Prototype Brings Pincay Within Two Wins

With most of his family in the crowd, Laffit Pincay rode a 6-year-old gelding to victory with his first mount of the day, but six subsequent mounts weren’t good enough at Hollywood Park on Sunday and he’ll have to wait until Wednesday to resume his pursuit of Bill Shoemaker’s record.

Pincay’s win with Prototype, who was running for a $12,500 claiming price, was career victory No. 8,831, leaving him two short of tying Shoemaker, who retired in 1990 with 8,833. Shoemaker, who underwent cataract surgery on his left eye last Wednesday, attended the races the last two days and is expected to resume his vigil Wednesday, the next racing day at Hollywood Park.

Among Pincay’s unsuccessful mounts Sunday was Early Pioneer, an escapee from the claiming ranks who finished fourth among five horses as Five Star Day, the 4-5 favorite, notched a sharp half-length win over Your Halo in the $100,000 Vernon O. Underwood Stakes.

Other than Prototype, Pincay’s best finishes Sunday were a pair of thirds with Six Point Eight and Nasrudin, who was the 4-5 favorite in the sixth race. Pincay picked up an extra mount, Bimbo’s Kiss in the eighth race, when he replaced an ailing Eddie Delahoussaye, but the 4-year-old filly finished fifth.

“There’s been no pressure,” Pincay said. “Maybe when I get to within one win, I’ll start feeling it, but so far I don’t feel uptight. Sometimes I want to be left alone so I can concentrate on the races, but this has all been very good for me. I’m surprised at how easy it’s been. Maybe it’s because I’m not fighting weight and I’m feeling pretty good.”

There have been days when Pincay wasn’t as carefree. Trainer Eddie Truman told a story about Pincay, related to him by another trainer, Darrell Vienna.

“This was in the days when a feast for Laffit would be an extra one or two peanuts a day,” Truman said. “Darrell and Laffit were flying out of LAX to someplace for a stake race. They were in a private plane, and shortly after they got off the ground, maybe over [Santa] Catalina, one of the engines caught on fire and there was smoke all over the place.

“You can imagine what it was like in that cabin, panic for everybody, and Laffit has never been the calmest of fliers, anyway. They had to come back to LAX and make an emergency landing. In the terminal, while somebody thought about Plan B, Laffit started to walk away from Vienna. ‘Where you going?’ Darrell wanted to know. Laffit could hardly stand up. ‘I’m going to get a candy bar,’ he said. He figured that if it was going to be like this, he’d better get his last candy bar.”

Pincay, who had won Saturday’s Hollywood Turf Cup with Lazy Lode, had won the Underwood once before, with Pancho Villa in 1985, but on Sunday no one challenged Five Star Day early and his mount, Early Pioneer, was never a threat. The 4-year-old gelding made a belated stretch run before losing by 2 1/4 lengths.

Another Panamanian, Alex Solis, rode Five Star Day for trainer Beau Greely. Five Star Day, only the second 3-year-old to win the Underwood since Pancho Villa, had been excluded from the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last month, to the displeasure of Greely. The colt has moved into stakes company with gusto, finishing second twice before Sunday’s win and another six-furlong score at Gulfstream Park the day before the Breeders’ Cup. Five Star Day, paying $3.60, reached the wire Sunday in 1:09 4/5.

“There was no speed in the race but us,” Solis said, “and it worked out really good for my horse. The horse is much quieter than he used to be, much better in the gate. That’s what he needed to be a really good horse.”

Greely didn’t decide to run Five Star Day until Thursday, the day before entries were taken. His original plan was to train the colt up to the Malibu Stakes, which will be run on opening day at Santa Anita on Dec. 26.

“There were only going to be five horses, it was a Grade III race and it was worth $100,000,” Greely said. “We were going to be the only speed. If there had been some other speed in there, I might not have run. As far as not getting in the Breeders’ Cup, that’s over with. Maybe it’ll turn out to be a blessing.”

In his third start, on July 5, Five Star Day broke his maiden at Hollywood Park. Sunday marked his first start at the track since then. A week before the Underwood, he reeled off a four-furlong workout in :48 2/5.

“Horses that work well over this track run better in their races,” Greely said. “What this amounted to [Sunday] was another big workout. After his first few races, some people said that he was cheap speed. That’s not right. This horse has got a lot of class.”

Pincay’s one win Sunday broke a tie with Pat Valenzuela for the meet riding lead. Pincay, who has 19 wins to Valenzuela’s 18, has won 34 meet titles in Southern California but none since 1991. He’s scheduled to ride seven of the eight races on Wednesday’s card, including an assignment on Shifty Hussey in the feature.

Shifty Hussey, a 5-year-old mare, has won only two of 13 starts this year, but she has had eight other in-the-money finishes. She’s trained by Bill Spawr, who supported Pincay in recent years when other trainers were reluctant to send any business the aging jockey’s way. Pincay, who’ll be 53 on Dec. 29, said last week that it would be fitting if he broke the record on a Spawr horse. He has written his script like an expert so far.

Horse Racing Notes

Belle Of Humboldt, winless in her last 10 starts, dating to August 1998, led all the way in the eighth race and paid $232 to win. . . . That set up a carry-over of $189,292 for Wednesday’s pick six.