He Could Present Quite the Challenge

Five years after he broke his maiden in his first start, General Challenge returns to Hollywood Park, where he’ll try to re-start a career that has already been good for nearly $3 million in purses.

Un-raced since August 2000, General Challenge will be running today in the Tiznow Stakes, a $150,000 race but a modest spot for a 7-year-old gelding who’s accustomed to taking on the best in Grade I tests all over the country.

The Tiznow, named after the only horse who has won the Breeders’ Cup Classic twice, is one of 10 races on the Citibank California Gold Rush card, a program for California-breds worth $1.31 million. The richest race offered is the $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes, which has drawn Excessivepleasure, winner of the $500,000 WinStar Derby at Sunland Park in his last start.

The horse for whom the Snow Chief is named earned $3.3 million, which ranks him third behind Tiznow ($6.4 million) and Best Pal ($5.6 million) on the money list for Cal-breds.

At $2.7 million, General Challenge is sixth on the list, even though he has made only 19 career starts. His victories include the 1999 Santa Anita Derby and Pacific Classic, and the 2000 Strub and Santa Anita Handicap.

Trying to win the Pacific Classic for the second time, General Challenge ran fourth as the 9-10 favorite at Del Mar in 2000. That was his last start. A series of injuries -- a wrenched ankle, a tendon, a splint -- has kept Betty Mabee’s horse on the shelf.

A review of General Challenge’s record offers a history lesson. In the 1999 Kentucky Derby, he had a ragged start and finished 11th as Charismatic, a 31-1 longshot, won the race. The only other horse recently in training from that race, Valhol, was retired this week.

Among General Challenge’s rivals today is a 6-year-old, Grey Memo, who’s grinding his way toward the $2-million mark in purses. Winless in his last eight starts, Grey Memo hasn’t won in more than nine months, but he’s usually good for a paycheck. In his last start, in Dubai, he finished second in the $1-million Godolphin Mile, a race he won the year before.

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Midas Eyes, another of trainer Bobby Frankel’s top 3-year-olds, is the 4-5 morning-line favorite in the $150,000 Derby Trial today at Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby will be run next Saturday.

None of the six starters in the Trial will run in the Derby. In only his third start, Midas Eyes broke a stakes record while winning the Swale at Gulfstream Park. The colt is owned by Ed Gann, whose Peace Rules could be the second betting choice behind Empire Maker in the Derby. Frankel trains them both.

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Responding to a controversy that erupted at the post-position draw last year, Churchill Downs has made a change in Wednesday’s draw for the 129th Kentucky Derby. At 10:30 a.m., Kentucky time, which is the deadline to enter, trainers will draw for the order in which they’ll select their post positions during a national telecast at 5 p.m. The preliminary draw will be held in the racing secretary’s office and the results will be announced about an hour later.

Since 1998, both draws were conducted during the telecast. Last year, with trainers of more than the maximum number of 20 horses wanting to run, Danthebluegrassman was dropped into the race and Windward Passage was excluded. Earnings in graded races determine the field in the event more than 20 horses want to run. One of the owners of Windward Passage complained that Churchill Downs knew in the morning that his horse wouldn’t make the cut, but embargoed the information until the late-afternoon telecast. Ironically, after Danthebluegrassman was entered, he was scratched on race day, when it was too late for another horse to fill his spot. Unlike many races, there is no also-eligible list for the Derby.

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Evolving Tactics is coming to the U.S. from Ireland but not to run in the Kentucky Derby. His trainer, Dermot Weld, said that it’s more likely the colt will run in the Preakness, at Pimlico on May 17, or the Belmont Stakes on June 7.

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In a race reduced to four starters after Meguial and Styler were scratched, Keys To The Heart, the longest shot in the field at 17-1, won the $105,400 Hawthorne Handicap on Friday night at Hollywood Park.

Alexine, the prohibitive favorite at 1-2, finished last in the compact field but was moved up to third after Se Me Acabo was disqualified for interference in the stretch.

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Applications for reserved seats for the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita on Oct. 25 will be accepted between May 1 and June 15. A random draw will be conducted after the deadline.

Application forms can be requested by phone (626 254-1300), fax (626 446-9565), e-mail (2003breederscup@santaanita.com) and mail (Breeders’ Cup Tickets 2003, Oak Tree Racing Assn., P.O. Box 60014, Arcadia, Calif., 91066). Grandstand reserved seats will cost $150, $125 and $75, and clubhouse reserved will be $150 and $100. There will also be $50 tickets for a buffet lunch in an infield picnic circle area. Admission for fans without reserved tickets will be $25 and $10.