Solis Goes for Three in a Row in the Beverly Hills

Only a few jockeys have won the $150,000 Beverly Hills Handicap two years in succession, including Chris McCarron and Fernando Toro, who each did it twice, Kent Desormeaux and Don Pierce.

No rider, however, has won the race in three consecutive years, something Alex Solis will try to change today when he rides Eternal Melody in the Grade II at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Hollywood Park.

Solis, who has won the last two years with Light Jig and Megahertz, could help Bobby Frankel become the second trainer to win it three times in a row. Charlie Whittingham, who won it a record 10 times, scored with Le Cle in 1973, then the next two years with La Zanzara.

Although Eternal Melody, owned by Michael Bello, who also raced Megahertz, has yet to show she’s in the same league as Frankel’s last two Beverly Hills winners, she ran well at 10 furlongs earlier in the year. She was beaten by a nose by Sharp Lisa in the Santa Barbara Handicap on April 22 at Santa Anita.

One of her opponents is Moscow Burning, who can become the richest California-bred female in history. A victory would push the 6-year-old mare to $1,377,000, surpassing Fran’s Valentine, who retired with $1,375,465.

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Things didn’t turn out well the first time trainer Bob Baffert ran horses in a Grade I race at Woodbine.

In the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Criollito finished 12th of 13 under McCarron, beating only Jess C’s Whirl at nearly 13-1.

Later that day, Zippersup, a 35-1 shot, checked in seventh, nine lengths behind winner Boston Harbor in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Baffert trained Zippersup for longtime owner Mike Pegram and that pair will have better ammunition Sunday when they take another shot at a Grade I win at the Toronto track.

Wanna Runner, a 3-year-old son of El Corredor, is the 9-5 morning line favorite in the $1-million Queen’s Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. Restricted to horses bred in Canada, the 1 1/4 -mile Queen’s Plate attracted 12 others. This is the 147th running of the race, making it the oldest continuously run stakes race in North America.

Victor Espinoza will be in his usual spot atop Wanna Runner. The gelding is not Baffert’s best 3-year-old, but he is one of the most productive in terms of earnings.

He has banked $566,950, having won most of his earnings in two lucrative, if not significant, races in New Mexico and Texas. Wanna Runner, who has four victories in eight starts, won the $600,000 WinStar Derby at Sunland Park and the $300,000 Lone Star Park Derby.

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Paseana, a two-time Eclipse champion and the winner of the 1992 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Gulfstream Park, died at 19 this week in her native Argentina, reportedly after a stomach blood vessel ruptured.

A Group I winner in South America, she was also a multiple stakes winner in this country after she was bought by owners Sid and Jenny Craig and turned over to trainer Ron McAnally.

In racing’s Hall of Fame since 2001, Paseana won 19 of 36 and earned more than $3.1 million. She was retired in 1995.

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Discreet Cat, the unbeaten 3-year-old owned by Godolphin and scheduled to make his first start in the U.S. since his maiden victory at Saratoga last August, will miss the $150,000 Dwyer Stakes on July 4 at Belmont Park. The son of Storm Cat missed some training because of illness.

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Roy Minami, the assistant executive director of the California Horse Racing Board since 1991, resigned Tuesday after having been placed on administrative leave Monday, said Ingrid J. Fermin, the board’s executive director.

Fermin would not disclose the reason for the action and Minami said through a CHRB spokesman he would not comment.

Times staff writers Robyn Norwood and Eric Sondheimer contributed to this report.