Late Run on Grass Pays Off Again

Several strides past the finish line, Kent Desormeaux turned to fellow jockey Eddie Delahoussaye and asked:

“Did you get me?”

“I’m not sure,” Delahoussaye said. “I had my head down.”

On the outside, Delahoussaye was riding Swept Overboard, the gutsy gray horse, in the $200,000 Turf Express Handicap. Delahoussaye knew that his mount was in front just past the wire, but that’s not where the long green is paid.

Minutes later, the photo-finish camera confirmed that Swept Overboard had made another successful late charge, nosing out Speak In Passing and Desormeaux in Friday’s 51/2-furlong grass race at Hollywood Park. Craig Dollase, who trains Swept Overboard, also won last year’s Turf Express with El Cielo, who’s 7-2 on the morning line for today’s Citation Handicap.

Dollase moved Swept Overboard back to the turf after he ran fourth--beaten by a length--in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Belmont Park last month. Friday’s win was the 4-year-old colt’s seventh win, to go with five seconds and two thirds, in 15 starts.

“He’s a special horse to run so consistently,” Dollase said.

Dollase thought Swept Overboard had won, but he waited for the “official” sign to be hung before heading for the winner’s circle.

“I didn’t want to jinx myself,” he said. “In the back of my mind, I thought we had won, but it boiled down to a head bob. I’ve rushed down before and not won, and then felt pretty dumb about it.”

All three of Swept Overboard’s grass races have come at Hollywood Park, where he won the Kerlan Memorial and ran second in an allowance earlier in the year. With an eighth of a mile left, Swept Overboard trailed six horses and was more than four lengths behind Rocky Bar on the lead.

“My horse wasn’t tracking too good early,” Delahoussaye said. “Midway around the turn, I chirped to him, he started picking it up and I felt better. I didn’t think I was going to get [Speak In Passing] at the sixteenth pole. Then my little horse found another gear and just got up in time.”

Favored Swept Overboard, clocked in 1:01 4/5, two-fifths slower than the stakes record, paid $4.20. He carried 122 pounds, second high weight and five less than Speak In Passing. Trainer Bobby Frankel ran second and third, Speak In Passing finishing a half-length in front of Blu Air Force.

*

Even before several Californians bought the British-bred Forty On Line in August, bloodstock agent Richard Duggan paid the $200 that made the 2-year-old filly eligible for the Miesque Stakes.

“That was before I ever saw the horse, before I even knew her name,” said trainer Bob Hess Jr., minutes after he had saddled Forty On Line for a one-length win over Riskaverse in the $200,000 Miesque. The victory, worth $120,000, came in the third start of Forty On Line’s career and her second for Hess. Friday’s win came about five weeks after the filly broke her maiden at a mile on grass--the same conditions as the Miesque--at Santa Anita.

Forty On Line, purchased for an undisclosed price shortly after a fourth-place finish in her British debut, paid $43--the same win price that Fantastic Filly paid after winning last year’s Miesque. Riskaverse was a head better than Daisyago, with La Martina, the even-money favorite as an entrymate with Stylelistick, running fourth.

With no pace in the race, jockey Corey Nakatani put Forty On Line on the lead under an easy opening half-mile in 49 seconds. The final time of 1:36 1/5 was two seconds off the stakes record.

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At a Glance

What--Autumn Turf Festival

Where--Hollywood Park

Time--First post 12:30 p.m.

Schedule--Today: $500,000 Citation, 1 1/16 miles on the turf for older horses; $200,000 Generous Stakes, one mile on the turf for 2-year-olds. Sunday: $500,000 Matriarch, 1 1/8 miles on the turf for older fillies and mares; $500,000 Hollywood Derby, 1 1/8 miles on the turf for 3-year-olds.