Pincay Within Four of Tying Shoemaker

Bearing down on a record that once was considered unapproachable, Laffit Pincay rode two more winners Thursday at Hollywood Park, giving him a total of 8,829, four short of matching Bill Shoemaker.

Shoemaker, who retired in 1990 after winning 8,833 races, underwent eye surgery Wednesday, but he told Hollywood Park officials that he planned to be at the track Saturday, to join in the celebration if Pincay ties or breaks his record.

Pincay, who rode three winners Wednesday, is leading the Hollywood Park meet with 17 victories. The Panama native, who will be 53 on Dec. 29, hasn’t led a meet in Southern California since he finished first in the Hollywood summer standings in 1991.

Pincay’s winners Thursday were Frantic Frances ($10.40) in the second race and Daytime ($4.40) in the featured seventh.

Pincay will ride 11 horses in the next two days. Of his four assignments today, Dancing For Bounty, at 5-1, is the shortest price on the morning line.

Among Pincay’s seven mounts Saturday are Icksnay, the probable favorite in the first race, and two stakes rides--Cavonnier in the $100,000 On Trust Handicap and Lazy Lode in the $400,000 Hollywood Turf Cup. Pincay’s other mounts Saturday are Contender in the third, Mr Bulldog in the fourth, Windstrike in the eighth and Signed in the 10th.

“This record means a lot, because Shoe was such a great rider,” Pincay said Thursday. “It was a record I once thought would never be broken.”