Acclamation,
an easy winner of the Jim Murray Memorial Handicap on May 15, will shorten up a
bit in search of another turf victory against 11 opponents in the $250,000
Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap on Saturday at Hollywood Park.
The
Whittingham is the richest of three stakes Saturday – along with the $100,000
Los Angeles Handicap at six furlongs on Cushion Track and the $60,000 Redondo Beach at one mile
on turf.
There
is an early post time of 11 a.m. on Saturday to coincide with the running of
the Belmont Stakes from Belmont
Park. Gates will open at
8 a.m. with the first import from Belmont
at 8:35 a.m. The Belmont Stakes is scheduled for 3:32 p.m. PDT.
Hollywood Park will offer 11 races Saturday. The Redondo Beach goes as the fourth, the Los Angeles is the seventh and the
Whittingham is the 10th.
A
7 ½ length winner at 14-1 in his first excursion at 1 ½ miles, the 4-year-old
Unusual Heat colt out of the Silveyville mare Winning In Style will cut back to
1 ¼ miles in the Whittingham.
Owned
by breeders Bud and Judy Johnston and trained by Don Warren, Accalamation is
trying to become the second California
bred in five years to win the Whittingham. Lava Man was successful in 2006.
Three of Acclamation’s foes on Saturday are also Cal breds - Red Sun, Unusual Suspect and
Brushburn.
Acclamation
will also be seeking his first Grade 1 score. His best finish in two previous
attempts was a third at 75-1 in the Hollywood Derby last Nov. 29. Christian
Santiago Reyes will again ride Acclamation, who has won three of 18 while
earning $347,048.
Trainer
Neil Drysdale, who began his Hall of Fame career as an assistant to the
legendary Whittingham, will send out Scintillo. A victory for Drysdale would be
his record-equaling seventh in the race, which was previously called the
Hollywood Invitational Turf Handicap. Whittingham and the late Bobby Frankel
currently share the mark.
Scintillo,
fourth as the 2-1 favorite in the Murray,
eight lengths behind Acclamation, will have a new rider in Martin Pedroza.
Owned by Leonard Lucas, the 5-year-old English bred son of Fantastic Light and
the Thatching mare Danseuse du Soir, has won five of 28 and earned $524,499.
In
terms of earnings, Battle Of Hastings is the most accomplished member of the
Whittingham cast. Trained by Jeff Mullins for owner Michael House, the
4-year-old Royal Applause colt and the Night Shift mare Subya has collected
$1,171,141 while capturing six of 18.
Second
as the 5-2 favorite in the Hollywood Derby in his last start in Inglewood, Battle Of
Hastings has won two of three at 10 furlongs.
Trainer
Julio Canani, who has never won this event, will be represented by Loup Breton,
the top weight at 119 pounds.
Third,
beaten by a neck in the Turf Classic, which is also a Grade 1, at Churchill
Downs on May 1, Loup Breton has won five of 23 and earned $730,712. Owned by
Wildenstein Stable, the 6-year-old Anabaa horse and the Irish River
mare Louvre will be ridden for the first time by Rafael Bejarano. Three of the
Irish bred’s wins have come at the Whittingham distance.
Red
Sun will be trying more than a mile for the first time in his brief career.
Owned by breeder John Harris and trained by Carla Gaines, the 4-year-old
Redattore gelding and the Affirmed mare Sunny Sara has won four of six and
earned $146,900. He finished third in the San Francisco Mile in his initial
venture into graded company on April 24 at Golden Gate Fields.
Claimed
for $25,000 on Jan. 30 by trainer Steve Knapp for owners Albert and Kahtleen
Mattivi, Brushburn has won three of six subsequent starts, including two in a
row at Hollywood Park. The 4-year-old Unusual Heat
gelding and the Afternoon Deelites mare Little Hottie has won six of 14 overall
and $216,610.
The
field also includes Rendezvous and Unusual Suspect, the third and fifth place
finishers in the Murray, Carry Gulch, an Argentine bred who scored in his U.S.
debut on May 8 for the Doubledown Stables Inc. and trainer Peter Miller, Great
Siege, sixth in the Inglewood Handicap on April 25, Hyades, who has one win in
four starts in this country and Porfido, who has lost 14 in a row since winning
an optional claimer on Jan. 18, 2008 at Santa Anita.
From
the inside out, here is the field for the 42nd Charles Whittingham
Memorial Handicap: Acclamation, Christian Santiago Reyes rides, 116 pounds;
Rendezvous, Joe Talamo, 115; Unusual Suspect, Alonso Quinonez, 114; Red Sun,
Victor Espinoza, 115; Loup Breton, Rafael Bejarano, 119; Porfido, David Flores,
114; Brushburn, Brice Blanc, 113; Hyades, Osman Cedeno, 113; Scintillo, Martin
Pedroza, 118; Carry Gulch, Kerwin John; Battle Of Hastings, Tyler Baze, 118 and
Great Siege, Julio Garcia, 113.