INGLEWOOD, Calif. (June 5, 2008) - Three-time Hollywood Gold Cup winner Lava Man, aiming to earn an opportunity for a fourth consecutive victory in the Grade I classic later this month, will carry high weight of 121 pounds Saturday as he makes the second race in his comeback in the $300,000 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap.
Lava Man, now seven, won the Whittingham two years ago, then scored the first of three consecutive Gold Cup victories, matching the legendary Native Diver's feat in the mid-1960s. This will be his third straight start in the Grade I Whittingham, which will be run at 1¼ miles on the Lakeside Turf Course. He finished second to After Market in 2007.
Lava Man has more to prove this year, however, as he will be aiming for his first victory since winning the 2007 Gold Cup by a nose over A.P. Xcellent. Lava Man was turned out in November and returned to racing in April, finishing third here on turf in the TVG Khaled Stakes.
"He's got to prove he's back to his original form," trainer Doug O'Neill said. "He definitely needed his first out after his first vacation. He's been training great since."
The extended rest was the first for Lava Man since he was claimed for $50,000 by STD Racing and Jason Wood in the summer of 2004 at Del Mar. He went on to become the richest horse following a claim with earnings of $5,232,706 - all but $98,603 since being claimed from his 13th start. He has won 14 of 31 starts since then - including seven straight in 2006 when he swept the Santa Anita Handicap, Gold Cup and Pacific Classic - but he is winless in his last four races.
"We're excited about the race, he's training great and we think he should win," O'Neill said. "There's an old cliché to take one race at a time. But we're looking for a big effort, and if he comes out of it good, we know where his next start would be."
Before the 69th running of the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on June 28, Lava Man has a chance to join the company of another great as three-time winner John Henry is the multiple Whittingham winner.
Lava Man, who will be ridden by Tyler Baze for the first time, drew post six in a field of seven, which lines up as follows from the rail out:
Monzante, with Joel Rosario up, carries 113 pounds; Artiste Royal, David Flores, 117; Warning Zone, Mike Smith, 115; Mr. Wolverine, Michael Baze, 114; Plug Me In, Alonso Quinonez, 113; Lava Man, Tyler Baze, 121, and Champs Elysees, Rafael Bejarano, 119.
Champs Elysees, upset as the odds-on favorite in the Jim Murray Memorial Handicap and a hard-luck third in the Santa Anita Handicap, also gets a new rider for the Whittinghham.
The Great Britain-bred will be making his fifth North American start. He finished second here in the Hollywood Turf Cup in December and won the San Marcos at Santa Anita Park in January. The 5-year-old Bobby Frankel- trained horse enters the Whittingham with earnings of $570,647.
Monzante shifts to turf after a sixth-place finish on Cushion Track in the Mervyn LeRoy Handicap; 2007 Clement L. Hirsch winner Artiste Royal returns from Churchill Downs where he finished third in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic; Warning Zone was the runner-up in the San Juan Capistrano Handicap; Mr. Wolverine upset Lava Man in the TVG Khaled here opening weekend, and Plug Me In faces tougher following an allowance win.
The Whittingham is one of four stakes (three graded) on Saturday's program at Hollywood Park, which begins with a 12 p.m. post to accommodate the simulcast of the Belmont Stakes as Big Brown aims to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Irish-bred Sweeter Still aims for her fourth win in her last five starts in the $175,000 Honeymoon Handicap, the last major local prep for the $750,000 American Oaks on July 5.
Sweeter Still, trained by Jeff Mullins for David Lanzman, held off fellow Honeymoon starter Magical Fantasy by a nose to win the Senorita Stakes here in May. The race also attracted Senorita third-place finisher Bel Air Sizzle. The field of nine 3-year-old fillies lines up as follows:
Divine Legacy, Joe Talamo up, carries 115 pounds; Misty Ocean, Rosario, 118; Sweeter Still, Martin Garcia, 121; Lethal Heat, Gerry Olguin; Missit, Victor Espinoza, 119; Gorgeous Goose, Jose Valdivia Jr.; Fire n'Brimstone, Aaron Gryder, 113; Magical Fantasy, Alex Solis, 119, and Bel Air Sizzle, Bejarano, 120.
Bay Meadows Handicap winner Bold Chieftain and Rebellion, winner of the Commonwealth at Keeneland, carry co-high weight of 120 pounds in the 100,000 Ack Ack Handicap, which lines up as follows:
Buzzards Bay, Valdivia, 115; Southern Africa, Rosario, 114; Bestdressed, Jon Court, 112; El Manuel, Michael Baze, 113; Stoneside, Martin Pedroza, 116; Bold Chieftain, Russell Baze, 120; Soul City Slew, Espinoza, 115; Dixie Miester, Flores, 117; Rebellion, Bejarano, 120; Tropic Storm, Gryder, 116; Mr Napper Tandy, Richard Migliore, 114, and Barber, Solis, 114.
The $75,000 Redondo Beach drew a field of ten:
Tutta Bella, Rosario, 123; Passified, Smith, 121; Green Lyons, Flores, 119; Gula Gold, Michael Baze, 119; Greetings, Espinoza, 119; La Tee, Tyler Baze, 119; Unspoken Word, Russell Baze, 119; Lemon Chiffon, Court, 119; Fleet Caroline, Bejarano, 119, and Wake Up Maggie, Talamo, 119.
The Whittingham runs as the fifth race, the Honeymoon as the seventh, the Redondo Beach as the ninth and the Ack Ack as the tenth race on the 11-race program.
