Del Mar Handicap : Shoemaker Scores Heady Victory Aboard Swink in Photo Finish

DEL MAR —  Bill Shoemaker won his first Del Mar Handicap aboard Frankly in 1950. Shoemaker had just turned 19, and 8 of the 11 jockeys who rode against him Monday, in the 48th running of the stake, were not yet born.

Shoemaker has been finding the finish line in the Del Mar Handicap for four decades, and in the latest edition, worth $300,000, he split horses in midstretch and got Swink to the wire by a head over Santella Mac in a three-horse photo finish.

Skip Out Front, who was claimed by trainer Mike Harmatuck three years ago for $32,000, went over the $300,000 mark in purses by running third, a neck back of Santella Mac and 1 lengths in front of Schiller, who finished fourth. Schiller, virtually paycheck-proof, went over the $400,000 mark in earnings even though the 5-year-old gelding has won only 4 of 45 starts.

In his last start, Swink finished ahead of Forlitano and Rivlia in the Sunset Handicap at Hollywood Park, giving trainer Charlie Whittingham a 1-2-3 finish.

On Monday, Whittingham also started Louis Le Grand, who was far back early and wound up eighth.

Swink, earning $165,000 and increasing his total to $473,352 for his breeder and owner, Nelson Bunker Hunt, was favored by the crowd of 24,874 in a 12-horse field and paid $6.60, $4.20 and $3.20. The other prices were $4.40 and $3.40 for Santella Mac, the second betting choice, and $5 for Skip Out Front. Swink ran the 1 3/8 miles on the grass in 2:13 4/5, a fifth of a second faster than the course record set by Tea Taster in 1985.

Swink is used to long distances, having raced in Europe until he made his American debut last December. In the United States, the 4-year-old Liloy-Swiss colt has won 3 of 7 starts.

The 56-year-old Shoemaker won the Del Mar Handicap for the eighth time and the third time for Whittingham, who saddled the winner in the stake for the fifth time, the last being Riot in Paris’ victory in 1976.

Quietly, Whittingham apparently notched his 500th career stakes win when Ferdinand won the Cabrillo Handicap on Aug. 29. Racing records being as vague as they are, Swink’s win is unofficially the 501st stakes victory for the 74-year-old trainer.

“This win was no gimme,” Shoemaker said. “Around the turn, it got kind of congested. I was behind a wall of horses. I finally found the hole I was looking for.

“Then after I got through, I didn’t know if I was going to make it. But he kept digging. He’s better at a mile and a half, and he’s getting better.”

Whittingham has big plans for Swink--the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Turf race at Hollywood Park on Nov. 21--and he already thinks the horse is on the threshold of greatness.

“I’d even go so far as to say this horse might be as good or better than any turf horse I’ve ever had,” said Whittingham, who’s trained grass champions Cougar II, Perrault and Estrapade.

Swink broke from the inside post and Shoemaker had him on the rail, in fifth place, for three-quarters of a mile. Exclusive Partner, who would finish last, dueled for the early lead with Great Communicator.

Shoemaker angled Swink to the middle of the track on the turn for home, with Skip Out Front, Blanco, Santella Mac and Iades the ones to catch.

It looked like Santella Mac might keep the lead to the wire, but Shoemaker and Swink nailed him in the final stride. The win was the 243rd for Shoemaker in a $100,000 race and his 981st in a stake.

“This is the best distance turf horse in my barn,” Whittingham said. “He’s younger and stronger and sounder, and his best is still ahead of him.”

Whittingham ran two horses--Rivlia and Forlitano--who were off the board in Sunday’s Budweiser-Arlington Million. He said he didn’t consider Swink for the race because the distance was only 1 miles.

“I don’t know what I might do with Swink between now the Breeders’ Cup,” Whittingham said.

There aren’t that many races at 1 1/2 miles around, which is a good thing for horses that have to beat Swink.

Horse Racing Notes

Sharrood, Rivlia and Forlitano, who were second, sixth and last, respectively, in Sunday’s Budweiser-Arlington Million, are being returned to California. Sharrood, who lost to Manila by 1 1/2 lengths, is being considered for a couple of races during the Oak Tree season at Santa Anita. “We had to check (after being blocked by horses) from the three-eighths to the quarter pole,” said John Gosden, Sharrood’s trainer. “By then, Manila was gone. He’s not the kind of horse you can let get the first run on you while you’re waiting to get out.” Charlie Whittingham, who trains Rivlia and Forlitano, conceded that Manila was the best horse. “Forlitano bled and both him and my other horse would have done better if the ground was harder at Arlington Park,” Whittingham said. “They ran a lot better at Hollywood Park where the course is hard.” . . . Jacinto Vasquez, taken off Manila because of a dispute with trainer LeRoy Jolley and replaced by Angel Cordero, rode the Jolley-trained Stately Don to a 7 1/2-length win Monday in the Secretariat Stakes at Arlington, with Zaizoom second and The Medic third. Stately Don, a half-brother to Manila, had finished second in his previous start in the Del Mar Derby Aug. 23. . . . In a stake preceding the Del Mar Handicap Monday, Top Corsage was first by a length over Joni U. Bar in the June Darling, but was disqualified by the stewards to fourth place for crowding Cruella, the fourth-place finisher, at the sixteenth pole. Joni U. Bar’s only two wins this year have been at Del Mar. . . . Judge Angelucci has been assigned 123 pounds, two more than Zany Tactics, for next Saturday’s $150,000 Del Mar Budweiser Breeders’ Cup. . . . The weights for the $150,000 Ramona Handicap on Sunday rank Auspiciante and Galunpe at the top with 120 pounds apiece. Auspiciante won the Ramona last year. . . . The total attendance of 77,567 is the best Del Mar has ever done for a Labor Day weekend.