Mazel Trick Remains Unbeaten on Dirt With Win at Del Mar

Given how Mazel Trick has performed since being introduced to the dirt, no one can blame trainer Bobby Frankel for dreaming.

After the 4-year-old son of Phone Trick remained unbeaten on the main track with a convincing win over three rivals in the $250,000 San Diego Handicap on Saturday, Frankel brought up the name of another horse who moved to a different level after going from turf to dirt.

“He’s four for four on dirt and that’s how Cigar started out,” he said after Mazel Trick, the 7-10 favorite, beat River Keen by six lengths in 1:40 3/5 for the 1 1/16 miles. “He might be the best horse I’ve trained.”

Owned by Brereton Jones, the former Kentucky governor who bought a half-interest in the colt three weeks ago, and Charles and Audrey Kenis’ 3+U Stable, Mazel Trick would have to win 12 more dirt races in a row to match Cigar, but a trainer is free to fantasize.

“Cigar became a superstar going from grass to dirt, so why can’t it happen to me?” Frankel asked a couple of mornings before the San Diego. “He’s won all his [dirt] races well in hand.”

With Tibado, the race longshot, gung-ho on getting the lead--jockey David Flores came out of the gate whipping and driving--Mazel Trick was content to track the pace under jockey Chris McCarron, moved to the lead on the inside around the turn, then never was seriously challenged through the stretch.

A sixth victory in 10 starts earned the Kentucky-bred, who began his career winning two of five in France, a start in the $1-million Pacific Classic three weeks from today.

The competition will be considerably tougher that afternoon and Mazel Trick will be asked to run 1 1/4 miles for the first time. Victory Gallop and Real Quiet are scheduled to run, but Frankel knows quite a bit about success in the Pacific Classic. He has won four of the first eight runnings of the Grade I.

“I thought [Tibado] would be sent, but I didn’t think they’d send him for his life,” Frankel said. “They tried to kill [Mazel Trick] on the lead, but Chris did the right thing and he said he relaxed nicely.

“Chris said this horse is push button. As soon as you ask him to run, he takes off. I’m ecstatic. All I have to do is keep him sound. He might be the best horse I’ve trained.”

Budroyale, the second choice on the strength of his second in the Hollywood Gold Cup, finished last, 18 lengths behind the winner.

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Chilukki, the 1-5 favorite, did the expected in her California debut, easily winning the $150,000 Sorrento Stakes here Saturday.

With Flores having to do little more than point her in the right direction, the 2-year-old Cherokee Run filly dominated her five opponents, winning by six lengths in 1:16 2/5 for the 6 1/2 furlongs.

With the victory, Chilukki, who is owned by Robert and Janice McNair’s Stonerside Stable and trained by Bob Baffert, remained unbeaten in four starts.

November Slew, the 9-2 second choice, finished second, then came She’s Classy, Artic Queen, Fire Sale Queen and Bold Feat.

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Menifee, who will be making his first start since finishing eighth in the Belmont Stakes June 4, will be favored against seven other 3-year-olds in the $1-million Haskell Invitational today at Monmouth Park.

The 124-pound highweight, who will be ridden by Pat Day, will be opposed by, among others, Cat Thief, who won the Swaps Stakes last month at Hollywood Park, and Forestry, who has won five in a row for Baffert.

At Saratoga, Lemon Drop Kid, the upset winner of the Belmont, will face Vision And Verse, who was the runner-up that afternoon, and five others in the $300,000 Jim Dandy Stakes, a prep for the $1-million Travers on Aug. 28.

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Victory Gallop’s trip to California, scheduled for last Friday, has been delayed after the colt “coughed a couple of times,” according to trainer Elliott Walden.

“[After that], I decided I didn’t want to take a chance on shipping him [Friday],” Walden said.

The plan now calls for Victory Gallop to arrive in California on Tuesday. He’ll fly to Ontario, then be vanned to Del Mar to begin preparing for the Pacific Classic.

Horse Racing Notes

Manistique, unbeaten in all eight of her starts in California, will try to make a successful debut at Del Mar today when she takes on five others in the $300,000 Chula Vista Handicap. Trained by John Shirreffs for owner Marshall Naify’s 505 Farms, Manistique is the 2-5 choice on the morning line as she aims for her fifth graded stakes victory of 1999. Chris McCarron will ride the 124-pound highweight. . . . Heavily favored Banshee Breeze won her fourth in a row for trainer Carl Nafzger and owners Jayeff B Stables and James Tafel, beating Beautiful Pleasure in the $250,000 Go For Wand Handicap at Saratoga. Jerry Bailey rode the winner, who paid $3.30 and completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49 4/5. Heritage Of Gold was a distant third in the field of five. . . . Trainer Walter Greenman is recovering at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla after undergoing surgery Friday to remove a brain tumor. The pathology report on whether the tumor is malignant or benign is expected early this week and Greenman, 59, could be out of the hospital as early as today.