat was awesome in the Kings Bishop at Saratoga this summer, drawing away in the stretch after setting some fast fractions. He worked the Sprint distance in 1:09 flat Wednesday at the Meadowlands and that was reported to be the fastest six-furlong drill in the track’s history.

* Track Gal is the lone mare in the race and a Hollywood Park specialist who has been first or second in four of five in Inglewood. She also is five for nine at six furlongs and looms a big threat if she draws well. She never has beaten males in a graded stakes, however.

* Trafalger doesn’t look like the one to give trainer Wayne Lukas his second win in this event. He didn’t threaten in the Ancient Title and will be deserving of his long odds.

* Exotic Wood belongs in the field and could sneak in with a scratch. She is two for three at Hollywood Park and showed she is back at her best with a 1:08 win at Santa Anita last month. She has lost only once in five tries at six furlongs.

* Bet On Sunshine has four wins in seven races at the Sprint Distance and has four consecutive wins at four tracks, but none in graded company.

* Swiss Yodeler lost a tough one at 16-1 in the Ancient Title, but has never lost at Hollywood Park, going five for five. He is fine as long as his connections don’t run him long.

* Advancing Star is a filly who can be brilliant on her best day and dreadful at other times. Although the chances of her getting into the race are remote, the last time she ran at Hollywood Park, she won in 1:27 3/5 for 7 1/2 furlongs and her six-furlong split was 1:08.

* Lucayan Prince who won an allowance sprint in his U.S. and main track debut. Dirt might have been what he wanted all along. He has very little chance of making the starting lineup.

* Hever Golf Rose is a 6-year-old mare who didn’t finish in the money the only time she tried the dirt, but has earned just over $1-million in her 59-race career.

* Gold Knuckles didn’t get into the original field and doesn’t belong. He would do best in a high-priced claimer.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

PROBABLE STARTERS (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Horse: 1. Carmine Lake

Wt.: 121

Jockey: No Rider

Trainer: P. Hyam-Chapple

Owner: Robert Sangster

Odds: 20-1

*

Horse: 2. Confide

Wt.: 124

Wt.: M. Smith

Wt.: B. Perkins

Owner: New Farm

Odds: 20-1

*

Horse: 3. Crafty Friend

Wt.: 126

Jockey: A. Solis

Trainer: W. Dollase

Owner: The Thoroughbred Corporation

Odds: 6-1

*

Horse: 4. Elmhurst

Wt.: 126

Jockey: C. Nakatani

Trainer: J. Sahadi

Owner: Evergreen Farm and J. Sahadi

Odds: 15-1

*

Horse: 5. Hesabull

Wt.: 126

Jockey: G. Stevens

Trainer: M. Chambers

Owner: Three Sisters Stable

Odds: 20-1

*

Horse: 6. Kelly Kip

Wt.: 124

Jockey: J.L. Samyn

Trainer: A. Jerkens

Owner: Hobeau Farm

Odds: 15-1

*

Horse: 7. Men’s Exclusive

Wt.: 126

Jockey: L. Pincay, Jr.

Trainer: W. Ward

Owner: H.E. Reed

Odds: 10-1

*

Horse: 8. Northern Afleet

Wt.: 126

Jockey: J. Bailey

Trainer: D. Hofmans

Owner: R.G. Anderson and R. Waranch

Odds: 8-1

*

Horse: 9. Pas De Response

Wt.: 121

Jockey: O. Doleuze

Trainer: C. Head

Owner: A. and G. Wertheimer

Odds: 15-1

*

Horse: 10. Richter Scale

Wt.: 124

Jockey: S. Sellers

Trainer: P. Byrne

Owner: R. and N. Kaster

Odds: 7-2

*

Horse: 11. Royal Applause

Wt.: 126

Jockey: M. Hills

Trainer: B. Hills

Owner: Sheik al Maktoum al Maktoum

Odds: 20-1

*

Horse: 12. Tale Of The Cat

Wt.: 124

Jockey: J. Krone

Trainer: J. Forbes

Owner: Mrs. J. Magnier, Phantom House Farm

Odds: 4-1

*

Horse: 13. Track Gal

Wt.: 123

Jockey: D. Flores

Trainer: J. Sadler

Owner: W. Oldknow and R. Phipps

Odds: 8-1

*

Horse: 14. Trafalger

Wt.: 124

Jockey: No Rider

Trainer: W. Lukas

Owner: R. and B. Lewis

Odds: 30-1

ALSO ELIGIBLE (LISTED IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE)

Horse: 15. Exotic Wood

Wt.: 123

Jockey: C. McCarron

Trainer: R. Ellis

Owner: Mr. and Mrs. Martin Wygod

Odds: 5-1

*

Horse: 16. Bet On Sunshine

Wt.: 126

Jockey: F.C. Torres

Trainer: P. McGee

Owner: David Holloway Racing, Inc.

Odds: 20-1

*

Horse: 17. Swiss Yodeler

Wt.: 124

Jockey: No Rider

Trainer: M. Harrington

Owner: H. Steinmann

Odds: 30-1

*

Horse: 18. Advancing Star

Wt.: 123

Jockey: No Rider

Trainer: R. Mandella

Owner: Golden Eagle Farm

Odds: 20-1

*

Horse: 19. Lucayan Prince

Wt.: 126

Jockey: No Rider

Trainer: B. Mott

Owner: Lucayan Stud Ltd.

Odds: 30-1

*

Horse: 20. Hever Golf Rose

Wt.: 123

Jockey: C. Asmussen

Trainer: T. Naughton

Trainer: Hever Racing Club

Odds: 30-1

*

Horse: 21. Gold Knuckles

Wt.: 124

Jockey: No Rider

Trainer: J. Hollendorfer

Owner: F. Stronach

Odds: 30-1

*

* Post: 11:30 a.m.

* Distance: 6 furlongs on dirt.

* Purse: $1 million.

*

* COMING TUESDAY: A look at the $1-million Distaff.