Pair Will Begin Slowly

Victor Espinoza was the leading rider at Hollywood Park’s fall meet last year and Bobby Frankel was the top trainer.

If they plan on repeating, as jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. and trainer Bill Spawr did at the Oak Tree season that concluded Monday, Espinoza and Frankel must be more active than they will be today, the first of 31 programs in Inglewood.

Espinoza, who finished with 32 victories in 2000, one more than Pincay and Alex Solis, is named on only two horses today. He will ride Sunsup in the third, a $10,000 claimer for 3-year-olds going 71/2 furlongs, and course specialist Dream Counter in the fifth, a 51/2-furlong turf sprint. His other mount, longshot Mighty Tuff in the sixth, was scratched Tuesday.

Frankel, who won 14 races at Hollywood Park last fall, two more than Vladimir Cerin, has only one horse entered today. Mizzen Mast, a 3-year-old gray son of Cozzene owned by Juddmonte Farms, is among seven who will run in the feature, the $70,000-added Bien Bien Stakes at a flat mile on the turf.

A winner twice in six starts in France before coming to this country, Mizzen Mast has yet to distinguish himself in the United States. The 2-1 favorite in the Secretariat, a Grade I, he finished 10th of 11, apparently uncomfortable on the yielding turf. Brought back a little more than two weeks later, he finished ninth of 10 as part of an entry in the Del Mar Derby.

As for the rest of the Bien Bien field, three enter having won their last start. Momentum, a new face from England, won his final start overseas Sept. 5 at York; Lookn East upset sprinters at nearly 19-1 on Oct. 21 at Santa Anita and Good Cop Bad Cop beat California breds Oct. 11 as the 2-1 favorite.

Race of the day: The fifth, the first turf sprint of the meet, marks the turf debut of Forest Camp, the winner of the 1999 Del Mar Futurity, and the aforementioned Dream Counter. Idle since Dec. 8, Dream Counter has won four of seven running 51/2 furlongs on the Hollywood Park turf, with most of the wins coming for trainer Mike Mitchell.

Who’s hot: Kent Desormeaux. The jockey finished third in the standings at Oak Tree behind Pincay and Solis, but was tops in stakes wins with five.

Who’s not: I’m not. It was tough sledding for the exotics the final couple of weeks of Oak Tree, but, hopefully, things will turn around with the change in scenery.

Exotically speaking: A late pick three using Constraint and More Influence in the sixth, Momentum and Sigfreto in the seventh, and Revello, Take It Outside and Treasured Note in the eighth.

Winners: Previous day/meet total: 3/86. Money: Previous day/meet total: $17.80/$494.40. Total money bet: $562.