Horse Racing : Romero Wins Belmont’s Riding Title Despite a Bad Finish

Randy Romero won the riding title at the Belmont Park season that ended Monday, but the veteran jockey would like to forget the last week of the meeting.

A week ago, Romero was fined $200 by the stewards for using his goggles to hit his horse after dropping his whip.

Then last Saturday, in the $200,000 Sword Dancer Handicap, Romero rode Dance of Life to a three-length victory over Theatrical, but the stewards reversed the order of finish after concluding that Romero’s horse was guilty of interference in the stretch.

Compounding the penalty, the stewards also handed Romero a seven-day suspension. For a jockey, there’s never a good time for a suspension, but Romero’s will especially hurt, since it comes during the first week of the meeting at Saratoga. Saratoga only runs for 24 days, and a jockey whose business loses momentum at the start will be hard-pressed to catch up.

With Romero sidelined until next Thursday, Angel Cordero’s chances of winning the Saratoga championship for the 12th straight summer will increase. Cordero was second, two wins behind Romero, in the final Belmont standings.

On opening day Wednesday at Saratoga, with a record first-day crowd of 28,500 on hand, Cordero won only one race, but it was with Over All in the Schuylerville Stakes for 2-year-old fillies.

Over All, owned by Gene Klein and trained by Wayne Lukas, won the Landaluce Stakes at Hollywood Park in July, then faded to fourth after setting the pace against colts in the Hollywood Juvenile Championship two weeks later.

On Wednesday, Over All was a neck better than Joe’s Tammie at the wire.

Super Diamond, who has almost earned $1 million, will give weight to three horses who are already over the $1-million mark going into the $75,000 San Diego Handicap Saturday at Del Mar.

Super Diamond hasn’t run since last year because of several physical problems, but he won the San Diego in 1985 and the Hollywood Gold Cup last year and he’s been assigned 123 pounds Sunday.

The millionaires--Hopeful Word, Tasso and Nostalgia’s Star--will carry respective weights of 118, 117 and 116. A field of about seven is expected.

In Sunday’s $75,000 La Jolla Handicap, Something Lucky is expected to run, carrying top weight of 120 pounds. Pen Bal Lady, another starter, was a double stakes winner at Hollywood Park and is rated even with Something Lucky in the weights, only she benefits from a five-pound sex allowance.

The La Jolla will also include Kindly Court, who won a division of the Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar on opening day last week.

The showdown between Broad Brush and Waquoit, who might be the best two older horses on dirt right now, won’t happen Saturday in the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga.

Broad Brush, carrying high weight of 127 pounds, is expected to run, but Waquoit, who would have carried 125, will wait for the Woodward Stakes at Belmont Park next month.

Gone West, who won the Dwyer Stakes since finishing sixth in the Belmont, is a 3-year-old trying older horses in the Whitney and gets in at 116 pounds. Also in the field is California shipper Seldom Seen Sue, who will carry 113 pounds and be ridden by Bill Shoemaker.

Although Lost Code was third, beaten by only two necks, to Bet Twice and Alysheba in last Saturday’s Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, his trainer, Bill Donovan, is realistic.

“I doubt very much if all three of these horses will ever meet again,” said Donovan, who knows that his colt doesn’t have the stamina to consistently challenge Bet Twice and Alysheba beyond a mile.

The Breeders’ Cup at Hollywood Park in November might be a possibility, but even there Bet Twice and Alysheba would run in the $3-million, 1-mile Classic, while Lost Code’s best spot, according to Donovan, would be the $1-million Mile on grass. So far, Lost Code has run only only dirt, but Donovan wants to try him on grass.

The Chicago Tribune has made Manila the early 2-1 favorite for the Budweiser Arlington Million on Sept. 6.

Manila will try for his 10th straight win sometime during the Saratoga meeting and then go to Arlington Park.

The Tribune’s linemaker made Theatrical the 7-2 second choice after the 14 invitees to the Million were announced this week, with Mtoto, the best horse coming from Europe, listed at 5-1. Dance of Life is at 8-1, although he beat Theatrical and then was disqualified in the Sword Dancer.

Trainer Charlie Whittingham is almost certain to have two starters in the Million as he tries to win the stake for the third time in seven years.

Rivlia and Ferdinand were invited, and if Ferdinand, who has yet to win on grass, doesn’t do well enough in the Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 15 to merit the trip, Whittingham could run Forlitano, who heads the alternate list. Another Whittingham alternate is Le Belvedere, another probable starter in the Eddie Read.

Horse Racing Notes

Lady’s Secret, Horse of the Year in 1986, but unable to win in stakes company this year, will be sold for broodmare purposes by Gene Klein at Keeneland on Nov. 11. Life’s Magic and Family Style, two other champions raced by Klein, will also be auctioned. Klein, who has been the leading owner in the country for the last two years, prefers racing to breeding horses. . . . Vic Oppegard received a $500,000 offer for Perchance To Dream after she won the Hollywood Oaks last month. Oppegard, who bought the filly for $1,500, feels that her price might reach $1 million if he could win on the grass with her at Del Mar. Oppegard would like to retire to his five-acre Montana farm at the end of the year.

Jerry Lawrence, the general manager of Churchill Downs, says that there will be no change in the point system that determines the winner of the $1-million Triple Crown bonus next year. This year, the first time the bonus was offered, there was a 5-3-1 tabulation for horses that ran first, second or third in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Bet Twice won the bonus over Alysheba, 11-10, by running second in the Derby and Preakness and winning the Belmont, but there was criticism of the system, because Alysheba, fourth in the Belmont, had won two of the three races. “We’ve thought about it,” said Lawrence, referring to the three Triple Crown tracks, “but there’s not going to be any system that’s perfect.”

Stan Bowker, who resigned under fire recently as the general manager of Canterbury Downs, had just bought a $500,000 house in the Minneapolis area. Bowker began to lose support when he tried to dismiss racing secretary Tom Knust and was unsuccessful. Knust had gone to Canterbury from the racing department at Santa Anita, which owns about 25% of Canterbury. Bowker has been replaced by Mike Manning, who was director of operations at Santa Anita. . . . Julie Krone could become the first female jockey to win a riding title at a major track in the East if she holds her lead at Monmouth Park. . . . The Orange County Fair’s 14-night run at Los Alamitos begins Friday.