Return Trip for ‘Journey

If Good Journey ran his last race Saturday, the 6-year-old Nureyev horse went out in style.

With jockey Pat Day aboard, the even-money favorite and 123-pound high-weight became only the second repeat winner of the $500,000 Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Although Breeders’ Cup Turf winner High Chaparral is the likely winner of the Eclipse award as the top male turf performer, a case can certainly be made for Good Journey.

In beating 15-1 shot Seinne by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:41 2/5 for the 1 1/16 miles, Good Journey earned his fourth win in five starts in 2002. Three of his victories came in graded stakes, and his only defeat came when he was third, beaten by less than a length by longshot Domedriver in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Trained by Wally Dollase, who owns a piece of the chestnut along with half a dozen partners, Good Journey will be sold as a stallion if the right offer is made. Otherwise, he could return to race in 2003.

“I’d like to sell him as a stallion now,” said Dollase, whose horse was close to the slow pace Saturday. “He’s impeccably bred and would make one heck of a sire. I’m not going to worry about the Eclipse award. I was lucky to win one with Itsallgreektome [in 1990], but it’s kind of unfair. [High Chaparral] won one race here and this horse was so consistent.

“He’s a special horse. I’ve been around a lot of good ones and he and Itsallgreektome have the two best minds of any horses I’ve been around.”

A winner of the 2001 Citation by half a length over Decarchy, who was a troubled fourth Saturday as the 3-1 second choice, Good Journey joined Forlitano, who won in 1987-88, as a two-time winner of the Grade II.

“He did it very nicely,” Day said after his fourth Turf Festival win. “I’d have to think his name would be in the thick of the race for the Eclipse award.”

Seinne finished a head in front of 9-1 shot White Heart and it was a neck to Decarchy.

*

Trainer Bobby Frankel drew closer to the record for earnings by a stable in a year when Peace Rules, the 5-2 second choice, led most of the way en route to winning the $200,000 Generous Stakes at Hollywood Park.

A tough-luck loser to Man Among Men in the Pinjara on Oct. 24 at Santa Anita in his California debut, the 2-year-old Jules colt and jockey Victor Espinoza beat 7-2 third choice Lismore Knight by 1 1/4 lengths. He completed the mile on turf in 1:35 2/5.

The Frankel barn has banked $17,241,228 in 2002, leaving him $601,130 shy of the mark of $17,842,358 set by Wayne Lukas in 1988.

“This is a very, very strong horse,” Espinoza said. “Bobby called me before the race [from New York] and told me to just let him do whatever he wanted to do. When I turned for home, my horse really kicked on. He finished very strong.”

Man Among Men, the 2-1 favorite who was unbeaten in his two previous starts on the grass, finished fourth, a little more than two lengths behind the winner.

“He never really felt comfortable,” jockey Alex Solis said.

*

After going 0 for 2 for Frankel in 2-year-old stakes at Aqueduct, jockey Jerry Bailey won the day’s richest race for trainer Bob Baffert.

Riding Congaree for the first time since they finished third in the 2001 Preakness, Bailey and the 4-year-old Arazi colt rolled to an easy victory in the $350,000 Cigar Mile.

Owned by Robert and Janice McNair’s Stonerside Stable, Congaree, the 9-2 fourth choice in the field of eight, stalked the pace set by Bonapaw, then took over early in the stretch and went on to win by 5 1/2 lengths in 1:33.

It was the seventh win in 14 starts for Congaree but his first in a Grade I.

For Bailey, it was his 64th stakes win of 2002, leaving him three shy of the record set by Mike Smith in 1994. He also increased his purse earnings to $22,542,509, $315,211 less than the record of $22,857,720 he set a year ago.

“Congaree was awesome,” Baffert said. “He destroyed some really good horses today.”

Earlier, Bailey was ninth on the Frankel-trained Summer Scene in the $200,000 Demoiselle, which was won wire-to-wire by 5-2 second choice Roar Emotion, and the Hall of Fame rider was third with favored Empire Maker, also for Frankel, in the $200,000 Remsen.

In that Grade II, Toccet, making his third start since Oct. 26 for owner Daniel Borislow and trainer John Scanlan, won by a little more than two lengths over Bham in 1:50 2/5 for the 1 1/8 miles. It was the fifth victory in seven starts for the son of Awesome Again who was the 8-5 second choice under jockey Jorge Chavez.

“This colt can do it all,” Scanlan said. “He can win on the front, back or sideways. I was confident he would win when I entered him.”

Empire Maker, a half-brother to stakes winners Decarchy, Chester House and Honest Lady, was a distant third in his second career start. Frankel indicated he could show up in the $200,000 Hollywood Futurity on Dec. 21.