Doc Holiday Delivers a Win

Things went better at home than they did on the road for trainer Wally Dollase.

A few hours after Dollase saddled Sumati to a sixth-place finish in the $100,000 Louisville Handicap at Churchill Downs, Doc Holiday saved the day with a gritty wire-to-wire win in the $106,500 Will Rogers Stakes at Hollywood Park.

Ridden by David Flores and owned by a partnership that includes the Jess Miller Trust, Doc Holiday, the 3-1 third choice, withstood 2-1 Johar in the length of the stretch to win by a neck. He completed the mile on turf in 1:343/5.

A son of Dr Devious, Doc Holiday won for the first time in four starts in this country. He had won two of seven in England and France.

Golden Arrow, a maiden and the longest shot in the field at 8-1, was third, four lengths behind Johar, then came 8-5 favorite True Phenomenon and Line Rider. Six Hitter was scratched earlier in the day.

“I waited as long as I could and when [Johar] showed up alongside in the stretch, I just asked him and he responded,” Flores said.

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Able to find running room in the final eighth of a mile, Macho Uno, the 2-1 favorite, took off late to win the $500,000 Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs.

Owned by Frank Stronach and trained by Joe Orseno, the 4-year-old Holy Bull colt whose biggest previous win came in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, completed 11/8 miles in 1:502/5 under Gary Stevens.

Evening Attire, the 5-1 fourth choice, was second, a neck in front of defending champion and 3-2 favorite Include. Shaun Bridgmohan, Evening Attire’s rider, claimed a foul against the winner, but it was disallowed by the stewards.

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Trainers Ben Cecil and Howard Zucker were fined for medication violations last year at Del Mar.

Cecil was fined $5,000 after Queenie Belle, who had finished second in the Piedra Foundation Handicap Aug. 24, tested positive for an excessive level of promazine, a sedative. There was also a redistribution of the purse.

Zucker was fined $6,000 after Crafty C.T., who was unplaced in an allowance race Aug. 23, tested positive for an excessive level of albuterol, a breathing aid.