Familiar Role for Frankel

Since its inaugural running in 1990, the Jim Murray Handicap seemingly has been owned by Bobby Frankel.

The Hall of Fame trainer has won the race six times, including a two-length victory with 13-10 favorite Skipping last year.

Frankel hopes to continue the trend this year, especially because the Murray, named to honor The Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist who died in 1998, has become significantly more lucrative. As part of a three-stakes card Saturday at Hollywood Park, the Murray, which is run at 1 1/2 miles on the turf, has been increased in value from $75,000-added to $400,000. Consequently, the quality of the field has improved dramatically. The Murray attracted nine entrants, five of whom are Group or Grade I winners.

Two of them are trained by Frankel, who is scheduled to start Denon and Chiselling.

Owned by Flaxman Holdings, Ltd. and Ed Gann, Denon will be making his first start since finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf last Oct. 26 at Arlington Park. He is perfect in two starts on the Hollywood Park turf course, having won the 2001 Hollywood Derby and the Charlie Whittingham Handicap last June 15. Jerry Bailey will ride the 5-year-old for the first time in the Murray.

Like his stablemate, Chiselling is returning from a vacation. He has been idle since finishing third in the Jamaica Handicap on Sept. 22 at Belmont Park. A half-brother to Kentucky Derby favorite Empire Maker as well as stakes winners Honest Lady, Decarchy and Chester House, the 4-year-old son of Woodman will be ridden by Alex Solis. His Grade I score came in last summer’s Secretariat at Arlington.

Another Hall of Fame trainer, Richard Mandella, has won the Murray twice in the last four years. He will send out The Tin Man, the 123-pound highweight. The 5-year-old Affirmed gelding, whose biggest victory came in last year’s Clement L. Hirsch in Arcadia three weeks before he was fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, won the American Handicap last July 4 in his most recent appearance in Inglewood.

The other Group or Grade I winners in the lineup are Storming Home, who won the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes at Newmarket last fall, and Ballingary, who won the 2002 Canadian International at Woodbine.

Now in the barn of Neil Drysdale, Storming Home will be making his first start in this country and first since he finished 15th of 16 in the Japan Cup on Nov. 24. Gary Stevens has the mount and he has won the race with Percutant (1997) and Sahib’s Light (1991).

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The other two stakes on the program are the $200,000 Los Angeles Times Handicap at six furlongs and the $150,000 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap at 1 1/16 miles.

Formerly called the Los Angeles Handicap, the L.A. Times, a Grade III, attracted 10 entrants, including Men’s Exclusive, who will try to become the first 10-year-old to win a stakes at Hollywood Park.

The LeRoy, the first major prep for the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 13, drew a field of nine.