Pincay Gets a Big Victory While Narrowing Gap on Shoemaker

All those who came to Hollywood Park on Saturday hoping to see Laffit Pincay tie or surpass Bill Shoemaker as thoroughbred racing’s all-time leading rider went home disappointed.

Four shy of 8,833, the magic number to tie Shoemaker, going into Saturday, Pincay managed only one victory, but what a win it was.

Named to ride Lazy Lode after Gary Stevens was sidelined because of knee surgery, Pincay was a more than able replacement, directing the 5-year-old son of Lode to a gate-to-wire score in the $400,000 Hollywood Turf Cup.

The victory was the first in the Grade I for Pincay, but it was the second in a row in the Cup for Lazy Lode. Twelve months earlier, he used similar tactics to win under a different rider.

Able to get away with pedestrian fractions (25 3/5, 49 4/5 and 1:14 2/5 for six furlongs), Lazy Lode, the 5-1 fourth choice in the field of seven, spurted clear by 2 1/2 lengths in the stretch, then had more than enough left to hold off 5-2 second choice Public Purse, who had some traffic trouble, by 1 1/4 lengths in 2:25 4/5 for the 1 1/2 miles.

Owned by Prince Ahmed Salman’s Thoroughbred Corp. and trained by Richard Mandella, Lazy Lode won for the sixth time in 24 starts and the $240,000 check pushed his earnings past $1.1 million.

“Coming into the stretch, I was confident I was going to win,” said Pincay after his second Grade I victory of the year, and No. 8,830 of his career.

“He felt like he had energy and every time I hand rode him, he responded. His stride wasn’t diminishing. He just kept on going.”

Mandella, whose Virginie won the Beverly Hills Handicap with Pincay earlier in the year, enjoyed helping the Hall of Fame rider move closer to history.

“He’s won races for me for 25 consecutive years now and there’s nobody in the world I admire more than him,” he said. “Even when I was starting out, it didn’t matter to Laffit if it was Charlie Whittingham at the time or little Dick Mandella. He rode his heart out and that’s kind of the way he’s always been. I guess that’s how you get to where he is.”

Yagli, the 11-10 favorite, didn’t do much running in the Turf Cup, checking in fifth under Jerry Bailey. It was the fourth consecutive off-the-board finish for the 6-year-old, who, not too long ago, was considered by some to be the best turf horse in the country.

“He was flat,” Bailey said. “It’s unlike him to not fire a little bit. He struggled to hold third or fourth through the stretch and he didn’t.”

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A consistent high-percentage trainer, John Shirreffs is exceptionally adept with first-time starters and horses returning from a layoff.

He proved the point again Saturday at Hollywood Park when Cliquot came back ready to roll in the $108,400 On Trust Handicap.

The 5-2 second choice in the field of seven California-breds, the 3-year-old Bertrando gelding went right to the front under Corey Nakatani and improved his position from there.

At the end of the 7 1/2 furlongs, Cliquot had 4 1/2 lengths on even-money choice Love That Red and completed the distance in 1:27 4/5, a quick time on a track that hasn’t been playing fast.

Love That Red, who had won the California Cup Sprint in his previous start, finished 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Indiahoma, the longest shot in the field at 34-1.

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Five Star Day, who won the Thirty Slews Handicap at Gulfstream Park the day before the Breeders’ Cup, is the 6-5 favorite against five opponents in the $100,000 Vernon O. Underwood Stakes today at Hollywood Park.

The 3-year-old son of Carson City ran in the Thirty Slews after he didn’t get into the oversubscribed Breeders’ Cup Sprint field. He will be ridden by Alex Solis as he seeks his second win in Inglewood. Five Star Day broke his maiden here during the summer.

Quake, Your Halo, Early Pioneer and Son Of A Pistol round out the field for the six-furlong Underwood, which is a Grade III.

Horse Racing Notes

Jockey Patrick Valenzuela picked up his 3,000th win when Sexy Too won the first race Saturday. . . . Laffit Pincay, who originally was going to miss the Wednesday card at Hollywood Park, said he will ride in Inglewood that day. He is scheduled to have six mounts today.