DEL MAR : Frankel Finds Another Winner

DEL MAR —  Bobby Frankel doesn’t need a crash course on the turnover in racing. When Frankel left New York in the early 1970s and came to California to train, claiming other people’s horses was his letter of introduction. Frankel won five training titles in six summers at Del Mar, winning more than 100 races.

Now Frankel’s forte is stakes-caliber horses instead of claimers, but the turnover principle is still the same. His ability to replace injured horses with others as good is what has kept him near the top of the national money list.

Only days after he decided to retire Mashkour, his San Juan Capistrano Handicap winner who was injured in the Sunset Handicap at Hollywood Park a week ago, Frankel unleashed two potential new stars at Del Mar.

Thursday, Filago, a 4-year-old colt, came from last place to score a sharp allowance victory, and on Sunday, in the first division of the Palomar Handicap, Frankel saddled Guiza, a 4-year-old filly, for a 1 1/4-length victory.

With Marquetry having established himself as one of the best dirt runners in the country, and with Exbourne heading for the Arlington Million and a chance to expand on his grass accomplishments, Frankel’s barn is clicking on a variety of fronts.

Frankel went into this week with $3.4 million in purses, ranking him behind Wayne Lukas ($6.8 million) and Ron McAnally ($4 million). That total grew by $49,350 Guiza’s victory in her American debut. Before the Palomar, the Kentucky-bred daughter of Golden Act had won only one of 11 races and earned $48,219.

In the second division of the Palomar, Somethingmerry rallied on the far outside to beat Countus In by a head, giving Laffit Pincay another victory in the stake, 15 years after he won it with Just A Kick in 1976. Countus In finished third, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Sweet Roberta, who had a half-length on Heart Of Joy, the pace-setter who weakened in the stretch.

Frankel bought Guiza for Robert Witt, a produce dealer from Los Angeles, and she joined the trainer in California about two months ago.

“I never saw her run,” Frankel said. “A friend of mine in France told me about her, and I spent three months trying to get her. When the price went down, that’s when we bought her.”

Frankel attempted to enter Guiza in an allowance race toward the end of the Hollywood Park meeting. “They told me she wasn’t eligible,” Frankel said. “They did me a favor by making me run her here.”

The Palomar ended Guiza’s eight-race losing streak and gave the filly her first victory in more than 15 months. She was running against some of France’s best horses, without much success. Last year, she finished 17th in a 21-horse field in the Arc de Triomphe, France’s most prestigious race.

Ridden by Gary Stevens, who was two pounds overweight, Guiza carried 114 Sunday and overtook Agirlfromars in the last sixteenth of the 1 1/16-mile grass race. Agirlfromars, who battled Alcando, the 19-10 favorite, for the lead through slow early fractions, finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Run To Jenny. Alcando, who came into the race off two consecutive victories, including the Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park on June 30, was the co-high weight with Annual Reunion at 116 pounds and wound up seventh in the eight-horse field.

Stevens worked Guiza three times in the morning, including a quick seven-furlong spin in 1:26 2/5 at Santa Anita last week. “I didn’t give Gary any instructions,” Frankel said. “He knows her better than I do.”

Guiza was in the sixth place early, but moved up on the far outside on the second turn and came on through the stretch under a hand ride. Her time was 1:42 and in a crowd of 21,721 she paid $9.40 as the third betting choice.

“She’s something special,” Stevens said. “We were working her in front of horses in the morning and nothing could keep up with her. But she’s versatile. Today she rated and came from off of it just like a good horse.

“I rode her with confidence and she felt like she had something left in the tank. I wish there were more distance races around here for her. She felt like she could run on and on.”

Frankel said Guiza will run in the $300,000 Ramona Handicap at 1 1/8 miles Aug. 17. Filago will be sent to Chicago, where he could wind up giving Frankel a double threat in the Arlington Million.

Somethingmerry, owned and bred by Bud Johnston and his family and trained by Don Warren, was winning for only the fifth time in 20 starts, but she has three seconds and eight thirds. The Palomar victory boosted her earnings over the $400,000 mark.

Warren thought Countus In won, as did Countus In’s jockey, Corey Nakatani, who has already won four stakes at the meeting.

“I thought I had won it,” Pincay said. “She was drifting out in the stretch, but I didn’t want to straighten her because she was running so hard. I’m glad she won this one, because she’s gotten close so many times and didn’t win because of bad luck or just running out of race track.”

Somethingmerry paid $15.80 and was timed in 1:41 4/5.

Horse Racing Notes

Trainer Wayne Lukas said that he will split up Farma Way and Twilight Agenda rather than run both in the $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 10. Both horses like to run on the pace or close to it. Twilight Agenda, whose victory Saturday in the San Diego Handicap was his third win in four starts in the last five weeks, probably will turn up in the $200,000 Del Mar Budweiser Breeders’ Cup Stakes on Sept. 8. . . . Bobby Frankel said that his Louis Cyphre, who was third in the San Diego, cut himself when he got mixed up with his pony en route to the receiving barn before the race. “I still don’t think he would have won,” Frankel said, “but he might have finished second. It’s nothing serious. He’ll be all right.”. . . . Regarding Mashkour, an 8-year-old, Frankel said: “We could run him another year, but instead we’re going to see if we can sell him as stallion.”

David Flores rode three winners. . . . Habastar, winner of the seventh race, is the third horse produced by Laura’s Star to reach the winner’s circle in the last three days. On Friday two other Laura’s Star offspring, Mount Laguna and Her Elegant Ways, also won. All three winners were bred by John and Betty Mabee. . . . Dr. Augusta, winner of the fourth race Sunday, didn’t survive a stewards’ inquiry and was disqualified to fourth place, with Sorrowful Sam, the second-place finisher, getting the victory. The stewards ruled Dr. Augusta interfered with both Sorrowful Sam and Vintage Year in the stretch.

Stylish Winner, fifth in the San Diego Handicap, broke down and his racing future is in doubt. The 7-year-old gelding has earned $770,000. . . . Wolf, a 4-year-old Chilean-bred colt who will run in today’s feature race, is undefeated in eight South American starts, all but one of them last year. He was the odds-on choice in six of his races and has never paid more than $5.40 to win. Neil Drysdale has become Wolf’s American trainer. . . . Reign Road, who was a late-running third to Best Pal and General Meeting in last year’s Hollywood Futurity, has recovered from a leg injury and returns to action Wednesday. . . . Jockey Chris Antley has been suspended by the Saratoga stewards for careless riding aboard Zama Hummer in the Test Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Saturday.