Bettors Finally Get a Handle on Carry-Overs

Chasing a carry-over that swelled to $638,713.57 after nobody was able to hit the Pick Six at Hollywood Park last weekend, bettors came to play Wednesday.

Nearly $2.4 million was wagered on the track’s Pick Six on a day when local fans also had carry-overs to pursue at Belmont Park, Churchill Downs and Golden Gate Fields.

With only one favorite winning in the sequence--even-money choice Penal Code in the fourth--the Pick Six at Hollywood Park was worth $246,733.40 to eight perfect tickets.

The biggest surprise was provided by Miss Beverly Hills, who eliminated most players right off the bat when she won the third race at $28.40, holding on to beat favored She’s Grand.

Mateo, who won the seventh at 7-1, and Alyjeb, who paid $16.40 in the eighth race, were the other double-digit winners.

There were also Pick Six winners at Belmont Park and Churchill Downs, but the carry-over will continue for a third day at Golden Gate Fields. The total going into this afternoon is $111,394.87.

*

Jockey Chris McCarron, who suffered a hairline fracture in his left foot early last week, is expected to resume riding Saturday.

Injured during a training mishap, McCarron lost the mount on Stephen Got Evenin the Preakness. Stephen Got Even finished fourth behind Charismatic.

One of McCarron’s mounts Saturday will be Olympic Charmer, who will try to turn the tables on Perfect Six in the $150,000 Railbird Stakes at seven furlongs.

Last month at Santa Anita, Perfect Six rallied to upset Olympic Charmer in the Santa Paula Stakes, and the two 3-year-old fillies could be challenged by as many as seven others.

*

Despite the decisiveness with which Charismatic won the Preakness last Saturday, the son of Summer Squall won’t have a shortage of opponents when he shoots for the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes on June 5.

The field for the 1 1/2-mile race is limited to 16, and it is possible a full field will go as Charismatic tries to do what Silver Charm and Real Quiet couldn’t do the previous two years.

Silverbulletday, who has dominated inferior 3-year-old fillies in five starts this year, might run in the Belmont, although the Acorn the day before at the same track would seem the more logical spot.

Others considered likely to try to prevent Charismatic from becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 are Menifee, runner-up in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness; Badge, Patience Game, Adonis, Vision And Verse, Port Bayou, Stephen Got Even and Lemon Drop Kid. The field will also increase depending on what happens in the Peter Pan Stakes this Sunday at Belmont Park.

*

The man who stood in the path of racing thoroughbreds at Pimlico in Baltimore, taking a swing at a jockey, has no recollection of the event, his attorney said.

Lee Chang Ferrell also doesn’t remember being arrested Saturday on the track shortly before the Preakness, Frederic Heyman told the Associated Press.

“The first thing he remembers is being in the holding cell at Pimlico,” the attorney said.

Heyman refused to say if his 22-year-old client was drunk before he jumped onto the track near the final turn. He did say Ferrell has been diagnosed with manic depression.

The incident occurred three races before the nationally televised Preakness.

Ferrell, who works at an aquarium store, was charged with assault, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest among other offenses and released Sunday on $2,500 bond.

Heyman rejected speculation Ferrell might have been trying to commit suicide or alter the race results.

*

Old Trieste, scheduled to make his first start of 1999 in the $300,000 Californian on May 29, worked six furlongs in 1:10 1/5 on Tuesday and another Californian possible, Puerto Madero, went a mile in 1:37 3/5 on Monday. . . . Mud Route, who might make his turf debut in the $350,000 Shoemaker Breeders’ Cup Mile on June 13, went five furlongs in 59 1/5 on Tuesday morning for trainer Ron McAnally. . . . Real Quiet, who beat Free House in the Pimlico Special to win for the first time since the 1998 Preakness, will surface next in the $600,000 Massachusetts Handicap on May 29 at Suffolk Downs. Skip Away won the race the last two years.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.